By: Justin Boone
Q: How’s your off-season been?
Nick: It’s been great just hanging out with the family and doing a lot of training. Going downtown in Chicago once in a while, but more or less just hanging out and training. All my buddies are around here so we just go hang out and stuff and it’s nice. A big part of it was coming back to Illinois and seeing my family. For six months you’re not around them, so getting back to the basics of that has been great.
Q: Is it nice to have a few months off from staring at your long snapper Matt Robichaud’s behind everyday?
Nick: Oh my God. You wouldn’t believe how much I text that guy. We text each other non-stop. Actually there are a bunch of us on the team that text during the off-season. It’s just stupid stuff and inside jokes.
Q: Is the time away from the field going to be a little more enjoyable getting a nice raise with the new contract?
Nick: For sure. This is going to help everything, getting situated before the season, plans for the future and the next few years making things happen in Hamilton for me and for others. It definitely worked out that we got the negotiations done now.
Q: Give fans some insight on your decision to stay. What was drawing you back and, on the flip side, what was making you hesitate from re-signing?
Nick: Part of re-signing in Hamilton is that I love Hamilton. I truly enjoy the city, I love all the surroundings of it. I love the attitude of the city and the attitude of the fans. That’s a huge part of deciding to sign somewhere. When you’re younger you look at what it means just for you, which often is financial, but there is so much more involved for me in Hamilton. It feels like a place that can exemplify me and I can exemplify the city as well. And it’s a place I feel I can help. The other part of it was the football. It might sound bad to put the football second, but the football isn’t what depicts you as a person. If you don’t like living in the city then it’s going to be really hard to enjoy your job. I enjoy the team, the colours (laughs), everything from the owner to the people who are working in the office and are behind the scenes.
Q: I imagine that there’s certainly a part of you that wants to contribute to a winning Ticats season as well.
Nick: Yeah, I think we’re headed in the right direction and I want to be a part of a winning organization and I know this city deserves it, I know the team deserves it. I don’t see anywhere better to be a winner than in TigerTown. The Roughriders have an unbelievable following and their fans are passionate about their football, but I just don’t see anything being a better place than the city where Mosca held up the Grey Cup. That’s something I want to be able to do.
Q: We’re not looking for predictions, but what are you expecting in year three?
Nick: That’s one thing I don’t like. I always see guys on TV and in the papers making predictions about what they’re going to do. The beginning of each year I hate it with predictions of ‘We’re going to be this,’ and ‘We’re going to be that.’ For me it’s plain and simple, we need to focus on hard work and building a bond where we want to win for each other. That’s going to take us where we want to go. Those are the things I expect in year three. Wins and losses aren’t even something I’m thinking about yet. For me, I know we’re going to work our butts off from the beginning of training camp until the first game kicks off, to put ourselves in the best position we can be in for the season.
Q: You always talk about the team, but I know you personally are the kind of guy that’s always pushing yourself to improve, so how’s your training going?
Nick: I don’t even think I took a day off after the season. I think I was in the gym the next day…
Q: Which isn’t always a good thing right?
Nick: Yeah it’s true, your body needs to rest, but I’m fortunate to understand the body being a personal trainer and doing performance fitness. I understand when I need to push myself and when I need to relax and I’m lucky that I can go into the gym twice a day and get enough work in where I don’t overdo it.
Q: Getting more specific, is it possible to gain distance on your punts or kicks at this point, or is your training all just a matter of endurance and accuracy now?
Nick: You can always gain a little bit of distance, but at this point in my career I’m not going to be gaining a lot of distance. Say I hit a 70-yard punt, that’s great, but it’s the consistency of doing it. The training aspect of it for me is a confidence thing. My leg power actually gets stronger throughout the year. That’s what happens for me. At the beginning of the season it’s always a little tight, but as the season goes the loose leg returns and you’re a little more free. You’re mentally into it a little more and you know what to expect.
Q: With this new contract I’m assuming they won’t be able to afford to bring any other competition into camp for you then, or what? Do you kind of wish there was someone pushing you, or do you push yourself enough?
Nick: (Laughs) I’ve always been a loner in terms of my training and sometimes when you have another guy it’s almost more difficult, because I’m a guy that cares about the other players, so I’m not going to go on my own and be disrespectful to the other guy. You have to work with him and sometimes that can take away from my training because I don’t want to leave them on the side alone because they’re new and they are a part of your team. So being by myself last year didn’t hurt. Who knows, they may decide to bring someone into camp because you never know what happens with injuries and you have to have backups.
Q: With a few coach
ing changes made, you must have been happy to see the continuity being kept with Coach Easley returning?
Nick: That was a huge part of my re-signing. Going into the negotiation there are a lot of things I had to look at and the Ticats were the team I wanted to be a part of and where I felt home was. When I heard Coach Easley re-signed, it took a big weight off my mind. He’s allowed me to be a very good kicker in this league. I can only go so far, he’s allowed me to do what I’ve done, along with Coach Bellefeuille. Now going forward for a whole season, we’re going to have a very dynamic special teams unit in terms of out fakes and different things like that. Coach Easley returning was one of the biggest Christmas presents for me.
Q: How much did all those fakes from a year ago contribute to your enjoyment of the game last year?
Nick: I’ve been fortunate all the way back to high school to have coaches that utilized me with fakes. I ran track and was a quarterback and did all that stuff, so I’m super confident back there when it comes to fakes, and it’s probably one of the easiest plays to execute on the field because the defence isn’t scouting them. So all it’s just catch and pass, or run. In the first year we didn’t get to do much of it, but now I can assure you it’s going to be something that’s part of our team philosophy.
Q: And finally, what’s more exciting, Notre Dame finally getting a bowl win this year, or the prospect of the Ticats getting to the playoffs and potentially winning a Grey Cup.
Nick: (Laughs) I always say anything in college football is more exciting than anything in life, so Notre Dame is always going to have the top pick, because those kids aren’t getting paid anything to play, so for those players and the fans it’s as good as it gets. But the expectations of the Ticats getting back to the Grey Cup, it’s exciting but it’s not something I’m focused on yet, I’m more excited about building a team and getting everyone’s contracts done and moving forward towards the season.
