NFL scouts needed to get a second home in College Station back in 2014.
The Aggies sent Mike Evans, Johnny Manziel and Jake Matthews to the first round of the draft that year, the first trio of first round picks at A&M since 2014. Kyle Allen, Speedy Noil and future No. 1 pick Myles Garrett entered practice as 5-stars and part of the Ags’ best modern recruiting class ever.
But when Texas A&M ran return drills, scouts’ eyes would turn away from the known stars as they saw a small, skinny, unrated returner take the ball and zoom down the field with ease against elite SEC athletes.
“They’d be like, "Who’s that guy?'” Caleb Eagans said. “I was just fast; I was like a blur.”
But for some whose whole life has been defined by exploding from the starting blocks, Eagans’ path has forced him to be patient. Personal tragedy took him from working out for NFL scouts every day, to nearly dropping out, to one last chance playing for recent national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor in Division III.
Eagans has a plan to make the rare jump from D-III to the NFL: He wants to break the NFL Combine record in the 40-yard dash. And people who would know believe he can do it.
“It’s definitely possible,” said Gary Cablayan, director of performance at Evo Sports Training and trainer to NFL Combine record holder John Ross. “As we all know, 4.2 is flying so it’s never an easy task, but if everything goes well, it’s definitely a possibility.”
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When Eagans graduated from 2A Leon High School in Jewett, the 2014 TAAF Male Athlete of the Year had schools chasing him to play both basketball and football. However, he ultimately settled on a track scholarship at Texas A&M, just one hour south of home.
Texas A&M’s football coaches quickly learned that Eagans was on campus and invited him onto the team as a preferred walk-on.
Unfortunately, after a redshirt season, his mother Danna was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. In just a matter of months, the cancer developed to the point that Caleb had to return home. On Sept. 16, 2015, she passed away, right when Caleb would have been in the midst of his sophomore season.
The following months nearly derailed Eagans. The one-time THSCA All-State Academic team member’s grades tanked after missing so much time. He nearly had to drop out of Texas A&M, and ultimately decided he couldn’t handle both football and track.
“It was a hard time just because I didn’t really have anyone to go to,” Eagans said. “I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. It was just tough for me.”