COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Senior safety Austin Tallant, a member
of the Tennessee Tech football team who is now in the final month
of a very successful career, is the winner of the Unsung Leader
Award for October, a monthly honor presented by the TTU thletics
Department.
With just three games remaining in his career, Tallant's numbers
have piled up since he became a starter in the first week of his
freshman season in the Golden Eagle secondary. He enters the
Homecoming game Saturday against Southeast Missouri ranked in the
Top 10 in career tackles and is the current team leader in career
tackles-for-loss.
Still, those big numbers aren't the reason Tallant was slected for
the October award. It is his leadership behind the scenes, both on
the football field and in the Athletic Performance Center, that
netted him a nomination from Casey Kramer, TTU Director of Athletic
Performance.
"Austin is the true definition of toughness," Kramer said. "He
brings the same focused, enthusiastic attitude to every game and
every workout. He works incredibly hard behind-the-scenes to
improve his skills and phyicaly ability, and he passes that work
ethic on to his teammates."
The soft-spoken Tallant says he's not a big "talk" guy, so he's
not the one providing leadership with his speeches or words.
"I try to lead by example more than with words," Tallant says.
"I'm not big on self-praise or drawing attention to myself. I just
believe that I need to do the right thing in everything I do, and I
appreciate that the younger players see that and learn from my
example."
“Austin is a trustworthy individual that is highly
dependable," Kramer added. "All young student-athletes should
notice Austin and what he means to Tennessee Tech.”
The Unsung Leader Award was created this year to recognize
leadership by student-athletes, with an award to be presented each
month throughout the academic year. A year ago, Tech’s
student-athletes and staff attended a leadership seminar, and
Director of Athletics Mark Wilson wanted to find ways to keep
student-athletes motivated toward following the ideals learned at
the event.
“The seminar allowed student-athletes to learn, interact and
discuss traits of leadership, and in turn we see our
student-athletes demonstrating those traits every day,”
Wilson said. “This award is a way to recognize that
leadership, which many times isn’t reflected in headlines or
other ways. It’s quiet leadership, behind-the-scenes
leadership, that makes everybody better.
“These young men and women are leaders, pure-and-simple, not
doing the right thing for recognition but to make themselves, their
teammates, and their teams better,” Wilson said.
“Austin is the epitome of what a Tennessee Tech
student-athlete should be. Heis mature beyond his years, he has
never missed or been late to a workout, and he goes above and
beyond to improve humself,” said Kramer. "He is a married,
family man who is an outsanding example for all of our younger
student-athletes. He never makes excuses, and he's the most
coachable kid I have ever coached."
An example of Tallant's leadership came in the Golden Eagle
football game at Tennessee State in September, when the senior
played the entire game despite fighting the flu. Tallant interepted
a pass and returned it to the end zone for Tech's only points of
the game.
"He plays every play, no matter how tired or beat up he might be,"
Kramer said.
Now considered one of the most experienced defensive players in
the Ohio Valley Conference, the Alcoa, Tenn., product is in his
fourth season as a starter, and has posted double figures in
tackles in 14 games including three this season. He has posted 314
career tackles and continues to climb the all-time chart after
getting 13 tackles against Murray State and UT Martin, and 10 last
week against Eastern Illinois.
In the opening game of his true freshman season, Austin was thrust
into the spotlight at the University of Iowa after a season-ending
injury to projected starter Marty Jones. Tallant started every game
the remainder of that year, and every game since (except one
contest in 2012 that he missed entirely due to injury). If he
finishes the year with starts in the remaining three games, he will
tie the school record for most career starts with 44, a record set
in 1991-94 by center Tracy Russell. If not for the missed game at
Murray State in '12, he would be taking aim at breaking the
record.
Tallant was one of six student-athletes nominated for the
October Unsung Leader Award, and was selected by a committee. The
initial Unsung Leader Award went to senior Ellen Conti of the TTU
volleyball team for September.
One student-athlete, nominated by his/her coaching staff, will be
selected and recognized for exemplifying outstanding leadership
qualities during the past month. The leadership can be shown on the
field, in the weight room, at practice, in the classroom, in study
hall, on campus, in the community, for a student club or
organization..
This award honors a varsity student-athlete who has made a
positive impact on their team and the Tennessee Tech community as a
whole, through his or her dedication to demonstrating leadership
traits, such as:
* Keep Learning, Growing,
and Improving
* Follow Through with
Excellence
* Accomplish More than
Expected
* Inspire and Motivate
Others