Spring football about over, but work just beginning for OU center Ty Darlington

Or to President Boren’s office for an update on the response to the SAE crisis.

Or to a residence hall to host a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting.

Or to a gathering of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee members.

Or back home to study for one of his classes in OU’s adult higher education masters program, or to bone up on issues he will discuss at the Big 12 Conference’s “State of College Athletics” forum on April 20 in Washington, D.C.

But since it was just 8:45 a.m. at the time, you could still catch Darlington carrying a box full of academic, service and leadership awards around the University of Oklahoma Memorial Union, site of the school’s annual scholar-athlete breakfast.

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione had just spent the past half hour congratulating Darlington for one honor after another, when someone suggested he might hang onto his job long enough for Darlington to eventually take it over.

“He may have bigger sights than that,” a grinning Castiglione said. “He’s exceptional. I start to run out of adjectives.”

Football fans appreciate Darlington for his work as OU’s starting center. The 300-pound senior will be relied upon to anchor an offensive line featuring three new starters next season.

Those around campus moved past appreciating Darlington for just football a few years ago.

“After he came to campus and saw opportunities to contribute, whether it was in community service, his own team activities, the Student-Athletes Advisory Council, he began to embrace those opportunities,” Castiglione said, “and be one of the first student-athletes to raise their hand, volunteer, come to meetings consistently, or be wherever somebody needed to be.”

That is how Darlington eventually became an FCA leader, a SAAC vice chairman, a football team captain, and something of a go-to guy when times, and topics, became complex.

The morning after the world saw OU’s SAEs spewing their racist chant on that bus, Darlington gathered with fellow team members and OU athletes on the campus’ South Oval, walked with them to the Switzer Center courtyard, led them in prayer, then stayed and spoke briefly with coach Bob Stoops as the group dispersed.

It remains a terribly serious issue and, therefore, continues to occupy much of Darlington’s attention.

“We actually met with President Boren,” he said Tuesday morning. “Me, Eric Striker and members of other athletic teams met with representatives of all of the fraternity councils yesterday and that was incredible and really positive. I met a bunch of people that are really all in with what they want to do.”

“We brainstormed on different ways to become more involved, whether by having a dinner or something where we invite members of different Greek organizations to participate and we get to know them, or us coming to speak at their events, or us attending them or helping to promote their stuff. Trying to do the little things to develop a relationship.”

Darlington wants to make integration a national issue, but not just by race.

“Sometimes athletes segregate themselves and campuses are segregated based on whether you’re an athlete or not, or based on your fraternity,” he said. “We want to make the campus more whole and more of a community, and make athletes more involved in campus life. I think that’s something that can applied to every university.”

It is an issue Darlington is sure to address next week at the Big 12’s forum, where he will try to duplicate the splash he made at the NCAA Convention last January. Topics then included adding value to athletes’ scholarships, as well as safeguards to athletes’ health and well-being.

“I’m really encouraged to see the things that we implemented in January, we talked about, are coming to fruition. Change is really happening,” Darlington said. “I’m getting the numbers back and I’m seeing where in August … we’re going to start seeing this amount of money in our checks. It’s one thing to talk about doing it, but it’s another to actually see it take place.”

There is the end of spring football to tackle as well. Darlington said that occupies most of his afternoons.

There is course work at night.

“I really want to coach. I love the game and I don’t want to get too far from it,” Darlington said. “But in the future, I do want to get involved in athletic administration. I’ll be done with that masters program not this May but the following May when my scholarship is up.”

There are videos to upload to social media, like the one promoting OU’s SAAC involvement in the N7 field day benefiting Native American kids. Pictures, too, like the one of Darlington and OU quarterback Trevor Knight promoting the FCA on the State Capitol floor.

All in a day’s work for a guy who squeezes roughly 24 weeks into 24 hours.

“Me and Trevor, we’ve been praying for two years now about several specific things. One, that God would expand our territory and give us more influence and give us more responsibility,” Darlington said. “And we’ve seen that happen in a lot of different ways.”