Former walk-on Ostyn Friday keeps defying expectations

CARBONDALE, Ill. — When Southern Illinois center Ostyn Friday arrived on campus in the summer of 2022, there wasn’t even a roster spot for him. Last weekend, in his final season with the Salukis, he made his first-career start.

The Iowa City, Iowa native keeps defying expectations. No one thought he could play Division I football, until he did. No one thought he could go from walk-on to scholarship, until he did. And surely, he would never start, right?

Friday’s love affair with football began when he was a kid watching games at the University of Iowa. He signed up for tackle football in the third grade and was issued a helmet with “the little red dot” that meant he wasn’t allowed to carry the ball. Friday didn’t mind, though, he was happy to play center.

“It’s the only sport where you can go hit somebody and there's no repercussions,” he laughed.

Friday started playing tackle football in third grade.

During his sophomore year at City High School, his team needed him to play tackle, which Friday did for two years. Going into his senior year, though, he convinced the coaches to move him back to center.

“I wanted to play college football,” said Friday, who was 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds at the time. “With my stature, I knew that the only chance was to be a center.”

Dan Clark, then the offensive line coach at NAIA powerhouse Grand View University, brought Friday to campus for a visit. Friday’s cousin, Cade Sheedy, committed on the spot. It was supposed to be a package-deal, but Friday told Clark, “no thanks.”

“He had a fire in his belly to play at the highest level,” Clark recalled.

Several weeks later, Friday was offered a preferred walk-on spot at Western Illinois. In a twist of fate, though, Clark became the new offensive line coach at SIU and convinced Friday to walk-on for the Salukis.

“Once I came on a visit here, I knew this is where I wanted to be,” Friday said.

Friday (middle) with his family at an Iowa game.

There was a snag, though. Right before camp started in the fall of 2022, Southern ran short of roster space and had to tell Friday he couldn’t practice with the team. He’d have to wait until a slot opened up in the spring.

“That was a little bit of a curveball and definitely hard for me at the time,” Friday said.

Undaunted, Friday launched Plan B. Weighing just 250 pounds and knowing he needed to bulk up, Friday asked the track coaches if he could walk-on to their team instead.

“I wanted to get in the athletics weight room and get on a true training plan,” Friday explained. “I finished fifth in the state in the shot put, and they thought I was good enough to walk-on.”

While he was working out with the track team that fall, Friday was still coming to all the football meetings.

“I needed to learn the playbook, learn the calls, so that when spring came, I would be ready,” he said.

In the spring of 2023, Friday officially joined the Saluki Football team as the fourth-string center.

Friday began his Saluki career as the fourth-string center.

“I was the only fourth-string offensive lineman,” he smiled. “There were some days I didn't even get a rep.”

Said Clark, “I told him, it's not going to be easy and nothing's going to be given to you.”

Friday did not see the field in 2023 and set his sights on 2024.

“I wasn't at the weight that I needed to even get into a game,” he said.

By the start of camp, Friday was up to 275 pounds.

“That’s still relatively undersized for a college lineman,” he said. “But I was able to climb my way up the depth chart.”

In the second-to-last game of 2024, at South Dakota State, Friday made his collegiate debut, playing seven snaps on the final series.

Friday made his playing debut at South Dakota State in 2024.

“That was one of the best moments of my life,” he beamed. “My family made the trip and my dad started crying in the stands when I went out on the field. In that huddle for the first time, I was looking around the stadium and just having an appreciation for the moment. I really made it. I'm playing in a Division I football game.”

Friday felt he “played decently while I was in there,” and it whetted his appetite for more in 2025. He went on to solidify his backup spot behind starter Noah Fenske that season and saw action in four games, playing 28 snaps.

The spring of 2026 brought with it another career milestone. During a team meeting last April, head coach Nick Hill called Friday and three other players up to the front of the room.

“I’d seen it in years past when he’d called up walk-on guys and put them on scholarship,” Friday said. “When he called my name, I was like, is this what I think it is? And then when he started giving the speech and mentioned the scholarship, that was just true joy. I'll always remember all the guys rushing around the four of us.”

Friday (right) was one of four walk-ons put on scholarship last April.

“I told my parents before I came to college, one of my biggest goals was to earn a scholarship,” he continued. “I called my family right afterward to let them know and they were over the moon.”

During training camp, Friday fought off a challenge to his backup spot from Albany transfer Luis Gastelum. At 285 pounds, Friday is still among the lightest offensive linemen on the team, but he played in five of the team’s first seven games this season.

“Being an undersized player, I feel like what helps me is my understanding of leverage,” he said. “I can get under the defensive lineman, and the biggest key to winning blocks is to play low.”

After starter Ethan Goodin was hurt at South Dakota, Friday made his first-career start last Saturday against Illinois State. He played every snap and was one of the offense’s highest-graded players.

Friday is planning a career in wealth management.

“It’s an unbelievable story to see him get his first start,” Clark said. “Ostyn has earned everything he’s gotten. There's something special about this game of football, and a guy like Ostyn is why we do this, for stories like his.”

Said Hill, "we didn’t have a spot for him when he first got here, but he forced his way on the team. He had to put on weight, and he’s done that. He's incredibly smart and he’ll give you every ounce of what he has."

Friday is a business major with a 3.9 GPA and is planning a career in wealth management. With his playing career winding down, he reflected on his accomplishments and lessons learned.

“My success is just always believing in myself and not listening to some of the outside voices that were maybe telling me that I should go transfer down to a smaller school,” he said. “One of the things that always stuck with me was when Coach Hill talked in a team meeting about delayed gratification, and that you're not always gonna get what you want, exactly when you want it.”

No one thought he could, until he did.