FOOTBALL AND FATHERHOOD: GAINES EAGER FOR UPCOMING CHALLENGES

By Rich Myhre

By Washington Huskies

October 31^st, 2018

Sometime in the coming months, Greg Gaines will complete his five-year University of Washington football career, which includes three full seasons and part of a fourth as a starter on the team’s defensive line. After that, he is likely to receive various individual postseason honors before finding out his professional future in the upcoming National Football League draft.

But in the midst of all those good things, Gaines will await something even more profound and precious.

In late March, Gaines and his wife Sheyeann are due to welcome their first child. Already they know it will be a boy, and already they have a chosen name – Colt Stephen Gaines.

FOOTBALL AND FATHERHOOD: GAINES EAGER FOR UPCOMING CHALLENGES

For Gaines, the name Colt has particular significance. Years ago, it was nearly his own name.

“My parents had an agreement that my dad would name the boys and my mom would name the girls,” he explained. But when he became the family’s second child, and the second son, “my mom was mad that she didn’t get a girl the second time, so she named me Greg. My dad wanted to name me Colt. That was the name he’d picked out, but my mom won that battle.

“But I still think Colt is a really cool name,” he said. “So that’s what I’m going to name my son.”

What kind of dad will he be?

“A good dad,” Gaines said immediately. “I want to teach him everything I know. I’ll teach him to be a good person. I’ll teach him how to fix things. I’ll have him work on the car with me and stuff like that.”

But more than anything, Gaines said, “I just want to be there for him whenever I can. I might be hard on him, like my dad was with me. I think that’s good for him because it builds character. But I’ll also be loving. We’ll definitely rassle around and play football. That’ll be fun.”

Gaines arrived at Washington in the summer of 2014 as a member of head coach Chris Petersen’s first UW recruiting class. Gaines had originally committed to play for Petersen at Boise State University, but then opted to follow him to Seattle after the Huskies hired Petersen in December of 2013.

Despite having a stellar career at La Habra (Calif.) High School, Gaines was not widely recruited, at least among Pacific-12 Conference teams. Before Petersen came to Washington, the only Pac-12 school to offer Gaines a scholarship was Colorado.

Given that he has twice received All-Pac-12 recognition – honorable mention in 2016, second team in 2017 – it is hard to understand how so many recruiters could have been wrong about him.

“I think it’s because I was a little short,” said the 6-foot-2 Gaines. “That’s what all the teams were saying. A Nebraska scout told me, ‘If you were 2 inches taller, you’d be a top-five recruit in the country.’”

But Petersen and his staff had no hesitations, and Gaines ended up becoming another example of UW coaches spotting a gem where other recruiters saw a mere stone. On this year’s squad, linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven, wide receiver Aaron Fuller, center Nick Harris and tight end Drew Sample are all outstanding players who were largely ignored by many top recruiting rivals.

Gaines redshirted as a true freshman in 2014, but has since become an anchor in the middle of Washington’s defensive line. “He’s basically the cornerstone of our defense,” said UW defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe.

Gaines “is what this program is about,” Malloe went on. “He’s a true blue-collar worker. And his leadership skills have been awesome this year. He’s helping to teach by example (on the field) as well as (verbally) in the meeting room. He’ll collect the freshmen and teach them on his own.

“And then just all the plays he makes. That’s truly from all the hard work he put in during the offseason that’s carrying over to right now.”

After his redshirt season, Gaines played in all 40 games of the next three seasons and the first nine games of 2018. He started six games as a redshirt freshman in 2015, and he has since started every UW game.

“It’s been really awesome watching him all these years,” said UW defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake. Particularly as an upperclassman, Lake added, Gaines “has been an unbelievable leader for our young defensive linemen. You always want to listen to your position coach, of course, and Coach Malloe does an unbelievable job. But it’s added value when a veteran like Greg can also take the young guys aside and say, ‘OK, Coach said it this way, I’m going to tell you this way,’ and then maybe it clicks a little bit more. So Greg’s done a really good job with all those young guys.”

One of a handful of fifth-year seniors on this year’s squad, Gaines says his greatest growth since arriving at Washington “has been mental toughness. Nothing can really get me down now. I see every adversity as a challenge to overcome. When I was a freshman, I was like, ‘Oh, this (is hard), I don’t want to do it.’ But now I see it as a challenge to overcome, and I know that adversity is going to make me stronger and better.”

Indeed, he anticipates more obstacles in the future. Despite his college accomplishments, “NFL teams still think my arms are too short and that I’m too short. But I like proving people wrong,” he said with a smile.

With the end of his UW career in sight, Gaines is eager to move on to new challenges, both in football and in fatherhood. But he is also grateful for what has been a remarkable UW experience.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun,” said Gaines, who will graduate after fall quarter with an undergraduate degree in communications. “Overall, it’s been great. I’ll never regret coming to Washington or staying for another year (instead of declaring for the NFL draft after last season). I love it here. I’ve had such a great time. It’s been like the best five years of my life.”