Chris Bullard really has no interest in down time.

One of the better all-around athletes on the Western Kentucky football team since his freshman season in 2007, the senior linebacker figured he would take things up a notch this past spring when he added baseball cleats to his football spikes.

A former 45th round draft choice of the Los Angeles Angels during his senior year at Harris County (Ga.) High School, Bullard figured the time had come to put more on his already full plate.

“I got up here and asked (former coach David Elson) if I could play baseball if I wanted again and he said yes (at the time),” Bullard said. “But I wanted to get a good base under me, first with my grades, and last year, I felt like it was the year.

“There were a lot of changes going on, but I felt like I could do it.”

WKU baseball coach Chris Finwood thought so also, saying back in the spring that with his athleticism and powerful left-handed bat, Bullard might have a shot at getting drafted again after finishing up at WKU in 2010.

There was just one not so small thing, though. The team he was at WKU for in the first place was going through a massive overhaul, with first-year coach Willie Taggart preparing to begin his first spring practice on campus right smack in the middle of the baseball season.

But to Bullard’s delight, Taggart says he really isn’t one for wasting natural talent.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete and to be able to even play both (sports) in college speaks enough about him right there, because most people can’t even play one, let alone both,” Taggart said. “What’s best is that he brings that same energy to the football field and the baseball field. He’s not a guy that you’d think was playing sports all year round.”

As exciting as it was for Bullard to have a chance to re-connect with another passion of his, it was easier said than done.

Having to adjust to a new coaching staff and defensive scheme on the football field was hard enough without having to rediscover a baseball swing he hadn’t used in three years.

“It was difficult for that first month or so,” Bullard said laughing. “And I hadn’t played baseball in three years, so that was hard, too. But coach Finwood and coach Taggart really made it easy for me.

“Coach Taggart allowed me to go over there when we weren’t having actual team practices and stuff, so that part wasn’t hard, but the physical part, that was pretty bad.”

After rediscovering himself on the baseball diamond in the spring, Bullard is back on a field that he needs no introduction to.

A linebacking mainstay since his true freshman season, Bullard has 12 tackles through WKU’s first two games this season.

Always a factor with his natural ability, Taggart said the part of Bullard that separates him from the rest is his overall energy and attitude.

“He brings that every day,” Taggart said. “One thing I’d like for him to be is more vocal and more of a leader, because I think he can be.

“And if there’s anything we’re missing on defense, it’s leadership.”

Taggart might get his wish before the season’s over. Because apart from working on outfield cutoffs and how to hit a curveball this spring, Bullard said the biggest thing he learned from his time on the baseball field was how to be a leader.

“There were great leaders over there,” Bullard said. “If you ever came to a baseball practice, you’d see that coach Finwood never has to say anything – the leaders on that team step up and do it for him. It’s like having coaches on the field.

“When I’m over here (at football), I try to do the same thing.”

While his focus is finishing his career on the football field at Houchens-Smith Stadium, Bullard says his days of swinging a bat at Nick Denes Field are far from over.

Bullard got into 18 games as a junior last season on the diamond, and hit .077. But once football is over, the senior linebacker/outfielder/power hitter says all eggs go into the baseball basket.

Sitting around and enjoying the weather this spring isn’t anything he wants a part of.

“I want to play sports until I can’t move my legs anymore,” Bullard said. “If it’s badminton, I’m in it. I just love athletics.”