Courtesy: Hillsdale Athletic Department

Senior Hunter Sperling’s football career began with a lie to his coach. After he played a year of tackle football for the first time when he was 7, he decided he was never going to play again. Now, Sperling has been nominated as a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy — the “Academic Heisman” award given to student athletes with outstanding football ability and exemplary leadership on the field, in the classroom, and in the community, according to the National Football Foundation website.

“I didn’t find out that I was a semifinalist until Hillsdale released it on X,” Sperling said.

Sperling is a defensive lineman majoring in economics and minoring in finance. He said his nomination as semifinalist is more of a testament to his fellow teammates than it is to him.

“There’s tons of guys on the team who are aspiring medical doctors, aspiring lawyers and still make time to get really good grades at a really good school, but also still make time to focus on football and try to go out there every single game on Saturday,” Sperling said. “There’s a ton of very high-achieving and high characters here that push me to be better and develop every single day.”

Sperling is a two-time recipient of Hillsdale’s President’s Scholar-Athlete Award, a four-time recipient of Academic All-G-MAC honors, and a 2024 CSC Academic All-District recipient, according to the Chargers press release.

“Our coach always talks about compartmentalizing your life, being able to leave the academics up the hill,” Sperling said. “When you go to practice, you can’t be thinking about the exam that you have the next day. You’ve got to be totally locked in on what’s going on in practice, and same thing goes for when you’re studying for an exam.”

Sperling’s favorite sport was baseball when he was young.

“At a baseball game, the old football coach who I had the past year asked me if I was playing again, and I was too afraid to tell him no, so I told him that I was playing again,” Sperling said. “Some time had passed, and he asked me, ‘When are you going to sign up?’ ‘I’m signing up soon.’ My parents didn’t want me to be a liar, so I ended up having to play another year, and ended up falling in love with it that second year.”

Sperling attended a small Christian school in Chicago for high school, and he said he knew playing college football would be a different challenge than high school. Sperling was set on a college five minutes from his house, but before committing, he decided to visit Hillsdale, who had reached out to him through email.

“When I was here, meeting the coaching staff, meeting some of the players, I absolutely just fell in love with the place and the emphasis that they put on forming good men, but also Christian men through football, that was something that was super important to me as well,” Sperling said.

Senior left guard Ryan Strasser, who was Sperling’s freshman year roommate, said Sperling has always been “a stand-up guy.”

“For the time that I’ve known him, he’s always been someone who just goes out of his way to make sure that you got everything you need,” Strasser said. “I remember when one of our teammates had something drastic happen, and he went to go visit them all the way in Wisconsin for something they needed. He’s always been that guy that teammates looked up to.”

Head coach Nate Shreffler, who has known Sperling for the past five years and has coached him for two seasons, said Sperling is respected by everyone associated with the football program.

“His rare combination of size, speed, power, and technique, has allowed him to be a dominant defensive tackle,” Shreffler wrote in his recommendation letter for Sperling to the National Football Foundation. “Hunter’s intelligence, readiness, willingness, toughness and unselfishness have made him into the player he is today.”

Shreffler said Sperling is a natural leader who performs consistently at a very high level and serves as a mentor to his teammates.

“He is a great listener, shows patience, is direct, confident, and has a joyful personality,” Shreffler said. “At the conclusion of our pre-season camp, Hunter’s teammates honored him with the greatest sign of respect by voting him to be one of our team captains this fall and I cannot think of anyone more deserving.”

Strasser said Sperling is not the stereotypical, loud football captain, but his leadership lies in his humility and hard work.

“It’s just the work he puts in that exhibits his leadership around the other guys,” Strasser said. “If a guy messes up, he’ll let him know, but in a way that isn’t gonna shame the other guy.”

Sperling said as hard as Hillsdale is, working through the challenging classes and busy schedule was worth it.

“If anyone has told you that they never felt like they wanted to transfer or quit at some point they’re probably lying; it is hard to be successful here, both as a football player and as a student,” Sperling said. “And so if you are feeling those feelings, trust me, you’re not alone, and if you do stick it out, it’ll be one of the greatest decisions you’ve ever made.”

While Sperling’s football career at Hillsdale ended with an ACL injury a few weeks ago, Shreffler said Sperling has not faltered in his responsibilities to the team.

“He is at practice, helps the younger players, travels to the games with the team, and continues to do everything he can to help us be successful,” Shreffler said. “Hunter is everything I could have ever asked for in a captain and his contributions have made Charger Football and Hillsdale College better.”