Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Small-town fullback Hans Carmien earns scholarship
08/14/2015 | 12:00:00 | Football
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - When you ask Saluki fullback Hans Carmien a question, he gets straight to the point. No hesitation or carefully calibrated answers. There's a hint of humility in his voice. He doesn't like to brag about himself, but you can tell he's proud to represent tiny Fisher, Ill. as a Division I scholarship football player.
Fisher is a small farming community north of Champaign, Ill. Carmien's graduating class was 41 strong, and he played fullback in the team's Wing T offense. It was nothing fancy -- just get the job done.
"Smashmouth-cowtown is what my head coach back home called it," Carmien said.
Carmien started all four seasons in high school for the Bunnies, led his team in rushing and tackles as a senior, and earned All-State honors. College coaches barely noticed -- he had walk-on offers from SIU and Eastern Illinois.
"I really liked Coach Lennon -- him being a fullback himself," explained Carmien on why he picked Southern Illinois. "I think fullback is his favorite position on the field."
After redshirting in 2013, Carmien went from unknown walk-on to the team's starting fullback in 2014. He played in all 12 games and was honorable mention All-Conference. A 6-foot-2, 230-pound bulldozer, he didn't have any carries but caught six passes, including two for touchdowns. His first-career TD came in Week 2 against No. 14-ranked Eastern Illinois and helped secure the victory early in the fourth quarter.
"A fullback is a role player," Carmien acknowledged. "You do your job when you're called upon. You always have to stay motivated and pumped on the sideline. It's a pretty important job and I like the role."
He did the job so well that Lennon placed him on scholarship after the season. As a lead blocker in Southern's backfield, he's a battering ram. Asked what he likes best about playing fullback, he simply said, "you get to run into people."
Carmien has big shoes to fill, as he succeeds Ray Agnew, who is entering his second season in the NFL. He admires what Agnew has accomplished, but is not thinking any farther ahead than tomorrow's practice.
"I'm pretty blessed to have this opportunity here," Carmien said. "Just like in high school, I try to do the little things right and do my job to the best of my ability."
It should not come as a complete surprise that Carmien is succeeding at the Division I level. His dad, Tab Carmien, played linebacker at Illinois and intercepted two passes in 1978. After graduation, his dad went back to the family farm, which was originally purchased by Carmien's German-immigrant grandfather.
There wasn't much free time in Hans Carmien's life growing up. Football practice was at 7 a.m. so that kids would be available to work on the family farms in the afternoon. A corn and soybean farmer, Tab often worked sun-up to sundown. His mom, April, worked 12-hour shifts as a nurse.
"Both my parents pushed me hard," Carmien said. "I spent a lot of long hours sitting in a tractor. Seeing what they do is very inspiring."
Whenever his football career ends, the agribusiness economics major plans to return to the family farm. Until then, his motto when it comes to playing football is just what you'd expect from a no-nonsense farm boy.
"Stay healthy, play hard, be tough," he said.
