Ultimatum Motivates Hailey to Fit In : Football: Titan linebacker, who elected to sit out in 1991, is ready to regain his starting job after coach demanded that he lose weight.

FULLERTON —  The redshirt fit, so Cal State Fullerton linebacker Lorenzo Hailey wore it last season.

Hailey was the Titans’ top defensive player in 1990 with 62 solo tackles and 37 assisted tackles for a team-leading total of 99.

But by the following spring, Hailey was about four semesters behind in his schoolwork, his daughter, Shelldon, was approaching her first birthday and needed more of Hailey’s care and attention, and it was apparent that the Titan Sports Complex, Fullerton’s new on-campus stadium, wouldn’t be ready for football until 1992.

Those factors, plus the fact that inside linebacker was the one position at which the Titans were actually pretty well-stocked, persuaded Hailey to sit out the 1991 season.

It seemed a wise choice. Hailey didn’t have to endure another losing season--the Titans, 1-11 in 1990, went 2-9 in 1991. He made some progress academically--the senior from Tulare is entering his fifth year of college and is on track to graduate with a physical education degree after three more semesters.

Hailey worked a few odd jobs and was able to earn some money, and he took care of Shelldon on many weekdays while his girlfriend and Shelldon’s mother, Cheryl Estrala, worked, thus saving day-care costs.

And now he’ll get to play his final college football season in a new stadium, which opens Sept. 5 when the Titans play host to Cal State Northridge, and with a new team that Hailey believes has a better chance for success than the 1991 team.

There was one little--well, make that big problem, though. When Hailey traded the redshirt for his football jersey last spring, he could barely fit into it.

During the year off, the 6-foot Hailey had ballooned from 230 to 255 pounds.

“I worked at Pizza Hut for a few months and was eating a lot of pizza,” Hailey, 21, said. “I’d sneak it home after we closed.”

Hailey also found himself conforming to his daughter’s feeding schedule, which would have been fine had he stuck to toddler-sized portions. But a banana and a handful of Cheerios wasn’t enough to satisfy Hailey.

“Staying home, taking care of the baby, every time she ate, I’d eat,” Hailey said. “It was like a chain reaction.”

Hailey had little time to work out, and daily walks with Shelldon and a softball class in school was about the extent of his exercise. He reported to spring practice a bit bloated, out of shape and in danger of losing his position as well as his desired jersey number.

Hailey, a superstitious sort, wore No. 54 in 1990 but planned to switch to 45 this season, not only because he wore 45 during a successful career at Tulare High, where he was a two-time all-state selection, but because he hoped transposing numbers might spark a reversal of his team’s fortunes.

But the numbers on the scale almost prevented him from switching jersey numbers.

“I told him he’d have a number in the 70s if he didn’t lose weight,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said.

Murphy’s ultimatum--trim down or become a down lineman--motivated Hailey. He lumbered through spring drills, tiring quickly because of the extra weight he was carrying, but quickly began an exercise program and a diet.

He reported to fall camp at 230 pounds. He’s moving much better than he did last spring, and appears poised to regain his starting position at strong inside linebacker.

“He might have been our best defensive player two years ago, which isn’t saying a lot, but we’re happy to have him now,” Murphy said. “He’s a very aggressive player and helps make inside linebacker the deepest position on the team.”

Hailey will be sporting his new jersey, No. 45, this season, and he can only hope that this superstition pays off better than the weekly ones he adopted in 1990, which opened with a victory over Sonoma State and closed with 11 consecutive losses.

“I tried everything, man,” Hailey said. “I changed the way I dressed, played with kneepads, without kneepads, with arm pads, without arm pads, with gloves, without gloves. I tried everything to get my luck to change. Unfortunately, it didn’t. I almost lost hope. By the end of the season it was like, the heck with it, I’ll just go with whatever.”

With the addition of Hailey, who played on College of the Sequoias teams that went 10-1 and 9-2 in 1988 and ‘89, and several incoming community college linemen, the Titans should be improved defensively this season.

The offense, which is switching from a one-back, pro style to a run-oriented option, appears a little shaky, but Hailey believes the Titans can overcome some of their shortcomings.

“We have a different attitude, and there are more people who are challenging for starting positions,” Hailey said. “People aren’t lagging around during practice, they’re always being pushed. We used to be two-deep or one-deep at some positions, but now we have a lot more depth.”

Still, there figure to be a few long Saturdays for the Titans, who were picked to finish last in the Big West Conference and must play at UCLA and at Georgia on successive weekends in September.

But at least when Hailey has a rough day at the office, he can come home to Shelldon, who, though well into that unpredictable stage known as the “Terrible 2s,” always seems to cheer him up.

“Sometimes she’s like a little princess and sometimes she’s like a devil, but when I come home tired, she brightens me up,” Hailey said. “She doesn’t know I’m sore and hurting. She always has so much energy, she’s always smiling, and she always wants to eat everything in sight.

“She might get that from my side of the family.”