nathan brink

An Interview With Nathan Brink's High School Position Coach Comment Count

Ace

Walk-on defensive lineman Nathan Brink [photo credit: Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com]

Redshirt sophomore defensive end Nathan Brink's emergence this fall as a walk-on in line for major playing time has come as a surprise for many, and begs raises the question: Who is Nathan Brink? Perhaps more importantly, at least to Wolverine fans, can he make a positive contribution this year on the field? To help us learn more about the walk-on, who's currently slated to back up Will Heininger at strongside defensive end, Brad Hoffman, who was Nate's defensive line coach at Holland Christian, was kind enough to answer a few questions:

ACE: Nate's burst onto the scene this year, and as a walk-on Michigan fans aren't very familiar with him. What was his recruitment like coming out of high school? Did he get any scholarship offers for football, and what made him decide to walk on at Michigan?
 
COACH HOFFMAN: Early on in high school Nate was focused on basketball. Some time during the team's state title run Nate's senior year he switched his focus to football.  He was 6'5" and around 220 lbs. his senior year. Nate was a strong kid, but not high level college football strong. I don't have first hand knowledge of any scholarship offers. Our head coach at the time was Willie Snead, who just came over from Glades Central in FL and had a good relationship with Rich Rodriguez. Through Coach Snead, Nate and Seth Broekhuizen [Brink's high school teammate] were able to receive walk-on spots at Michigan. 

ACE: What was Nate's football game like as a high school player? What were his strong and weak points?
 
COACH HOFFMAN: As I mentioned earlier Nate's focus was basketball early in his high school career. He didn't play football his sophomore year. When he came back his junior year he was inexperienced, but he earned a starting spot. Nate was our starting left tackle and right defensive end. We went 14-0 Nate's senior year and Nate must have been on the field for 80% of all snaps. Nate always was a hard worker. Coach Mattison said something about how when Coach Montgomery tells Nate to step a certain way he tries to step a certain way. That is something I remember about Nate. He always gave consistent effort and tried to improve his game every drill and every practice.
 
Nate was a very physical football player. We ran a 3-5-3 his senior year and that meant he was constantly getting double teamed. He was consistently going against lineman who had 40+ lbs. on him. The front of Nate's helmet and his facemask was trashed at the end of the season because he played low through those double teams and was getting his head through his assigned gap. Because of his basketball background Nate had fantastic feet and balance that certainly helped him overcome the size difference. Nate's biggest weakness was strength. If he was to compete at the collegiate level he was going to have to get stronger.
 
ACE: How has Nate changed as a player since he got to Ann Arbor?
 
COACH HOFFMAN: I would say the biggest difference I see in Nate is the 50 lbs. he has gained. He still works out in our weight room when he is in town and he looks like a completely different man from the one that left here in 2009. I am sure he is still the detail-oriented, hard working d-lineman he was back in 2009. Since he only had 2 years of varsity football experience (3 years total) all the credit goes to Coaches Tall, Montgomery, Mattison and Hoke in getting him ready to play major D-1 college football.

ACE: As his high school defensive line coach, did you think he had the potential to grow into a contributor for the Wolverines? How do you think he'll fare this year as part of the D-line rotation?
 
COACH HOFFMAN: Anyone could have seen that Nate had great potential. He was a good athlete with a frame in which to pack on some major weight. There was no doubt in my mind that he would maximize that potential because of the work ethic he had showed in high school. I didn't know if he would see the field a whole lot during his career, not too many walk-ons do, but I knew he would make a contribution in some way, whether that be on the practice field or in a leadership position. As a part of the rotation I think we will see a player that gives his all and will be a big-hitter when given the opportunity.
 
Thanks to Coach Hoffman for providing his insight on Nate. Personally, I'm excited to see what he can do on the field, and it looks like Michigan will need him to step up in a major way if the defensive line is going to perform up to its potential.
 
Coach Hoffman also noted in an earlier email that true freshman linebacker Desmond Morgan, who also looks to be in line for playing time, had "been a killer for many years" in the OK Conference Red division. Feel free to adjust your expectations accordingly.

Comments

Maximinus Thrax

August 30th, 2011 at 10:09 PM ^

Had you been a philosophy major in the late nineties and had Stephen Everson for a professor (arrogant, British, wore tight black t-shirts, bald, missed the first two weeks of Language and Mind because he was stuck in England for some mysterious reason) he would have publicly mushroom printed you for making this mistake.  Luckily we on MGoBoard are much more caring!

Joined: 10/26/2008

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Maximinus Thrax

August 31st, 2011 at 7:26 AM ^

Yeah, I never had Lormand.  I heard he was a good prof., but the class was tough though.  Everson was just a dick, kind of funny at times, but not reluctant to show his disdain for his students.  He was not here very long at all.  He did use one of the best book's on ancient philosophy as a text that I have ever read though, Julia Annas' "An Introduction to Plato's Republic". 

Joined: 10/26/2008

MGoPoints: 5182

Brimley

August 30th, 2011 at 7:14 PM ^

God, there are a lot of likable kids on this team.  What a nice contrast to the stories out of OSU and Miami!

Kudos to Ace for a good interview.

Joined: 03/22/2011

MGoPoints: 11676

WolvinLA2

August 30th, 2011 at 7:22 PM ^

Re: the comments about Desmond Morgan:  For those who don't know, the OK Red is certainly one of, if not the, best football conference in Michigan.  Someone from that league plays in a state title game almost every year, many have one titles recently, and all of the schools are very big schools.  It doesn't produce the top end D1 talent that some of the leagues in Metro Detroit do, but top to bottom the teams are the best, or second only to the Catholic league.  Anyway, if you're tearing up a league with Rockford, Muskegon and Hudsonville in it, you're probably a really good player.

Joined: 11/13/2009

MGoPoints: 58191

micheal honcho

August 31st, 2011 at 12:24 AM ^

Speaking of the ol' OK red, this year WO(Morgans HS) has a junior kicker that is an absolute ACE inside 40 and capable of 55's. His name is Bryan Holmes and I watched him make a 42yd FG with time expiring last year as a sophmore and it cleared the bar by 10ft. Total pressure situation against Grand Have(OK rival) for the win and this kid just ace'd it.

I met him this summer and happened to notice that he had friggin HUGE feet for his rather dimunitive size.

Another local kid is a Holland High linebacker named Nathan Rickets. Good size and another really quality instinctual player.

WO also has a RB named Brandon Allen who's definately got the size(6-1 220) to play up a level. He was injured last year as a junior and missed the whole season. He'll be one to keep an eye on this season too because the kids got speed and is tough to bring down.

 

Joined: 10/27/2010

MGoPoints: 2768

WolvinLA2

August 30th, 2011 at 7:54 PM ^

Another OK-Red kid I like is Juwan Lewis this year.  I wouldn't take him over Dunn or Garmon, but if we don't get one of the top RBs in this class, he'd be a good one to take now that we have a few more scholarships to dole out. 

In his first game against Macomb Dakota (who is usually good) he had 15 carries for 116 yards (7.7 per carry) and two touchdowns.  He's big, he's fast, and he's productive against good competition.  And he has a 3.8 GPA. 

Joined: 11/13/2009

MGoPoints: 58191

the_white_tiger

August 30th, 2011 at 9:26 PM ^

I'm a big fan of Lewis; my brother is currently a linebacker on a team that's going to play the Big Reds this year so I'll have to ask him what he thinks of Juwan. In another year and in another class I'd love to have him, but with Houma in the fold (who I think could be a running back if we have Iowa-level depth) and the current numbers crunch, I'm not sure I'd take him.

Joined: 02/07/2009

MGoPoints: 5224

BlueFordSoftTop

August 30th, 2011 at 7:39 PM ^

 

Basketball stars tend to make the best athletes for many football positions.  Athletes mature at different rates.  Brink has apparently demonstrated he has the physical and mental skills of a high school basketball star and he now enjoys those attributes long with the knowledge and toughness required to succeed as a Michigan football player.
 
The camp system biases towards money, temporal judgment by scouts and skewed stats in many cases.  Lobbying and high school program awareness overplay their roles often.  I find it sick to consider how many possibilities like Brink who feel the tug of Michigan football gravity end up falling through the AD cracks.  That was a thing I appreciated about RR -- due to desperation perhaps RR actually focused attention on walk-ons.  Bo didn't do it; Mo didn't do it; LLoyd didn't do it.
 
And now we have Brink.  Excellent.  I have known some others like Brink who deserved but were not accorded a chance to prove themselves.

Joined: 04/09/2011

MGoPoints: 665

burtcomma

August 30th, 2011 at 8:08 PM ^

Read some of Bo's books and you'll see he was all about rewarding performance in practice and games.  Looks like our wlak-on here has performed himself into an important position on this defense, and I admire and respect him for it!

Joined: 11/01/2009

MGoPoints: 5851

maizenblue87

August 30th, 2011 at 8:44 PM ^

Nathan has a fantastic story. Unheralded kid works his butt off and earns a spot in the 2-deep. It's just like real life - credentials (degree from great school, connections, 5* rating, etc) may get you in the door, but you have to deliver results.

Joined: 06/22/2011

MGoPoints: 6669

Zone Left

August 30th, 2011 at 9:18 PM ^

The huge change is encouraging. I'd be more concerned if he was 265 and a football only kid in high school. His story is probably the best case scenario.

Joined: 07/03/2008

MGoPoints: 16428

Blue boy johnson

August 30th, 2011 at 9:30 PM ^

 Great interview, good insights into why a previously unknown walk on is on the verge of starting at M in his RS Soph year.

Kudos to RR to spot a possible diamond in the ruff. Brink was concentrating on the wrong sport in HS. This interview gives credence to the notion Brink can contribute on the field for M over the next 3 seasons. Apparently Brink has more physical ability than maybe a typical walk-on and just needed time to build his body up and master some of the techniques needed to play at the major college level.

Joined: 03/15/2009

MGoPoints: 6671

DeepBlue83

August 30th, 2011 at 9:35 PM ^

and no offense to Brink, but everyone is trying really hard to convince themselves that our Dline is solid, but having two walk-ons in the two deep is just not good, when you compare us to the best teams in the country.

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 197