Dom Amore: This UConn football defensive ‘star’ rising from walk-on to key contributor
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STORRS — Back in Malvern, Pa., outside of Philadelphia, Dave Gueriera has been getting video clips from UConn’s first two football games. One of them struck home immediately, and sticks with him.
“He made a tackle where he rocked the kid back,” Gueriera said. “It was really a bang-bang play and the ballcarrier went backwards. It’s not because he’s big or because he weighs a lot, it’s because technically he’s a very good tackler. He hit the guy perfect, square, fundamentally sound and for me it was like, ‘yeah, you know what? That’s Hayden Pegg right there.'”
Gueriera was Pegg’s coach at Malvern Prep, and there he learned what UConn is now discovering, too. Whatever his size, whatever his “measurable” physical skills, Hayden Pegg is a football player, and all that term implies.
“One-hundred percent,” Gueriera said. “Inside, he’s a football player. His make-up is a football player. Always in the right spot. You told Hayden what to do one time, and that’s all you needed to tell him. He is just a very cerebral player. The knock on him was that he was ‘too skinny,’ but nobody told him that. Coming out of high school, we thought he was worthy of a scholarship and unfortunately that didn’t happen, but I’m not surprised he’s where he is now. He’s a winner.”
Pegg also played basketball, with his brother Ryan, at Malvern Prep. His knack for game-changing interceptions on the football field earned Pegg the nickname “Mr. Pick Six” from his high school coaches, but it did not earn him any scholarship offers. College coaches have their notions of size and speed for this position or that, but as he graduated in 2023, UConn’s coaches under Jim Mora offered him a chance to be a preferred walk-on, and Gueriera, certain they would eventually see what he saw, encouraged Pegg to take it.
“We just felt the longer he stays there, the more the likelihood the UConn staff and program is going to realize what they have,” Gueriera said.
“Recruiting, I didn’t have much coming out, I was an undersized guy,” Pegg said. “I felt that they really wanted me here (at UConn), and all I could ask for was an opportunity and I took it and the rest is history.”
Pegg, listed at 6 feet 3 and 211 pounds, hardly looks like a linebacker out of uniform, but he put in the long, hard days of “gritty work” in the weight room and on the scout teams during practices. Last season, he got into nine games on special teams, made a few tackles. There wasn’t much on film when he dipped his toe in the transfer portal, and he came back to UConn when the new coaching staff offered him, again, the only thing for which he’s ever asked.
“I talked to coach (Ryan) Manalac in December and he told me about his process and what his plans were for this year and I totally bought in,” Pegg said. “He said I could have an opportunity and that’s all I could ask for.”
Manalac, Jason Candle’s defensive coordinator, began finding ways to employ Pegg’s size and skill set. He has played some linebacker, and some at the “star” position, a hybrid role that is part nickel defensive back, part strong-side ‘backer, blending a D-back’s coverage skills with linebacker-physicality.
In other words, it’s a job for a “football player.” And Pegg has taken to it.
Pegg was in for 26 of 76 defensive snaps vs. Lafayette, getting in on five tackles, one solo, and 40 of 82 snaps vs. Maryland, in on seven tackles, five solo, including that one tackle for a loss, stuffing Harry Dalton III for a loss on a 3rd-and-1 at the end of the first quarter. As a part-time player, Pegg is third on the defense in tackles. He’s broken up a pass in each game, too.
“Great attitude and effort guy,” Candle said. “Brings the same energy every day to practice. Incredible competitive spirit, earns every thing he gets and his practice reps look like his game reps. The more opportunities he gets, he continues to answer the bell. Those are the type of guys you want in your program, those are the type of guys the other guys naturally root for because they’re doing it the right way. I’m happy he’s in our program.”
Dom Amore: Now UConn must pick up pieces, and there are lots of them, and move on from Maryland
These, indeed, are the kids, the stories, that make UConn football fun and worthwhile — the overlooked high school players, the ones who take the opportunity without promises and bet on themselves. Pegg, a finance major, is still not on scholarship, but he’s earning what he gets, and he’s fine with that.
“You’ve got to do the gritty work,” Pegg said. “You’ve got to learn how to do the fundamentals of football. Nothing’s too big, nothing’s too small. … Still trying to improve myself every day.”
Two years of gritty work behind him, Pegg got his new assignment just before game time on Sept. 5. The Huskies (1-1) play at Southern Mississippi on Saturday night, as their season, and Pegg’s, continues to take shape.
“You’ve always got to be ready for your moment,” he said. “(The first tackle) was pretty exciting, I mean, like I said, it’s all that built up energy from all the work I’ve done. It’s just my journey. So it’s been quite an amazing experience, but it’s just the beginning.”
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