A Coach’s Dream
College reviews glowing for Giants undersized two-way Whitlock
Every game, t hey would approach him, coaches from other schools, swapping stories and tall tales. Always, the subject matter would turn, in animated fashion, to a specific moment in time.
“The guys would come up to me and [say], ‘ Oh my God, the first five plays of the Maryland game,’’ Ray McCartney told The Post.
This was not a recounting of divine intervention, but Nikita Whitlock intervention — the first five plays of the Demon Deacons’ game against Maryland in 2013, Whitlock’s senior year. Five plays, five solo tackles. Sack. Tackle for loss. Runs down screen on the sideline. Toss sweep the other way, chases it down the other sideline. Ball thrown over his head. Turn, spin, tackle.
“This is the first five plays of an ACC game,’’ said McCartney, who was the defensive line coach at Wake Forest. “I’ve never seen anything like it.’’
The Giants have not seen anything quite like Whitlock. Few expected him to make the team in training camp — he was a rookie and a novice fullback who had to beat out incumbent Henry Hynoski. Heck, in the final preseason game, the Giants trotted out Whitlock at defensive tackle, and it felt like the short-handed Giants were just trying to get out of the summer in one piece.
Whitlock was everywhere during the win over the Redskins on Thursday. He was the field for 14 snaps on offense — his lead block in the first quarter helped get Andre Williams into the end zone. He was on the field for 20 special teams plays. And late in the game he received nine snaps on defense — a short, squat defensive tackle at 5-foot-10 and 250 pounds.
On his f i rst NFL play on defense, he unveiled a nasty spin move that allowed him to shed heralded rookie Washington right guard Brandon Scherff to get pressure on quarterback Kirk Cousins. Later, another spin move, this one against Tom Compton, resulted in Whitlock’s first quarterback hit.
“I love playing DT, that’s my dream, that’s kind of where I grew up, that’s how I feel,’’ Whitlock said. “It’s like riding a bike. A little rusty, I fell down a few times, got blocked up a few times, but I’m gonna just eat a little bit more, gain a little weight and try to knock this rust off in case they need me.’’
What seemed l i ke a novelty might now be something extraordinary.
“He’s legitimate,’’ Giants coach Tom Coughlin said of Whitlock as an NFL defensive lineman.
McCartney has sent 15 defensive linemen into the NFL. He coached Calvin Pace at Wake Forest — a 2003 first-round draft pick of the Cardinals, still getting it done with the Jets so many years later.
“I’ve been coaching major college football for the last 28 years,” said McCartney, who now the D-line coach at Army. “Of those 28 years, defensive line coach 25 years. Nikita Whitlock is the best football player I’ve ever coached. Think about that. I don’t want to be disrespectful in any way to Calvin Pace, because I have an absolute love for Calvin Pace. But he was just more conventional.”
Whitlock was a high school Defensive Player of the Year in Wylie, Texas, but unloved when it came to attracting college interest.
“We really took a chance on the kid,’’ McCartney said. “Nobody wanted him. He had zero offers. He was too small.’’
The Wake Forest coaching staff saw something too intriguing to ignore. As an outstanding high school wrestler, Whitlock had tremendous balance. As a Black Belt in karate, he had hands that could crush concrete. But he was a shade under 5-foot10, a mere 230 pounds.
“The main reason we took Nikita Whitlock was he was as good a player as we saw that year on film,’’ said Jim Grobe, the former head coach at Wake Forest. “We weren’t enamored with his size but we just knew there was a great football player there.’’
Whitlock started every game as a redshirt freshman. McCartney saw him as “the best-kept secret in college football,” but the secret did not last long — Whitlock was named all-ACC three times. He particularly got under the skin of Rick Trickett, the legendary college offensive line coach of 43 years, currently at Florida State. A former U.S. Marine, Trickett has sent countless players to the NFL, but he had this thing about Whitlock.
“We’re at Florida State one night and [Trickett] came up and grabbed me ... and he says Nikita, pound-for-pound, was the best football player he’s ever gone against,’’ McCartney said. “This is the offensive line coach at Florida State! All his guys are NFL guys, and he’s going on and on about Nikita Whitlock.’’
Whitlock, married with a baby son, watched more tape than anyone, became the strongest player to ever play at Wake Forest, benching more than 500 pounds.
“A beast,” Grobe said. “He was as good as I’ve ever been around. I’ve been coaching for 39 years and ... I don’t know anybody who was more of an impact on defense than Nikita had for us. He’s basically unblockable.” Whitlock was not drafted. “He was probably a guy the NFL guys looked at and saw a great player that didn’t fit the parameters they looked for as far as height and weight,’’ Grobe said.
Far too familiar with rejection based on his stature — or lack thereof — Whitlock told McCartney his plan to become a Navy SEAL. No one foresaw a future as an NFL defensive lineman. The Bengals signed him as a free agent and worked him at fullback before they released him. He spent nine days on the Cowboys practice squad.
When McCartney was the recruiting coordinator at Ohio University in the late 1990s, one of his interns was Kevin Abrams, who was getting his master’s degree in sports management. The two remain close. McCartney not long ago called Abrams, currently the Giants’ assistant general manager, and told him: “You will regret it if you don’t give this kid a shot.’’
The Giants signed Whitlock to their practice squad last season. Fullback and special teams are Whitlock’s jobs, but defensive line is his passion.
“We had him in pass- rush circumstances during camp,” Coughlin said. “Everybody wanted to see more. ... He can wear different hats.’’
As a fullback, McCartney figures Whitlock will “knock people on their ass.’’ As an NFL defensive lineman, Whitlock is so short it could work to his advantage.
“Just like in baseball throwing the changeup,’’ McCartney said. “You can try to block the big behemoths the Giants got, and all of a sudden you bring this little guy in there and he’s running around you so fast you’re blinking, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, what just happened?’”
Nikita Whitlock just happened.