Bishop Guertin alum Hayden Moses of Hollis throws a pass duirng a recen practice at Vanderbilt University. (Courtesy photo)

Just a few years ago they were putting on the cleats to face each other at one point or another in their high school careers at Stellos Stadium.

Fast forward to August of 2022. Former Bishop Guertin quarterback Hayden Moses is on the practice field at Vanderbilt University.

Oh, but that’s not all. At the same time, former Nashua South quarterback Sean Holland is taking the practice field for the UCLA Bruins.

Pinch them both.

They worked out together over the spring/summer and now they’re both in major college football.

Nashua South alum Sean Holland fires a pass during a recent practice at UCLA. (Courtesy photo)

“I’m super excited for (Holland),” Moses said.

“It’s crazy you know?” Holland said. “I’ve been very lucky and very blessed. I’ve been lucky to have met great people at Nashua, great people at Fordham, and great people here.

“But football is football, regardless. People love it just as much in Nashua as they love it here.”

But Holland looks out at a beautiful practice facility under the Southern California sun. “A great experience; it’s great to kind of learn different input and different perspectives.”

Both ended up seizing opportunities, expected or otherwise. Holland, who wrapped up a four-year career as a backup QB with a degree at Fordham this past year, had one more year of eligibility left due to COVID and wanted to go to grad school.

Moses, meanwhile, was getting more and more playing time at Grinnell (Iowa) College, a Division III school. In fact, he started the last game of the 2021 season.

But he sent out a few applications just to test the waters elsewhere, tempted by the “what could have been”.

“In my mind, I was still in this great spot, there was no downside to it,” he said.

He got accepted at Vanderbilt, reached out to the coaching staff, and after seeing the school and meeting with the coaches, he got a call in the beginning of the summer that there was an opening. He’s at Vandy as a transferring sophomore, majoring in business.

“It worked out pretty great,” said Moses, who missed all but one play of his senior season at BG in 2019 due to a preseason knee injury and also spent a year at Bridgeton Academy.

He’s one of at least six QBs on the roster.

“I got here a couple of days before camp, did some meetings, camp started, and dove right in,” Moses said. “It’s 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., all day every day. … It’s been a little overwhelming at times but the quarterback room is very welcoming.”

Playing catchup, he said, is “tough, but it’s exciting at the same time because it’s a high level.”

•••

HOLLAND’S JOURNEY

For Holland, he was seeking to further his studies in business analytics, and cast a wide net to grad schools and UCLA was right in that net. It had the number two ranked program in the country.

And with the COVID year, he knew he might have an in at UCLA with his New Hampshire connections, as the Bruins are coached by former University of New Hampshire assistant and former NFL head coach Chip Kelly, a Manchester native.

Holland’s coaches at Fordham were UNH alums and he reached out through those them as well as through former longtime UNH head coach Sean McDonald.

“And then,” Holland said, “Coach Kelly reached out to me.”

Then the question was whether there would be a spot on the roster, and there was for camp. He’s been in sunny California at UCLA camp for over a week. And before he got the call, Holland made sure to stay working out and in good shape.

“I figured I’d kick the tires and see if the opportunity was there,” Holland said, “and it was.”

Unlike Moses, Holland has had the taste of Division I football, although certainly not at the UCLA or Vanderbilt level. He didn’t seem in awe at camp.

“There are similarities and differences,” he said. “Being here, Texas and California are huge areas of recruiting. At Fordham, it’s mainly New Jersey and Connecticut people. The facilities are different; Fordham was great. But imagine everyone here being a little bit bigger, a little bit faster. It’s been great here, everyone’s been nice and I’m happy. I’m just looking to play my last year and just contribute to the team.”

Obviously, it’s early as far as the travel squad, etc., and Holland isn’t concerned. He just wants to contribute.

“I’m just looking to pick up the playbook and get up to speed on all the other stuff,” Holland said. “Just obviously meet everybody, and the weight staff, the training staff, etc.”

A Power Five conference school, UCLA has a bigger roster than Fordham, which was at about 90 players. The Bruins, Holland said, are at about 120. And the other difference? “You don’t have to check the weather,” he said. “It’s sunny and 85 every day. Shorts and T-shirt are fine with me.”

The competition is intense. “As you can imagine, the best are recruited here, with legitimate shots at playing at the next level,” Holland said. “You see how everyone goes about their business at a very high level.”

Fordham wasn’t without its NFL hopefuls. Holland’s freshman year two players got a shot, and his last year, a friend got drafted in the middle rounds by the San Francisco 49ers. So one or two a year.

At UCLA, “There’s a legitimate chance for a handful of guys, a lot of guys, for the NFL,” he said. “Or the CFL and things like that. Maybe the ceiling is the same, but here they’re that much bigger, that much faster.

“It’s cool.”

Holland said learning the playbook is all about “building blocks” but he’s had so many coaches from the Kelly tree he’s had a taste of it.

“New Hampshire influence, but also from other coaches from other places,” Holland said. “Maybe the same word might mean something different. But being under Coach Kelly, right here, you’re getting it from the source.

“The best of the best when it comes to athletes and players running it, which is pretty cool to see.”

Imagine when the moment comes and Holland gets into a UCLA game.

“I’m just taking it one day at a time,” he said. “I’m here now looking out at the practice field and the UCLA Bruins and cool stuff, and trying to contribute as much as I can. But we play at the Rose Bowl, so I’m sure my first experience there will be pretty memorable.

“But that’s a month away. A lot of days in between now and then. Just try to get better. But I’m excited for it all.

“It’s been kind of a whirlwind. I’m just trying to enjoy every day.”

•••

FOR MOSES, IT’S STILL FOOTBALL

“It’s definitely different (than Grinnell),” Moses said of the atmosphere at Vanderbilt. “High level, moving fast, very intense, but at the end of the day, football is football in a way.

“You’re playing against guy who are the best at what they do. But the rules of the game are the same, which is comforting.”

Especially for a 20-year-old who has played the game for 15 years.

What was his first day like on the practice field?

“There are some freaks of nature here for sure,” Moses said with a chuckle. “That’s a given with the SEC, right? That’s the reason they’re here; they’re insane human beings.”

But, he noted that at Bridgeton he played with some players headed to the same level, “some 6-8, 350 pound linemen, so I’ve been exposed to it a little bit. But I didn’t have anything like that at Grinnell.

“Everyone here is the biggest, the best, the strongest, the fastest. It’s awesome seeing football played at such a high level.”

The first few days he watched the end of a few summer workouts, and then once he participated and learned some of the plays, “it’s starts to slow down a little bit, so that’s good.”

His first pass in practice was a completion on a rollout to his left, “something I can hang my hat on.”

Vandy has both a turf and grass practice field next to each other, and like Holland, was impressed with the facilities. But Fordham did pretty well in that category being in Division I, but this was a whole new world for Moses, who has already gotten his third pair of shoes and more equipment. The locker room is brand new with reclining leather chairs, a little door in front of your locker where you can fit in and take a nap.

Moses’ typical day? He uses a scooter to get from the dorm to the athletic faculty just before six. Team breakfast at 6:15 a.m., then team meeting at 7:30, around 8:15 a QB meeting, then an offensive meeting, some film work, a 9:30 a.m. walk through, then full practice at 10. Moses is still in an “acclimation phase” so the last hour of a two-hour practice he has to do conditioning/weight room work with the other transfers and incoming freshmen.

But it doesn’t end there. Players weigh in and weigh out after practice, they can go for training treatment, cold tubs, etc. Then lunch, a break at about mid-day – they hand out air mattresses if players want to nap. Later, an hour of talks on what they can do to improve – it’s called “mental performance” – or more weight room work. Dinner, more meetings, and then back out to the field at about 7 p.m. for the final walk-through of the day. Done by 8:30 and back to the dorm.

“Get to bed and get ready for the next day,” Moses said.

Rinse and repeat Monday through Friday, but there’s an inter squad scrimmage on Saturdays, and Sundays are just a couple of meetings.

“That’s kind of our recover day, if you will,” Moses said.

As for who will or won’t travel, Moses doesn’t know exactly how it will all work but he does know everyone on the roster will travel to the season opener at the University of Hawaii on Saturday, Aug. 27. The team is treating it like a bowl game; they will go to Hawaii the week before to get acclimated to the time change, etc. and there are all sorts of team bonding activities lined up, including a visit to Pearl Harbor.

In Moses’ mind, how rare is this jump?

“I would say it’s not really common,” he said. “And at a place like Vanderbilt, which is traditionally hard to get into academically, that’s one of the toughest parts. But to get onto an SEC football program is no easy feat in itself.”

Moses, a Hollis native, jokes, saying that at 5-9 he may be shortest QB in Division I. Like Holland, he knows he has to contribute in other ways. “Whether that’s in the meeting room, or help signaling the plays, whatever you can do to contribute,” he said. “That’s kind of my mentality. Do whatever I can possibly do to contribute and help the team get better each day.”

Moses takes stock in the fact that the Commodores head coach, Clark Lea, was himself a Vanderbilt walk-on.

“One thing that’s important to him is that the walk-ons are treated just like the scholarship guys,” Moses said. “If someone were to come into a locker room or a meeting they wouldn’t have any idea who the scholarship guys are. That atmosphere has been amazing.”

He’s looking for that moment when he runs out of the tunnel on Game Day in uniform and head to the sidelines.

“I think it’s going to feel pretty amazing,” he said. “A lot has gone into it, a lot of work, the application process, keeping up good grades so this could even be possible.”

Moses said he’s doing it for all the people who have supported him as well, friends, family, etc. – including local QB guru Trevor Knight.

“It’s going to be great when they can come tailgating at an SEC football game and see me on the sidelines,” he said. “And share in the experience and share in the sense of victory.”

Remember, this is emotional for Moses, who wondered about his football future after his injury at BG, and worked hard at his rehab.

“I would’t have changed any of it,” Moses said. “It’s all led to where I am now. I’m grateful for how it all played out.”

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