After Hayden signed to play on the Hill after a successful career at Lexington Christian Academy, he played as a true freshman in a back-up role to WKU's all-time leading rusher Lerron Moore.
It was real different because I was playing (Class A) ball in Kentucky," Hayden said. "But it was a different experience and one I tried to take advantage of the opportunity and learn along the way."
Hayden amassed 315 yards on 64 carries, finishing third in rushing on the team­ in 2006 and then things changed not only for him, but also for the program.
WKU voted to transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision and in that first year of transitional play, Hayden had a breakout season.
"He improved really quickly, really early in his career," running backs coach Stuart Holt said." Coming off his freshman year where he was a back up and got some reps. And then his sophomore year he really had a breakout year. He kind of became a go-to guy. He was very solid week in and week out."
Rushing for 1,134 yards on 205 carries, Hayden finished with the ninth best rushing season in WKU history. He also finished the season with 10 touchdowns and recorded four 100-yard games, and also led the team in rushing in nine games.
"I've gotten to experience a lot of things at a lot of different times," Hayden said. "It's been different and something I've had to adjust to from year to year. And there's something from each of those years that I've learned that I can take with me for the rest of my life."
Things didn't stop for Hayden after his successful sophomore season. He went on to rush for 388 yards last season and was earned the Romeo Crennel Leadership Award at the end of spring practice in 2009.
"The best thing I could say about Ty, is he's just top notch all the way around," Holt said. "Academics, socially, athletically he's represented this university in an extremely positive way."
Hayden signed to play at WKU late in the signing period during his senior year of high school; a year Holt said the Hilltoppers weren't even planning on taking a running back but ended up doing so.
"My original draw was really the atmosphere when I walked on campus. It was just a great feeling when I arrived here," Hayden said.
Since coming to WKU, Hayden has rushed for over 1,800 yards ranking him just outside the career top 10.
"The word that comes to my mind is consistency," Head Coach David Elson said. "He just comes out and gives you the best everyday. Not necessarily real flashy, but he gets the job done and he's a team guy. He hasn't gotten the same number of reps and carries he has in the past but he comes out everyday and you know he's a guy you can count on. "
Holt echoed those sentiments.
"Ty is just a class act," Holt said. "He's got a great attitude, a tremendous work ethic. He just wants to help the team win. He'll do whatever is asked of him. He's the kind of guy you want on the team. He's the real deal."
Off the field, Hayden is all about footwear.
Hayden said he owns about 50 or 60 pairs, with his favorite pair being the Nike AirMax 95.
As for his football cleats, Hayden also said he his picky.
"I don't like having real old football cleats. I like to have a fresh pair as much as possible."
And Hayden is yet to rule out the thought of continuing to wear his football cleats after he graduates from WKU. He said he hopes to keep training in the spring and hopes that there are some opportunities presented in the Canadian Football League.
For now, Hayden said he will continue to train and he also said he hopes to dip his feet in the business world after interning at a car dealership this past summer.
"I don't want to have any regrets when I leave, so I'm going to train, go to class, go to work and go from there."
Hayden said he is very business minded and wants to get into real estate if he were to pick an area of business to focus on.
"Ty is a guy that is going to go out and be successful," Elson said. "I think he's had a great experience here. We've had a great experience here with him. I think he could be a great ambassador for our program for a long, long time."
And with the success Hayden has had throughout his career, it is pretty likely that not only will Hayden become an ambassador like Elson hopes, but that his mark on the record books will be left as well.
