For a guy who was hardly recruited out of high school, Wake Forest’s Nikita Whitlock has come a long way.
Now a junior, the 5-11, 260-pound Whitlock is the heart and soul of the Deacons’ 3-4 defense.
Hear what head coach Jim Grobe has to say about his lightning-quick nose guard:
“He’s everything to our defense,” Grobe said. “You start with Nikita, and you have to get him blocked. It begins up front with him, and the other 10 play off his energy.”
Whitlock kept hearing that he wasn’t big enough to play college football and, during the recruiting process, the few schools that showed interest never followed through.
And then at the final hour, Wake Forest came calling.
“At about 11:30 the night before signing day, I got a call from Wake saying they had an offer for me,” Whitlock said. “Toward the end, I had zero offers. I had talked to a recruiter about going to the military. So it was Wake Forest or Iraq. I committed right there on the phone to Wake.”
The coaching staff originally put Whitlock at linebacker during his first year, when he was redshirted, before moving him to nose guard to add depth there. He immediately made an impact.
“Nobody can block him with his speed,” Grobe said.
For Whitlock, going back to nose guard was like going back home. That was his position in high school in Wylie, Texas, when he was named the Texas Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.
He started all 12 games as a redshirt freshmen and was especially disruptive in games against Georgia Tech and Navy, a couple of triple-option teams.
“Wake actually moved me to nose just out of curiosity,” he said. “Linebacker was different, and I liked it a lot. But I’ve been playing nose so long. It’s a little more natural.”
Whitlock led the Deacons in tackles for loss with 14 in 2011 and has averaged one tackle for loss per game in his first two seasons, which ranks fifth among returning FBS players.
After a six-win season and an appearance in the Music City Bowl, Whitlock is encouraged about the prospects for 2012 with seven defensive starters returning.
“The defense looks good, and the offense is coming along,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a better season with a winning record.”
And Whitlock will be right in the middle of it.