A man for all seasons

He could play baseball or football, but junior second baseman and backup quarterback Chad Huffman can't give up either. That means passing on Spring Breaks and summer vacations too.

By Rick Waters '95

Let’s say Coach Patterson and Coach Schlossnagle walked over here and said, “The NCAA just instituted a rule that student-athletes can only play one sport. There are no more two-sport athletes.” Which do you choose – football or baseball? Aww, man. Thank God that hasn’t happened. I’m not really sure. I don’t think I could choose. They’re both fun. That’s why I play both. Football brings intensity, 50,000 people in the stands, more contact, more physicality. Baseball is more even-keel. There are a lot more games. The pace is laid back, but it’s a mental grind day after day.

So you’re not going to choose? I can’t.

Oh, c’mon. This is hypothetical. So I don’t have to.

OK, compare what a road trip is like between the two. In football, when you’re on the plane headed to the game, it’s dead quiet. Everybody is reading scouting reports and mentally getting ready for the game. With baseball, guys are talking and joking. But the atmosphere has to be loose. We play 56 games in baseball. If we had the same kind of intensity and seriousness as in football, we’d be tight and miserable. Football has fewer games and less margin for error. You have to have that attitude because there are only 11 of them. In baseball, there are more chances. More at bats. Another inning. The next series.

Do you think anybody resents you playing both? Any coach or player say that you should focus on one sport? I’m sure there are people that might have that opinion, but I have good friends in both sports, and I get nothing but support from them. If I told the football team that I wanted to concentrate on baseball, they would say, “That’s great. Do what you gotta do.” It would be the same with the baseball team. Friendship transcends both sports.

But you want to do both? Yeah.

Why? It’s harder. It’s the challenge. In some ways, I feel like I am having twice the college career as others. Not everybody gets to play college football or college baseball. To say that I got to do both, well, that’s just making for a lot of meaningful experiences.

What’s the most difficult part of doing both? The mental challenge. Your mind doesn’t get to rest. For three years, I have been going non-stop. I went from football as a freshman to baseball to summer league. Then back to football to baseball to the Cape Cod League to football and back to baseball. I have not had any time off. After the Houston Bowl, I had 10 days before baseball practice started. And I was working out those 10 days.

And the biggest sacrifice? Having fun with my friends, outside of sports. During baseball season, I will have football guys saying, “Hey, we’re going to the beach this weekend.” I can’t go. During football season, I will have baseball guys saying they’re going on vacation. Can’t go to that either. I am in season all the time.

Harder to hit, curveball or 20-yard-out? Curveball.

Tougher on you as a player, Patterson or Schlossnagle? I'm harder on myself than either. [After being pressed] I guess Schlossnagle.

More important piece of equipment, shoulder pads or cup? [Laughing] Can I say both? I don’t want an injury in either place.

Stays in nicer hotels on the road, baseball or football? Football is what people think. But both teams actually stay in the same places.

Better two-sport star – you or your brother Royce '99? [Laughs] Ha. That’s a tough one. There’s no real comparison because we played in different eras and for different coaches.

That's such a politically correct answer. C'mon. In the backyard after Thanksgiving, who's better? [Laughs] It's too close to call.

In the offseason, the baseball team did yoga. What did they get from that? Well, I missed out because I was with the football team, but apparently they liked it. It helps with balance and strength. But they laughed about it. Cracked jokes. It was a team-building exercise.

But it’s hard though? Yeah, really hard. I have done it on my own before because it does good things for your body. It keeps you flexible and loose. I work out almost every day, but after I did yoga, I was sore for days. It makes you use muscles you don’t even realize you have.

You normally don’t use batting gloves. Why? Two reasons. Either, I am usually sweating too much and I can’t hold onto the bat. Or it’s really cold outside.

But everybody is using them. That aluminum bat produces a lot of vibration. I’ve always felt better without gloves. Ever since I was growing up. When I put gloves on, the grip feels a little thicker to me. I like a thinner handle. I don’t like tape. Just the rubber handle. A few times I’ve used pinetar, but not that much. I just feel more comfortable.

Take me through your routine at the plate. I always walk up real slow and visualize myself getting set. Assess the situation. Who’s on. How many out. I look down the line to Coach Siegel, who gives me the sign. If it’s swing away, I hold my bat up even with my head, shut my eyes, take a deep breath, dig in a little bit and imagine driving the ball to the right-center field wall.

What about your stance? Slightly open I guess. I’m not really even thinking about it. I’m just getting comfortable. With the aluminum bat, I almost get on top of the plate. That’s why I get hit so much. But mostly, I am looking for a pitch I can drive. I don’t want to take myself out of an at bat by swinging at bad pitches in the dirt. When I get a pitch to hit, I make sure I keep my hands inside and stay back.

You spent the summer in the famed Cape Cod League. What was that experience like for you? It’s the summer of my dreams. The competition was unreal. Every pitcher was good. Every player was good. The whole town comes out to the games and supports the players. It was like being a mini-celebrity.

You stay with a family there, right? Yeah, I stayed with a family named the Burns. They host a player every summer. They’ve had some of my friends in past years. They cook for you. Give you a place to do laundry. Give you a comfy bed. I felt like I had the red carpet rolled out for me.

So what did you learn about yourself as a player? I learned how to hit. You play here with aluminum bats and you can get away with a lot of things. Bloop hits can turn into line drives. Average hits can turn into home runs.  It’s all wood bats up there. You try some of those things up there and you’re going to break your bat. It’s a different game. You lose power. It’s harder to drive the ball.  But that makes you more selective. You have to stay back and wait for good pitches. Otherwise you are going to get cut up.

While you were up there, you got to take batting practice at Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox) with some other college all-stars. What was the coolest thing about that? I realized just how strong those major league players are. It is pretty short down the line in left field [where the famous Green Monster wall stands] but it’s pretty high. I hit balls over there. I was trying to get them up, but I couldn’t get them high enough to get over that thing.

So you couldn’t get one over the Monster? It’s so high. I kept hitting them off the wall. I don’t know if my swing was meant to hit the ball that high.

Then how in the world did you win the home run contest at the Corpus Christi Tournament? Credit Coach Sigel. He threw me strikes middle-in, right where I want them, and I made some good swings.

That was it? Yeah, pretty much. I just made good contact.

You’ve played first base, second base and outfield. What’s your favorite? I like second. There’s more action there. I always have to be moving around. If a guy gets on first, I’m bouncing around, watching if he’s going to steal. There are signs to worry about. In the outfield, there may not be a ball come my way for a couple of innings. I like a little more action.

Your dad [Royce Huffman '72] played at TCU. So did one of your older brothers [Royce Jr. '99]. Was being a Horned Frog a foregone conclusion when you were growing up? Pretty much. I remember wearing my brother’s number 12 purple football jersey for a lot of Christmases. I’ve been purple since I was born. It is a family legacy. It’s a family tradition. And I knew I couldn’t swerve away from that. Plus, I have a lot of friends and family in Fort Worth, and I wanted them to come see me play.

So you didn’t feel burdened with that legacy? Not at all. I definitely wanted to be here. TCU has great academics and athletics.

Lupton Stadium is a pretty nice place to play too. You’re not lying. My brother always kids me about the differences between when he was here and now. He always talks about how he had to endure the old TCU Diamond, and I have this new stadium to play in. He had to walk across the campus to practice, and we have new media rooms in the Justin Center and FieldTurf for the football team. This place is getting nicer and nicer every day.

What kind of advice did your dad and brothers give you about TCU? My dad is always positive with me. Never negative once. I could go 0 for 100 and he’d say, “Tomorrow’s another day.” That helps a lot with the grind of playing two sports all year round. Both brothers help me on the field. Royce [who played football and baseball at TCU] and Scott [who played baseball at Rice] have both been there playing college athletics.

Are you aware of your family being in the stands? Definitely. Royce is still playing AAA ball for the Astros minor league system, so he doesn’t come to many games, but we talk about baseball on the phone all the time. Scott gets to see me play more often because he lives in Fort Worth and he’s not playing anymore. When I come up to the plate, he’s giving me hand signals about what I should be looking for with a certain pitcher or if they see I am doing something wrong. They should know. They taught me my swing. I never had a hitting coach because I have had my brothers. They let me play with them when I was a kid, so everything I know athletically, I learned from them.

You say your most prized possession is your dad’s retirement watch. Why? He worked 25 years and took care of us as a family. He gave it to me as a reminder to take care of my own family in the future.

Where is it now? I wear it. Even in my sleep. Just not in games. But every time I look at it, it gives me strength and inspiration to do my best and conduct myself with integrity, basically to follow his example.

Your freshman year, you broke Royce’s record for hits in a season. How much pressure is there to live up to your family legacy? There isn’t any. They all want me to be the best player I can be. If I do that, I’ll have a respectable career here. Records are nice, but I want to help get TCU past an NCAA regional. If I do that, I’ll have some bragging rights. And Royce will still have his name in the TCU record books.