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Cactus Bowl: Kwiatkoski's Career Just Starting
December 31, 2015 12:21 PM | Football
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – West Virginia University defensive coordinator Tony Gibson is convinced fifth-year senior linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski will not be playing his final football game in this year’s Motel 6 Cactus Bowl on Saturday against Arizona State.
Far from it.
In fact, Gibson believes Kwiatkoski’s football career is actually just about to begin.
“I feel he’s going to be drafted pretty high,” the Mountaineers’ second-year defensive coordinator said. “He’s just a kid who has worked his butt off and overachieved. You look at his body from where he was when he came here to where he’s at right now, you look at his production over the last couple of years - probably the best game that he played that went unnoticed and not talked about was the K-State game. The numbers were pretty impressive what he did in that game and he just keeps getting better and better and better.”
Indeed, Kwiatkoski played very well against the Wildcats with a season-high eight unassisted tackles to go with an interception and a pair of tackles for losses.
Big 12 coaches Kwiatkoski went up against this year felt the same way, voting him All-Big 12 First Team following a regular season that saw the Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, resident take part in 80 total tackles, 10 tackles for losses, three sacks, three interceptions, seven pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
When you look at a defensive player’s stat line and you see crooked numbers next to every single category that gives you a pretty good indication of how active and well-rounded that player is.
Kwiatkoski is good at a lot of things, and he’s been good at a lot of things for quite a while. Last year, Nick produced 103 tackles, 11 ½ tackles for losses and four pass breakups and he heads into his final college game with nearly 300 career tackles to go with 28 tackles for losses, 5 ½ sacks, six interceptions and 14 pass breakups. That makes him one of the more productive middle linebackers in school history.
“In college football it’s really hard to expect anything because so many things happen,” Kwiatkoski explained. “Just in my career I have experienced so many things, (different) coaches, defensive schemes, conferences and you’ve just got to kind of roll with it. It’s worked out for me though.”
Kwiatkoski’s impressive production playing in one of the best football conferences in the country has caught the eyes of pro scouts, and his tremendous versatility is what is going to keep them interested all the way up to the NFL draft later this spring.
Kwiatkoski played running back and free safety in high school and was recruited by West Virginia specifically with the Mountaineers’ unique 3-3 stack defense in mind. If Nick’s body remained where it was when he came to WVU then he was going to play either bandit or spur safety, but if he got bigger the plan was to move him closer to the line of scrimmage at one of the linebacker spots.
Clearly, that has happened.
“When you have a kid who was a tailback and a free safety in high school who can transition to a linebacker in college and do what he’s doing …,” Gibson marveled. “We ask him to cover, we ask him to blitz, we ask him to stop the run and he does it all pretty well.”
Now, at 238 pounds, Kwiatkoski has become a powerful college middle linebacker with off-the-charts athleticism and speed for someone at that position.
Mike Joseph and the rest of the WVU strength staff have already fielded several inquiries from pro scouts about Kwiatkoski, which is a very good sign for him heading into the draft. Scouts always go to the strength coaches first to get an accurate gauge on a player because the strength coaches are around them the most and know more about them than anybody.
Joseph is confident Kwiatkoski will test very well in front of pro scouts and should be one of the most athletic middle linebackers in this year’s draft.
“I think it’s possible he can run a low 4.5 (in the 40-yard dash), which is exceptional for a middle linebacker,” Joseph said.
And Gibson believes Kwiatkoski will continue to play middle linebacker in the pros, and he can easily carry another five-to-10 pounds without compromising his impressive speed and athleticism.
“He’s tough enough and he’s also athletic enough to play outside linebacker,” Gibson said. “I think they will put him at mike, let him make all of the checks and calls and stick his face in the fan and do that. I think he will be a great special teams guy, too, so he’s a guy who I feel will play for a very long time in that league.”
Everyone says Kwiatkoski’s most impressive trait of all is his toughness.
“He started as a safety and I can just imagine him coming down and hitting somebody from the roof,” said teammate KJ Dillon. “I know that would have been brutal. I think now he’s at the perfect position for him because he’s athletic, quick, fast, got great hands and he’s got good play recognition.”
Tony Gibson said Nick Kwiatkoski played one of his best games at Kansas State in the 2015 regular season finale. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks)
“He’s a guy that could play in any decade and ever since I’ve been involved with football he could be on any team I’ve been around and be as productive as he is right now,” added Gibson. “He’s a special kid and he just keeps getting better. I think his best football is still ahead of him. I think he will be a guy who is a 10-, 12-year guy in the NFL.”
That’s eye opening, especially when you consider the number of talented players Gibson has been involved with during his 20-plus years working in the sport.
Gibson was at West Virginia when the Mountaineers were first building the 3-3 stack in the early 2000s that later led to Sugar and Fiesta Bowl appearances. He was at Michigan when the Wolverines were producing NFL talent, and during his brief time at Arizona he recruited a little-known middle linebacker from Windsor, California, named Phillip Wright who everyone now knows as Scooby Wright.
Gibson puts Nick Kwiatkoski in the same category with some of the very best he’s ever been around.
“He’s just a guy that does everything the right way. You’ve got a kid who has his degree, playing his fifth year, playing at a very high level and it’s starting to get noticed around the country,” he said. “He got invited to the Senior Bowl and when you get invited to the Senior Bowl you’re probably going to get invited to the (NFL) Combine.
“He’s a great kid and I hate to lose him,” Gibson concluded.
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