VIDALIA — Kinesiology is the study of human movement, and for Vidalia High School senior Thao Nguyen, it’s a major he said he might try to propel into a high school football coaching career.

Nguyen, who played running back and nose tackle for the Vikings this past fall, currently has a 3.56 grade point average and scored a 24 on the ACT, which he plans to take again in April. He will attend Louisiana Tech next fall.

Nguyen said he plans to major in either physical therapy or in Kinesiology to coach high school football.

When it comes to possibly coaching high schoolers, a love for the game is what inspires Nguyen to maybe pursue that dream, he said.

“I love football, and I love working with people,” he said. “As I get older and more mature, I feel like I’ll be able to handle high school students. I want to coach in high school.”

No stranger to working with youth, Nguyen has been a summer church camp counselor twice in Kentwood and Hammond. He also helped coach Reed’s Insurance tee ball team last spring.

“I just love working with younger kids,” Nguyen said. “It’s hard working with some of the kids, because some of them don’t want to listen. You have to realize, though, that they’re not grown adults. They’re not always going to listen. You have to be patient.”

Nguyen said he also likes working with younger children because there’s an innocent approach to whichever sport those children are playing.

“The best thing about working with them is, the most important thing about tee ball at that age is just having fun,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen worked as a church camp counselor the summers before his freshman and sophomore years after friends and teammates Jacob and Josh Fauver convinced him to go.

“It was the first thing I’ve ever really done with kids that was organized,” Nguyen said. “They were anywhere from 7 to 12 years old. The older kids tended to listen, but the younger kids had a lot of energy and just wanted to run around.”

Primarily a linebacker throughout his football career, assistant coach Kale Davis brought the idea of moving to nose tackle to Nyugen last fall.

“I was shocked,” Nguyen said. “I’m not that big, but he said it wasn’t about being big, but quick.”

After suffering through a winless season last fall, Nguyen said there were a lot of lessons learned from the disappointing experience.

“Every week we were frustrated,” Nguyen said. “It’s hard, but it happens. It’s all about how you react. You just have to practice harder, and sometimes we didn’t do that.”

Nguyen also said he didn’t like that fact that head coach Gary Parnham and his assistants came under so much criticism for the Vikings’ winless season.

“I think the coaches did everything they could,” Nguyen said. “I think they did a great job. (The losses) just started piling up after a while, and we lost confidence.

“I feel bad, because I think it’s wrong to blame someone else for your own faults. In the middle of the season, (Parnham) defended us in front of everyone, and that’s comforting.”

When balancing his schoolwork and athletics, Nguyen said it’s not something that’s very difficult if you have your priorities right.

“I would go home, eat, shower and do my homework,” he said. “I don’t think I ever stayed up past 11 except once. Plus, I know I can’t play football if I don’t keep my grades up.”

But Nguyen said he understands that certain luxuries have to be cut out of his after-school life.

“Some guys like to go home and play video games,” Nguyen said. “You have to sacrifice that to keep your grades up.”

Nguyen is the son of Hong and Diep Nguyen.