MAJOR ADVANTAGES: Aeronautics program allows Averett student-athletes to soar on, off field

Adrian Earle was 6 years old when he remembers taking his first airplane ride on a family trip from Texas to California. He got to meet the pilot and was pinned with his very own plastic gold wings.

“I kind of just fell in love from there,” Earle said. “I never really knew that was going to be the turning point for my career.”

Earle is training for his dream job as a pilot while also pursuing his other childhood love — football. As a student-athlete at Averett University, he is able to achieve both.

“The best part about doing both is honestly getting to brag to my friends that I went to a different city today,” Earle joked. “Honestly, the best part to me about doing both is having that flexibility and having that time to kind of be to yourself in the air. You get to clear your mind. You get to think and see the world from a different perspective while being in college. That’s hands-down the best perk.”

The opportunity to decompress while flying more than 3,000 feet above the Earth is certainly needed for a busy guy like Earle, who manages to balance his time between being an aviation major, a linebacker on the football field and also a resident assistant on campus. And he balances it well while maintaining a 3.45 grade point average.

“He’s done a really good job of understanding that he does have a lot of things pulling at him,” said David Clark, Averett’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. “Finding a way to be involved in the community, excel in the classroom and then also being a member of the football program and being a part of it in a way where he’s playing consistently … it’s impressive to see as a coach. There aren’t a lot of young men who can come in with that kind of time management skills built in.”

Earle admits his schedule is rigorous, but the family atmosphere at Averett helps him juggle all of his responsibilities. 

“You have football practices and football lifts and then you have to come out to your flight blocks and you have flight classes and everything like that is pretty taxing,” said Earle, who also said prayer, a good planner and a tight schedule are keys to his success. “But honestly the way your flight instructors, the flight chief and your coaches all help you out as a student and help you balance your schedule all really helps. Everybody is really helpful here.” 

That’s one benefit that an institution like Averett can offer that maybe bigger schools with aviation programs don’t.

“We let them know that we’re here for you, and if you can manage your time, we can make it work so that you can fly, you can get your studies in and you can be an athlete and have a great four years,” said Travis Williams, Averett’s chief flight instructor.

That’s what helped draw Earle nearly 1,200 miles away from his hometown of Houston, Texas.

“I found Averett through athletics,” he recalled. “I was playing football down in Texas and got recruited here to Averett. … There were a few schools that piqued my interest that I got offers from with athletic scholarships, but I knew for a fact that this is what I wanted to do as far as my career goes and as far as my degree goes. I didn’t want any athletic scholarship or anything like that to deter me because I knew I was going to school to become a pilot. Honestly, this was the best fit for me. I came on my visit, I met a bunch of awesome people here at Averett and so far they’ve been nothing but great and nothing but family to me.”

When it comes to football and flying, there are several traits that overlap. Obviously, there is hand-eye coordination. There’s also processing information in real-time.

“Having the ability to process information as it happens is exactly what I have to be able to do as a pilot,” Earle said. “When we’re in the air, so much happens — not only in my plane but having to have the situational awareness to know you’re not the only one flying the skies.”

Earle has to do the same on the football field.

“As a linebacker, you’re asked to do a lot of different things,” Clark said. “Adrian’s put a lot of good work in, just understanding where he needs to be and when he needs to be exactly where he’s asked to. He does a really, really good job of putting himself in good positions to make plays. That’s probably his biggest strength. Obviously, he’s a good athlete and all those things that go with being a linebacker.”

Communication and discipline are also crucial to both areas.

“You have to make every play and be disciplined to do your job and do your assignment,” Earle said of football. “That’s the same thing in the cockpit. You’re having to do your job and having to do your assignment as well as communicating with your co-pilot. It’s certain things that you have to do as far as being a student pilot — you have to communicate to your instructor or whoever you’re flying with at the time. Having that disciple that’s instilled in you through sports and things like that is just a plus.”

Before coming to Averett, Earle had never piloted a plane. Within a few weeks as a freshman, he was making his first solo flight. He knew at that moment that he had made the right choice in a college to put him on the best path for his future career endeavors.

“It felt great, just from getting those plastic wings to really getting in a plane,” Earle said. “Being able to carry out my dream of flying was huge for me. And then after my very first flight, I knew for sure that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Travel the world, see different sites and really be able to experience other cultures and things like that across the globe.”