For a variety of reasons, Carlos Hazelwood played in just 10 football games between fourth grade and his freshman year at Tinley Park.
So forgive Titans coach Chris Vitt for thinking Hazelwood was a little rough around the edges when Vitt “discovered” him as a sophomore.
Vitt, a former assistant, and previous head coach Nick Johnston realized they had a potential big-time player on their hands. Turns out, they were prophetic.
“We knew that if he could get this figured out, he would be a stud,” Vitt said. “It’s a lot of him believing in himself. He bought into it, and now he’s reaping the rewards.”
The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Hazelwood has indeed been a high-caliber player this season for Tinley Park (5-4), which made the Class 5A playoffs for the first time since 2017.
The 16th-seeded Titans open the first round at 7 p.m. Friday on the road against top-seeded Morris (9-0). It comes on the heels of finishing 1-8 in 2021 and 0-9 in 2022.
But Tinley Park is back in the postseason and a big reason why is Hazelwood, a Northern Illinois recruit who plays all three defensive line positions along with right tackle on offense.
Hazelwood didn’t play football at all in seventh and eighth grades, then endured the odd pandemic season as a freshman. But in his first JV game as a sophomore, he had five sacks.
That prompted Johnston and Vitt to promote Hazelwood to varsity. He has been there ever since, exuding an infectious passion you would expect from a vocal leader.
“I like pushing my teammates, and I practice what I preach,” Hazelwood said. “If I tell them what they should do, I show them because I know the team is looking up to me.”
That’s something senior linebacker Austin Kirnbauer appreciates. He has a front-row seat to Hazelwood’s control of the line of scrimmage.
“He’s definitely one of the best defensive linemen I’ve seen play,” Kirnbauer said. “He normally gets guys together.
“Say some of our guys end up in the same spot, he’ll move them over. If they have any questions on what they are doing, he’ll talk to them and give them advice.”
Being new to the varsity as a sophomore, Hazelwood realized he had a long way to go. He recalled his first game, a 24-12 loss at home against Thornwood.
“Mentally I was prepared, but physically, I wasn’t prepared,” he said. “I realized if I wanted to be taken seriously, I had to be in the weight room.”
He did that, and also got a lot of tutelage from former teammates like linebacker Evan King and in particular defensive end Anthony Czerwiec, who was a beacon of positivity even when the Titans went winless a year ago.
Hazelwood carried that lesson over to this year and held firm after Tinley Park lost four midseason games, only to win out against Oak Lawn, Bremen and Oak Forest to earn a playoff spot.
But that’s the mental side of things. What does Vitt see from the sidelines?
“He’s explosive,” Vitt said of Hazelwood. “He can get off the ball and create havoc. We move him around so teams can’t play him at one spot. We want to help Carlos use his abilities the best he can.”
With at least one more game to go, Hazelwood is keeping an eye on his future. He would like to study nursing in college, pursuing a career path taken by his sister and his mother.
As for football, Hazelwood said the recruiting process seemed to start all at one time. But like everything else in his life, he gained a firm grasp of the moment.
“It’s still unbelievable to this day,” he said. “It was like a new coach coming into school every day. It was the kind of problem you want to have.”
Gregg Voss is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.