Owen Ulmer – I’m Owen.

Patrick May – And I’m Patrick.

Ulmer – So Patrick, it’s the start of the 2025-2026 school year, which means football is starting up. How do you feel about the team this year?

May – I think they look really good. We had Red and Blue Night, which is our big thing here at West, where we can first watch the football team.

Ulmer – We actually had time to sit down and talk to star tackle Ethan Bain and get his insight on the season and what he did to prepare, and his goals for the year.

May – Who am I here with today?

Ethan Bain – Ethan Bain.

Ulmer – What sport do you play, Ethan?

Bain – I play football.

May – Growing up, what inspired you to play football?

Bain – One of the main things that inspired me was that I wasn’t able to play tackle for a while, which meant I played flag football, which made me eager to play tackle football because I like contact. Once I was able to play tackle, I just loved it even more.

Ulmer – So, is this your third year on varsity?

Bain – Yeah.

May – Going through the recruiting process for football, how has that been for you?

Ulmer – And are you getting recruited right now?

Bain – Yes, I am currently getting recruited. The recruiting process is hard because coaches will tell you one thing, and then the next minute, they ghost you. It’s just all over the place. They will follow you on social media and see your film, and just never respond.

Ulmer – What is your main goal for this season, team-wise, personally?

Bain – My main goal this season, personally, is to get back for all the games we lost last season and beat every person we lost to last year, especially North and Seckman, because they are big opponents.

May – What do you do to prepare for those big games?

Bain – We lock in during practice and bring everything that we got. Defense is going to bring it. Offense got to be ready to bring it, and once the defense brings it, the offense will be ready to handle anything that comes our way. Our defense is great; they help us get better every day, especially going into those big games.

Ulmer – Are there any challenges this year with all the Parkway games being on the road?

Bain – Yeah, but also at the same time no, because it doesn’t matter what schools we play other teams at, it matters how we play against them and how we train to beat them.

May – Growing up your size, did you always wanna play on the line, or did you ever want to play somewhere else?

Bain – I actually wanted to play receiver or tight end, but when I was in eighth grade, I played for the Saints and was a tight end. I caught a lot of balls and was going crazy, then I came back to Parkway West, and they put me back at lineman.

May – Do you like being a lineman?

Ulmer – It’s definitely very hard.

Bain – It’s for sure very hard, you have to know every assignment, every little thing, even if you mess up one little thing in a play, you can mess the whole thing up.

Ulmer – What position on the offensive line do you play?

Bain – I play right tackle.

Ulmer – What do you like more, run blocking or pass blocking?

Bain – I love to do run blocking because that’s more dominant, and you move faster and can manhandle people.

Ulmer – Throw some guys around?

Bain – Yeah, and you won’t get arrested or in legal trouble for manhandling a dude on the field. You can just get away with it.

Ulmer – This offseason, what have you done as a player and as a team to get better?

Bain – During the offseason, I was mainly in the gym just getting my build back up and my confidence back. I also did lots of training. Team-wise, we really just were in the weight room, rebuilding the team structure. I really believe this will play a big role in how we play this season.

May – As we get closer and closer to the season, what are your expectations for the year?

Bain – My expectations are very high. I think we should win every game, especially because we play all the same teams we played last season, and we are basically the same team as last year.

May – Having 30 seniors this year, which is the most of all time, how does that affect the team?

Bain – I think it brings light to the team because the freshmen, sophomores and juniors all look up to them, and they all have different roles and are all over the place. If a freshman wanted help, they could ask a senior, and nine times out of ten, they would help them.

Ulmer – You’re a varsity starter all three years, right?

Bain – Yup.

Ulmer – What is the most challenging season you have had?

Bain – My most challenging season was definitely my sophomore season or freshman season because I was new to everything. Freshman year was the first year I started playing offensive line; before that, I had only played defensive line, which made learning new techniques very difficult. I was really fighting about whether I wanted to keep playing the way I did. I struggled with motivation, and then my old coach, Swihart, put motivation into me. I realized someone believed in me, which gave me the confidence that I needed.

May – What do you prefer more, O-Line or D-Line?

Bain – I get this question a lot. The way I think about it is that either way, I am hitting somebody. If I am on O-Line, I am hitting the D-Line. If I am on O-Line, I am hitting the D-Line. But, if I had to pick, I would pick D-Line because you can get away with way more stuff and can really do whatever you want. With O-Line, there are so many rules, like you can’t tug on the jersey, you can’t go in the back, you can’t do all types of stuff. But with D-Line, you can swipe them, hit them in the shoulder, punch them in the rib, and you won’t get a flag for it.

Ulmer – Going back to what we talked about earlier, about you playing all 3 years, is there a moment where you were a freshman or sophomore, and you had a moment where it was like, “welcome to varsity football”?

Bain – I would say freshman year, during the summer, when I was going against the old seniors like Carson Rakers and Mason Cummings. Going against those linebackers as a right tackle was a big welcome to varsity moment because those guys were some big, strong dudes, and it was like running into a brick wall. But I eventually adjusted to it, and we went at it every day; I feel like that played a big role in my development.

May – What would you say is the best part of your game?

Bain – What do you mean?

May – Like what do you do best?

Bain – I would say I do best by pass blocking, and just making sure my quarterback and running back is good, also wide receivers, but mainly just quarterback and running back.

May – Going back to the O-line D-line question, which position are you being recruited for?

Bain – O-line, but some schools want me to play both.

Ulmer – Both is like super tiring.

Bain – Yeah.

May – It’s a lot of snaps for sure.

Bain – Last year, when we played Seckman, I was playing both ways, and I was gassed.

Ulmer – Will you have to do that again this year?

Bain – Not really, I still will play both, but not nearly as much as I did last season. I will still go in there every few scenarios for defense.

May – Well, thank you, Ethan.

Ulmer – Thank you so much, man.

Bain – Yup.

May – That concludes the episode of Athletes of West.

Ulmer – Thank you for listening. Go watch the Longhorns this Friday.

May – At 7 P.M., it’s our homecoming game. Be there, be loud.

Ulmer – And watch Ethan do what he does best.