Gunn has high hopes in his return
By Brent Yarina
Assistant Sports Editor

The last time Frog fans saw him in uniform, he was being carted off the playing field at Amon Carter Stadium, unsure about his future in football.

This season, however, Tye Gunn says he is fully recovered from an injured knee and hopes his future includes leading the Frogs to their second consecutive conference championship.

“Last year was a tease for me,” Gunn said. “I started four games, and out of the blue I got hurt without even getting hit. We were on a roll, winning four straight conference games, and to have that job taken away, it hurt.”

Gunn said his recovery from the injury went extremely well. In fact, he said, the injury usually requires eight months to one year of rehabilitation but that his recovery took only a little over four months.

“The knee gets tight every once in a while,” Gunn said. “It’ll be fine, and I’m not worried about it acting up.”

Head coach Gary Patterson said he expects Gunn to be healthy this year and to pick up from where he left off following his injury against Southern Miss.

“Tye hasn’t shown any ill effects since the spring, and he’s looking great,” Patterson said.

Gunn not only said his knee is fully recovered but that he is also ready to assume a larger leadership role this season in a youthful offense, following the departure of Sean Stilley, LaTarence Dunbar and Adrian Madise.

Gunn said he learned a lot about football and leadership from last year’s veterans, especially Stilley.

“Sean was a good friend on and off the field,” he said. “He taught me a lot about how to act, and that will help me a lot.”

In the absence of Stilley, his biggest competitor from last season, Gunn said he intends to serve as the offense’s leader by acting appropriately off the field and by utilizing his athletic abilities on the field.

Gunn said he is excited to get back on the field and that he can’t wait to use the numerous offensive weapons he has at his disposal this fall.

“We’re coming together as a unit and are all on the same page,” he said. “We have big-play potential.”

Gunn said wide receiver Reggie Harrell, a junior, and senior Bruce Galbert have been catching everything he has thrown their way this summer. He said the entire offensive line has matured and sophomore Lonta Hobbs has done a great job running the ball out of the backfield.

Harrell, who is also the conference champ in high hurdles, said he expects big things from this year’s offense. He said he is particularly impressed with how well Gunn has recovered from surgery.

“He’s made a miraculous comeback,” Harrell said. “He looks good on rollouts and is back to his regular self.”

Harrell said he and Gunn have developed a great rapport since the end of last season by working out together all summer to get their timing and patterns down.

Gunn also said this summer’s workouts were beneficial and that he is anxious for the season to kick off so he can prove to everyone his knee is healthy.

“There will be no problems with the knee this year,” Gunn said. “It’s all behind us now.”

With a healthy surgically-repaired knee and one year of college football under his belt, Gunn said he expects to have a terrific comeback year. He said he is determined to replace the image of himself lying on the field in agony last season with the image of him raising the C-USA championship trophy.