Last of a talented trio: Hiland’s Mullet carves his own path
Reese Mullet is the youngest of three brothers to come through the Hiland boys soccer program.
A senior, Mullet is an elite scorer and one of the leaders for the Hawks this season.
When Mullet was younger, he used to go outside with his two older brothers and play soccer.
His brother Garrett Snow, a 2015 Hiland grad, never took it easy on him during those impromptu games.
“Most of the time I would get destroyed by my brother that is eight years older than me,” Mullet said. “My brother Garrett did not believe in the mercy rule. He would go all out just to beat a 9-year-old.
“At the time this made me upset, but as I got older, I realized that him not taking it easy on me made me a lot better.”
Mullet has been around soccer most of his life. He grew up going to games while his brothers Snow and Lance Kinsey (2009) were in school at Hiland.
Watching them play helped shape Mullet into the player he is today.
“As a kid, I was constantly going to my brothers’ games (and) watching and learning,” he said. “Like every kid, I looked up to my older brothers. I wanted to be good at soccer like them, so, naturally, I was around the team a lot when my brothers were in high school.
“This definitely gave me (an) advantage over other kids my age who weren’t around soccer as much as I was.”
Scott Bodiker is in his 23rd year as coach of the Hawks. He has coached all three brothers, saying the two older ones were both very good players.
In his mind, though, Mullet is the most complete player of the three.
“He has passed them both already in scoring stats, and we expect big things from him the rest of the season,” Bodiker said. “When he is on the field, Reese is relentless. No one works harder inside the lines.”
Kinsey and Snow were both part of big senior classes, and there also were a lot of players in the other three grades while they were in school. Mullet’s class is much smaller, and the program in general has fewer numbers.
“Lance and Garrett both had to wait their turn at the varsity level with some quality players in grades ahead of them,” Bodiker said. “Reese was able to make his mark earlier. The ensemble nature of Lance’s and Garrett’s classes made it more difficult for them to rack up big numbers, but both were good players (and) important to our teams.”
Mullet is playing the same position and in the same system as Snow, so there are some on-field similarities between the two. Kinsey played in a different system, so his role was a bit different than the other two.
Mullet doesn’t think his playing style is like either of his brothers, though.
“Lance, the oldest, liked to shoot from far pretty often,” he said. “If you have ever seen me play a game, you will know I very rarely shoot from outside the 18. Garrett was a hard-nosed winger that liked to go line and play a ball across.
“I resemble Garrett a little bit in my play, but I definitely like to go at defenders and play in the box a lot more than my brothers did.”
According to Bodiker, the brothers have never lacked confidence.
“All three have had a lot of confidence and expect a lot out of themselves, but (they) all could get frustrated with themselves if things weren’t going quite right,” he said. “I’ve been really proud of Reese that I think this is an area where he has grown a lot.”
Mullet is already in the top 25 in career scoring at Hiland, and Bodiker thinks he has a good chance — if he can stay healthy — to be around the top 10 by the time his senior season ends.
The veteran coach has seen Mullet blossom into a true leader.
“Reese has a very relaxed personality off the field, but when it comes time to practice or play, he’s intense,” he said. “He is patient, and his work ethic on the field is a great example for the other players.
“This fall Reese has been battling some injury issues, and we’ve had to really work to manage his workload and keep him healthy. He’s crucial to our team’s success.”
Mullet and his classmates have big goals in mind this fall. To achieve them, they’ll need to continue to lead by example.
“One thing I like about this group this year is that our senior class is small — only five players — but I feel like we have a lot of buy-in from each of them,” Bodiker said. “The team and our success really matters to them, and I get the sense that they really want to go out by doing something special.”