In the career of a high school football player, the junior year is crucial — especially if he hopes to play in college.

So much rides on a player’s performance — both on and off the field — during that third year.

For the first time, many juniors start showing up on college recruiting radar screens. As they develop physically and mentally, they are expected to take on more responsibility on the gridiron and lay the groundwork for their senior season. And just one year from graduation, they’re also expected to pick up the slack in the classroom.

Put simply, the junior season can make a career — or it can break one.

It’s a fact not lost of Fairview High’s Trett Hardman, a player surrounded by plenty of deserved hype after a breakout sophomore season in 2007.

“I’m looking at it like it’s very important,” he said. “I mean it’s good to perform in-season, but you’re not going to perform in-season unless you work in the offseason.”

A pocket quarterback who flourished in head coach George Redding’s spread offense last season, Hardman passed for over 2,000 yards and earned himself All-State honors in his first full year as a starter.

With all that success, expectations were bound to come. Now entering his junior year, Hardman is expected to again have a stellar season and lead the Aggies back to playoffs.

But none of that will come without a summer full of work — and Hardman knows it. As the midway point of summer nears, the Fairview quarterback is busy almost daily with camps, workouts and anything related to football.

Just last week, the incoming junior was in Troy for Tony Franklin’s individual camp, working on fundamentals and paying attention to the details.

“It was a good meeting all the coaches and talking to them, and talking to some of the high school recruits coming in for their senior year,” Hardman said, adding he’ll attend a UAB camp in July before Fairview gets into its team camp schedule.

Hardman isn’t the only Fairview player attending individual camps this summer. Dex Sullivan, Kyle Stephenson, Alex Hipp and Chase Talley have also been honing their skills all summer.

Stephenson, who also attended Franklin’s camp, said the workouts have helped with his understanding of the game.

“They were all telling us to keep (working) on the fundamentals,” said Stephenson, who will attend a basketball camp in Tuscaloosa next weekend. “And they said it’s all about technique.”

With so many players getting work this summer, Redding said the team is looking tough. And what the second-year head coach has been hearing is music to his ears.

“It was really tough and fun at the same time,” said Hipp, who got to work with Talley in Tuscaloosa. “It was worth it in the end though, all the hard work, because it got me into shape.”

Sullivan, who will be back Tuscaloosa today for an offensive linemen camp, agreed.

“I wanted to be a better football player,” said Sullivan. “You go to these things to get experience and get better as an individual.”

Redding said that type of commitment makes him excited about the season.

“We’ve always had guys go to individual camps, but this year we got a whole bunch of guys doing things,” said Redding, who took over following Fairview’s 1-9 2006 season. “Everyone is staying active and they’re really making an effort to improve.”

Making a transition

Before the summer is out, Redding may see a few changes on the Aggies’ roster.

While attending Nick Saban’s individual camp this month in Tuscaloosa, Stephenson found himself in an unfamiliar position. After being used as a linebacker during his freshman season, Stephenson probably didn’t expect to work as a free safety at Saban’s camp. But that’s exactly where the Alabama coaching staff put him.

“They said they needed somebody that can tackle and be the last resort,” said Stephenson, who also played some at nose guard last season.

Being the last resort could seem like a lot of pressure for an incoming sophomore. But not for Stephenson, who said he thrives on it.

“Everybody is counting on me to pull through,” he said.

Though he learned pass defenses as a linebacker, part of Stephenson’s education for the free safety position includes reading the quarterback.

“(We worked on) learning how to read the quarterback, seeing how the formation is,” said Stephenson. “Also working on my jumps and my form, how to swat the ball away.”

As he continues to learn the position, Stephenson will be hoping to win the starting job this fall. Though it won’t be easy, he said he has a fighting chance.

“I got a good chance because I worked on it all spring,” he said, adding he played free safety during Fairview’s spring game against Madison County. The Aggies gave up just one touchdown against the Tigers while Stephenson said he had “four or five knockdowns.”

Diet and exercise

Though it sounds like something out of a weight loss program, it’s also for football players.

While at their individual camps, Fairview’s players said they received instruction on how to manage their diet and exercise routines.

Some of the instruction, according to what Hardman and Stephenson reported, would be best avoided by those trying to lose weight.

“They told me I need to eat four to five meals a day,” said Hardman, who added the coaches advised staying away from junk food. “I can’t have sweets or sodas, just water and Gatorade.”

In addition to ingesting plenty of calories, Hardman said it’s important to give himself a protein load at least once a day. To get it, he’s substituted protein shakes for one of his meals each day — for the past six months.

“I’ve been eating three meals a day and drinking muscle milk shakes two times a day,” said Hardman. “It counts as a meal and has a good value of protein.”

Hardman said the diet has helped him add about 15 pounds of muscle since the last football season. But even with the extra weight, he hasn’t lost any speed or quickness — thanks to agility work three times a week with SportsFirst’s Kenneth Chambers.

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger and gotten bigger and taller,” said Hardman. “But I have a better 40 (yard dash) time now.”

Stephenson, too, got some interesting advice at individual camp. Besides drinking lots of fluids, the coaches told him to eat plenty of salt.

“They told us how to keep hydrated and they were telling us how to eat and stay healthy,” he said. “Instead of eating a big meal, they told us to eat small portions of meals. And they said use lots of salt.”

According to experts, sodium stimulates muscle contraction and keeps calcium and other minerals soluble in blood.

Prospects

As Hardman knows, this fall could be a turning point for both Fairview and for himself.

While the team continues to build on last season’s remarkable turnaround, Hardman could become a major college prospect.

Listening to him, one gets the impression he and the Aggies will be just fine.

“I don’t really care about myself as a goal, but with the team, we want to get to the playoffs,” said Hardman. “That’s what really matters.”

According to Hardman, even if he doesn’t repeat as an All-State selection, the season will be a success if the Aggies return to the playoffs. And both he and Stephenson think they have a shot.

“I think (our chances) are pretty good,” Hardman said. “The line is really working hard, they’re going to be good. A few receivers are stepping up and catching the ball real well.”

Stephenson agreed.

“We’re looking real good,” he said. “We’re expected to do pretty good.”

But what about Hardman’s own prospects this fall. From the sound of it, he’s taking the right approach there, too.

“They just said that I’ve got to stay good in school and keep working hard like I have been doing,” Hardman said. “You just got to keep playing hard and in the fall you’ve got to make the right grades.”