Hayden Hansen’s first trip back to Gainesville as a visitor hit him before the game even started.
Riding into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with his Oklahoma teammates on Saturday afternoon, the former Florida tight end felt the emotion build. Gainesville had been home for four seasons, and The Swamp held plenty of memories, including a touchdown catch against Florida State in what turned out to be his final game as a Gator.
That history came rushing back in a hurry. Then Hansen went out and added a new chapter, catching a touchdown to help Oklahoma beat Florida 23-7.
“You never really realize how much a place means to you until you come back for the first time after leaving,” Hansen said after the game. “... You pour your heart and soul into a place for four years, you come back and you want it so bad.”
Hansen’s path to Oklahoma started after Billy Napier’s firing in the middle of last season, when he decided to look for a new home for his final year of college football. He committed to the Sooners before Jason Witten’s official hiring as tight ends coach, though he had a strong sense Witten would be joining the staff.
Napier even reached out to Brent Venables and told him, “Man, you’re getting one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around in coaching,”
That reputation has carried over in Norman. Venables praised Hansen’s impact well beyond the box score, saying, “He’s overdelivered,” Venables said.
“He’s been everything we wanted and then some. His passion, his investment, his connection with the guys, his care for his opportunity at Oklahoma - not just a hired hand, but a guy that really makes everybody around him better.”
Witten echoed that same theme, pointing to Hansen’s team-first approach and the work that often goes unnoticed.
“He’s all about the team - the team, the team,” Witten said. “That’s what he stands for.
Whatever is best for the team. (He) kind of does the dirty work as the tight end and for him to get that touchdown in the goal line was a special moment.
“To have played as much football as he has and to come in in January and be open to new ideas, new techniques, new schemes, that wasn’t lost on me just his readiness to take on new coaching and to be challenged in a different way.”
Witten had told Hansen all week that a goal-line look might be coming his way if the situation presented itself. Early in the second quarter, with Oklahoma facing second-and-goal from the Florida 3, the call came in. Hansen finished it off for his second touchdown catch of the season.
"It meant everything to me," Hansen said. "It's a lifetime memory."
In a season that has already asked plenty of Oklahoma’s offense, Hansen has been one of the steady pieces holding things together. And this week, with an offensive coordinator change arriving at the same time as his return to Gainesville, his leadership stood out again.
“He was one of the leaders that stood out front this week for us,” Venables said, adding that he handed Hansen a game ball after the win.
“I’ll put it in my house for the rest of my life,” Hansen said.
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