A senior and the team’s starting placekicker, Zaidan showed a healthy mix of all of the criteria that make up the Man of Year Award winner. After spending the brunt of his career handling just kickoff duties, the Dearborn, Mich. native made his lone season as the feature kicker count.
Known for his big leg, Zaidan finished the year 12-for-16 on field-goal attempts, including three longer than 50 yards. He drilled a career-long 54-yarder on the year, tying for the second-longest field goal in program history. The two-time OVC Specialist of the Week and Phil Steele All-OVC Third Team honoree was also a perfect 22-for-22 on point-after tries, finishing the year with 58 total points.
On track to earn his degree in biology with a concentration in cellular and molecular biology in May, Zaidan compiled a 3.51 GPA through the fall semester and has been named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in six of his seven semesters at Tech. He was also a two-time member of the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll. In January, he began a research project testing different strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria against different antibiotics recording their resistance.
In addition to balancing the load of student-athlete, he was also a member of the Chemical Medical Club on campus, as well as the TTU RAM Club. As a member of the football team, Zaidan helped accumulate over 100 hours of volunteer work in the community, assisting organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Harrington for Hope, Mustard Seed Ranch and the Vietnam Veterans Traveling Memorial.
Zaidan was also chosen to be a part of the football team’s leadership group, consisting of 10 individuals chosen by head coach Dewayne Alexander to resolve issues, lead by example and properly represent the program at all times.
With the honor, Zaidan became the 16th member of the Golden Eagle football team to earn Tech’s Man of the Year Award and second in-a-row after Josh Poplar took the honor last year.
