Ralston’s move to ASU LB just might work
Near the end of spring practice, Arizona State defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales was asked about Nick Ralston, a determined junior from Texas who was a couple months into a position switch from running back to linebacker.
The truth of it: Gonzales – hired just four months earlier – didn’t know much about Ralston. Nearly all he had to go on was what he had seen on the practice field, but that was more than enough to get an idea of what Ralston represented, both to his team and to a defense learning a new scheme.
And so over the next several minutes, Gonzales launched into his idea of the perfect football player, how he looked for such a person in recruiting, not knowing for sure that Ralston fit the description but guessing that he probably did, which positioned Ralston for a starting job as the program shifted to summer. True.
Growing up in Texas, Ralston spent a lot of time outdoors, mostly playing sports, but also participating in other activities.
“Nick’s life is about playing,” said Todd Rodgers, Ralston’s coach at Argyle High School. “He’s always doing something. Even in high school, his later years, he wanted to get up and get about and move around. When he spent the night with somebody or somebody spent the night with him, it was about doing. Nick was about training, going hunting, fishing, those kinds of things.”
To Gonzales, it’s easy to identify these types of kids. They see things faster on the football field. They move better. They react better. He even thinks they’re “more fun to be around” than the video-game addicts, not as socially awkward. Ralston fits into this category. “Nick never played video games,” said Roy Ralston, the linebacker’s father. “At one point, like every other kid, he thought he needed an Xbox or whatever (the big thing) was at that time. And, of course, he got one, but he sold it in time. He never played it.”
Playing multiple sports growing up
Ralston did.
In addition to football, he played baseball and basketball growing up. On the diamond, he pitched and played third base. On the court, Ralston played point guard in a manner that might have forecast how he would fare on the football field
For three years, Ralston played for his dad on a summer AAU team. He teamed with John Jones, son of Johnny Jones, then the head coach at North Texas University, today an assistant under Eric Musselman at Nevada.
“Nick was one of the most aggressive young kids I’ve ever been around,” Jones said. “Defensively, if he was going to guard you, he was going to really get after you. He wasn’t going to give up anything easy toward the basket. And if he had the ball, he knew how to grind and get into you and play through contact. If you tried to steal it, he knew how to protect the basketball. He was just very aggressive; it was almost like he had a mean streak.”