To say the 2010 season didn’t go the way Stephen Kaiser wanted would be a gross understatement.

Before he even graduated from De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, Kaiser became ill with a mild case of mononucleosis. He traveled to Dallas over the summer to begin summer school and to start working out with his new teammates, and during the Mustangs’ preseason workouts, he had a relapse. Before his freshman season even got started, Kaiser found himself laid up in bed, almost too weak to get up.

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“The second time, when two-a-days sparked up, that’s when I got really sick,” Kaiser said. “I went to class just to get homework. My teachers were cool about it — they knew what was going on. (Roommate) Ben (Gottschalk) also was a huge help, just getting me food, and things like that. But I was basically in bed for a whole month.

“Honestly, I think I underestimated it. I feel better now, but I was sick for so long, it was almost like I forgot what it felt like to feel good.”

When he finally returned to the field, Kaiser said he was not the same player SMU had signed in February.

“I weighed about 228 before I lost weight, but when I got sick, I got down to about 205,” he said. “I’m climbing back up, though. I’m about 218 or 220 now. I’d like to get up to about 230 or so again.”

When Kaiser re-joined the team after his second bout with mono, he was little more than an observant spectator, watching quarterbacks Kyle Padron and J.J. McDermott run the Mustangs’ offense.

“I ended up running the scout team toward the end of the year, but before that, the doctors and coaches told me I couldn’t do anything,” Kaiser said. “So I just tried to pay attention in meetings and get mental reps when I was out on the field.

“My first practice back, after being in bed, I was mostly watching. At the end, we did our conditioning running, and I was trying to keep up with everyone, which wasn’t a great idea. For three hours after practice, I was out of it, puking. After that, I did about half of the running until I started to get some strength back.”

Just as watching the 2010 season — in games and even in practice — was frustrating, Kaiser admitted that the recovery process also has proven challenging.

“It was tough,” he said when asked what it was like to watch his teammates practice every day. “I wouldn’t say it was a wasted year, but it was hard sometimes.

“Even now, I’m getting my strength back, but it’s not what it was before yet. It’s getting closer, but I still get tired sometimes. My arm strength seems close, but how close? I’m not sure.”

Quarterback Stephen Kaiser said he dropped about 20 pounds from his playing weight as a senior at De Smet Jesuit High School when he got sick (photo by De Smet Jesuit HS).

Kaiser said fatigue remains an issue, even six months after his mono relapse.

“I still get a little tired after workouts,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m tired because of the workouts or because of the mono still wearing me down a little, but it happens sometimes when I workout.”

Kaiser said that when he resumed practicing and working out, he became even more of a student of the game than he was before. In position meetings, assistant head coach/offense Dan Morrison included quizzed Kaiser just as he did the rest of the Mustangs’ quarterbacks. Despite his fatigue, Kaiser said he never allowed himself to feel self-pity.

“No, I never had moments like that,” he said. “In a way, this really was a blessing for me. If I was going to have mono, it’s definitely better to have it early. I got in a lot of mental reps, and I learned a lot by watching Kyle and J.J. and Coach Morrison. So when I get a chance to get on the field, I can step in and show them I learned what they were teaching.”

Despite his unusual redshirt season, Kaiser said he is starting to feel comfortable in the Mustangs’ system, and although he spent much of his first season learning, rather than running the offense, he is ready to help share what he knows with freshman quarterback Conner Preston, who enrolled at SMU in January after graduating from high school a semester early.

“Of course, I’ll tell (Preston) anything I can,” Kaiser said. “Kyle did it for me, and it helps us all if everyone knows the offense. We’re on the same team.”

But before he can play mentor to Preston, Kaiser is intent on proving he can run the offense himself, a process that includes continuing his effort to add size, and more importantly, strength.

“I’m trying to eat all I can, trying to get back that weight,” he said. “It shouldn’t slow me down at all. I feel comfortable at that weight, around 225 or 230, and that’s where I’ll be when I get stronger.

"I’m not there yet, but I’m getting there.”