Hunter Wynne attended every Permian football game as a kid.

Yet, when he was younger, Wynne never saw himself as a football player.

That changed when he reached high school and Wynne received his first taste of the varsity roster when he served as the primary back up to Des Smith, a currently cornerback at Texas Tech, during his junior season.

Wynne transitioned from defense to offense during the spring of his junior year, which resulted in 10 straight starts at wide receiver as a senior.

“I had pride starting for the Permian Panthers,” Wynne said. “When I was a sophomore, you had Des Smith and Jax Welch that took pride in being a starter, so I kind of got that from them.”

However, Wynne’s accomplishments didn’t end on the football field.

Wynne is ranked No. 7 in his graduating class and for his talent on and off field, he was selected by his school as one of the Odessa American’s Permian scholar athletes.

“Hunter was an excellent football player for us and he’s one those guys that’s dependable and you can count on him every day,” Permian head football Blake Feldt said. “He’s one of those special kind of kids that you love to coach and that you love to have on your football team.

“Not only was he an excellent football player for us, but Hunter is one of those guys he always does things right and he’s very conscious about the people around him. He wants to do well not only for himself, but the entire team. It shows athletically and in the classroom as well.”

Permian offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Thad Fortune believed the ability Wynne showed in the classroom helped have a direct impact during his on-the-field success.

Wynne concluded his senior year with nine catches for 92 yards and grabbed his lone touchdown to bring the Panthers within striking distance against No. 7 San Angelo Central in District 2-6A play. The Permian senior also helped block for the rushing attack that amassed 3,089 yards and 41 touchdowns on 451 carries.

“It makes my job that much easier, because you can focus just on football and you aren’t worried about him taking care of stuff off the field,” Fortune said. “He’s going to do the things that he’s supposed to do. It’s a mature characteristic that you want to see from a kid and it’s something that I always appreciated about him. It also set him up to be a leader in the locker room, whether he ever knew that or kids ever said that to him. Those kind of guys set themselves apart and set themselves up as leaders that the rest of the team can count on.”

As a junior, Wynne supplied nine tackles as a second-team cornerback for a defense that gave up less than 11 points per game.

The highlight of Wynne’s career came on a leaping catch in the end zone that resulted in a 20-yard touchdown. That touchdown helped Permian shrink its deficit against the Bobcats to 21-14, but San Angelo Central answered immediately and collected 28-14 victory.

“I can’t describe it. It was my first touchdown and I remember rolling over hoping the referee knew that I held onto it,” Wynne said with a smile. “My job on the field was to catch footballs, so I had to do everything I could to get down with it and keep the game close.”

For every athlete, their playing careers will ultimately come to an end.

The thought of playing college football never crossed Wynne’s mind. The Permian senior always wanted to attend Texas Tech and in December he was accepted into the university’s honors college. Wynne plans to major in business management.

“I knew I wasn’t going to play after high school,” Wynne said. “I wasn’t built for that, so I knew that my future was going to be on my academic career. My uncle (Scott Wynne) graduated from Permian salutatorian. I just tried to follow him and I knew my brain was going to get me further than my athletic ability in life.”

Though he won’t be on the field, Wynne plans to be in the stands cheering on the Red Raiders.

Wynne won’t have to look too far to see two former teammates — Smith and Welch. Smith signed his letter of intent in 2016, while Welch is a walk-on.

“It’s going to be cool to see their hard work that they put in here at Permian pay off in college as well,” Wynne said. “I can’t wait to watch them.”

In his final semester at Permian, Wynne has three classes on campus.

His class schedule is 8:45 a.m., 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., which is similar to a college schedule. Wynne will enter Texas Tech with 50 college hours, which he earned through dual-credit classes through Odessa College.

Wynne, who was top 10 in his class during his junior year, said the other nine students in the top 10 were taking dual-credit classes. He figured to keep his status as one of the top students that he would take dual-credit classes as well.
Despite his days as a Permian student coming to end, he’s excited for the educational journey to continue at Texas Tech in the fall.

“It’s an honor to be in the top 10 at the most famous high schools in the country,” Wynne said. “I hav
