Capo Valley’s Hayden Cook on commitment to Western New Mexico

One of Orange County's sleeper running backs has chosen where to play his college football. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11168327/Hayden-Cook">Hayden Cook</a> of Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo) committed to Western New Mexico University last Wednesday. Cook is a running back who also makes plays as a return man on special teams. He is a little small at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds but is shifty and has good field vision. He is best used in sweeps and off tackle runs where he excels at either turning the corner and outrunning linebackers or finding cutback lanes. At the high school level, he is shifty when running between the tackles and doesn't shy away from contact. Cook is one of the many prospects that would have benefitted from playing a full senior season. He split carries with <strong>Deandre Lenard</strong> last season and would have gotten the lion's share of the carries this season. He rushed for 320 yards on 58 carries with two touchdowns and averaged 18 yards per kick return. I predicted him to be a lock to have a 1,000 all-purpose yards season. A few schools saw enough of Cook's junior season film to pull the trigger and offer him. Clarke University, Benedictine College and Western New Mexico offered him and Western New Mexico stood out. https://twitter.com/Haydencook24/status/1352093340523642884?s=20 "My core decision to commit to Western New Mexico was primarily based on the coaching staff, brotherhood and culture involved with their football program," Cook said. "Everything about the university seemed a very good fit for me and my parents thought so too." Western New Mexico's new offensive coordinator <a href="https://wnmumustangs.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1640&amp;path=football">Buddy Blevins</a> played a big part in convincing Cook to commit to the Mustangs. Cook never got a chance to visit Western New Mexico's campus or the town of Silver City, but did a virtual tour and loved the campus. This offseason, Cook has been active, putting on size, working on his speed and even playing some club football with San Clemente running back and Arizona commit [player_tooltip player_id="25122" first="James" last="Bohls"]. "During offseason I dedicated a great deal of time to speed training, I recently got my 40 time down to a 4.38," Cook said. "I've also committed to lifting weekly trying to build my body up for the next level. I played club football for six weeks in the hard knocks program for Winner Circle Athletics." https://twitter.com/Haydencook24/status/1303047223928733696?s=20 If Capo Valley gets a chance to play some football games this spring, they will play in the Sea View League, a league with slightly less competition than the South Coast League, where they played last season. Cook will be one of the fastest players in the league and is hopeful that the team gets a chance to play. "It does excite me to play those rival schools in the Sea View league because I get to play against kids I grew up with and trained with when I was younger," Cook said. "I also get to play alongside my brothers on my team one last time if I'm blessed enough to get this season." Cook credits the coaching staff at Capo Valley for helping develop his skills and mentor him. Coach Sean Curtis took over for the very successful <strong>Ernie Bucher</strong> who led the Cougars to three consecutive CIF championship games. "I've never had the pleasure to have Coach Bucher as a full-on varsity coach as he left when I was a sophomore. Coach Curtis on the other hand has showed me what it takes to get to the next level, he is an outstanding coach alongside Coach Vanevery and Coach Stevens," Cook said. "They all played an integral part in getting me to this point in my life. I am truly blessed to have them as coaches/mentors in my life."