2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Chad Nolan, WR/DB, Missouri Southern State University

• Name: Chad Nolan
• Height:  6 feet 1/8 inches
• Weight: 207 lbs
• Position:  Wide receiver/ Defensive Back
• College: Missouri Southern State University
• Twitter: @Cnolan3

Tell us about your hometown, and what you love most about it?

•  I was born in Mission Viejo, CA and lived in orange county until I was 8 years old then my family moved to Murrieta, CA where I lived from 8 to 16 years old.  Then moved to San Marcos, CA for my junior and senior year of high school.  After I graduated high school my family moved to Menifee, CA where I currently live.  Therefore, after bouncing around southern California all my life I would have to say my hometown is southern California.  What I love most about it is the weather of course and the level of talent and competition there is in all youth and high school sports.  It is a mecca for high level athletics and coaching and the warm weather and mild winter allows you train all year around! 

List these three in order of importance and why: Film Study, Strength and Conditioning and Practice?

• 1) Strength and Conditioning would be most important to me.  If you are out of shape getting winded easily and are not strong on the field the film study and practice are irrelevant.  Being tired on the field is the worst possible thing for performance.  The team that has the best cardiovascular conditioning wins the game a strong majority of the time.

2)  Film study would be next in the level of importance to me.  You can learn a lot through film study of yourself and your techniques as well as breaking down the opponents scheme and tendencies.  I like to film all my workouts so I am able to review the biomechanics of my sprinting technique and the fluidity of getting in and out of my breaks route running.   If two teams are even in strength and conditioning the better game plan will give that team the edge.  Through film study of the other teams past games a coach can put together a strategy to give his team the best chance to win.

3) Last but not least we are talking about practice.  Although it is on the bottom of my list it is still extremely important.  Practice is a huge necessity for being able to efficiently execute the game plan made by the coaching staff through film study.  Through repetition you gain a better understanding and become more comfortable with the concepts.  Lastly, practice is very important for timing and making sure all 11 players on the field are where they need to be at the right time.

What do you worry about, and why?

•  I worry about someday looking back at my life and having regret knowing I could have done more.  I believe regret is the hardest thing to live with knowing you made choices that weren’t in alignment with your wildest dreams.  Regardless of how my football career turns out in the end I want to be able to look in the mirror and know I did everything could to have the most possible success.  Through my daily routine of nutrition, stretching, speed training, and weight training exemplifying elite consistency, comprehension, and intensity.

Give me an example of when you failed at something. How did you react and how did you overcome failure? 

•  Failure is inevitable and we are faced with it regularly.  Failure allows for adversity that in turn helps us grow into the person we are meant to become.  If everything always went our way we would not have the opportunity to learn, grow, and overcome which then allows us to become.  I have failed many times at many things in regards to football I have failed to make a big play to win the game and had very poor games overall.  I’ve had bad practices where I struggled to grasp concepts frustrating my coach.  I think the biggest thing one can do overcome failure is to have very positive self- talk and have extreme belief in self.  No matter what happens your self-talk needs be lifting you up and you always have to believe that you can do anything you put your mind to.  In the weight room we push our muscles to failure and put them through extreme adversity because we know our body will adapt and rebuild and be stronger than before.

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

•  Daily work ethic, my high motor, and the physicality I play with.

Who is the best player you have ever played against in college?

• John Brown from Pitt State in Kansas.  He ran in the 4.3’s at the NFL Combine.  I played against him my freshman year of college and had 2 solo tackles on him returning punts.  He had 3 touchdowns and we lost by 50 points as they say “speed kills”.

What would your career be if you couldn’t play football?

• If I couldn’t play football I would be a football coach.  When my career is over I want to get into coaching at the college level.  I will need to decide if I want to be on the football side of coaching or the strength and conditioning side because I have a huge passion and knowledge for both.  Football is my life and I couldn’t imagine not being around the game.  I am in love with the daily grind it brings, chasing constant growth, and the brotherhood and comradely gained through the game of football. 

Room, desk and car – which do you clean first?

• I would choose to clean my car first because your car will be seen by others a lot more than your room or desk.  Having a clean car can demonstrate a certain level of discipline, organization, and personal hygiene which are all great characteristics to have on a football team and in a locker room.

If there was a disaster and you could either save three strangers or one family member, which would you choose and why?

• I would have to say that I would choose to save one family member over three strangers.  Family is so important to me I don’t know how I would cope with losing one of parents or brothers it would be absolutely devastating to my mental health.  Strangers die every day and it doesn’t’ affect us because we don’t know them but losing a family member is something some people never fully recover from.

If you could be any television or movie character, who would you be and why?

•  Coach Herb Brooks from the 2004 movie “Miracle”.  I want to be a coach when my playing career is over and I admire how Coach Herb was able to bring a group of individuals from all different parts of the United States and get them to buy in to a common goal.  Then pull off one of the greatest upsets in sports history by beating the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the Hockey Olympic games.  I hope one day that I can be a great leader of men as a coach and help my players understand the importance that no one player is ever greater than the team just like Coach Herb Brooks.

Tell me about your biggest adversity in life and how you’ve dealt with or overcome it?

•  I owned a bar and restaurant in the town I went to college in for about 1 year and had a 3 year relationship that both came to an end around the same time.  My business was failing and I chose to liquidate all my assets to save what money I had left and not lose everything.  Shortly after this my girlfriend of three years broke up with me and I was in one of the darkest most depressed points of my life.  I had never felt this much adversity before and for about 2 months I didn’t know what to do with myself.  My physical, mental, and spiritual health were declining rapidly.  I finally started changing my mindset to stop feeling like the victim and understand that this adversity was going to shape me into a stronger young man and allow me an opportunity for immense growth.  I started cranking up my workouts to a whole new level, made my nutrition stricter than ever, and read daily to learn more about how I could continue to increase my athletic performance.  Football gave me a reason to overcome and get back to chasing daily growth.  I owe football my life it’s taught me everything.

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

•  It was my junior season and I was benched for most of the first half for seemingly no reason.  It was late in the third quarter and I was on the sideline yelling for coach to put me in.  There was a screen play called and they finally put me in and the ball was coming to me.  Up three points with thirty seconds left in the third quarter I caught the screen pass and ran 75 yards for a touchdown to give us a two possession lead and we won the game.  That was the only game my team won all season and my stats were 1 target for 1 catch for 75 yards and a touchdown.

What is the most important trait you can have (Physical or Non-Physical) to help you succeed at the next level?

• Perseverance- persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

If you could bring one person back from the dead for one day, who would it be and why?

• Kobe, because apart from being the greatest basketball player and competitor of all time he had a mentality that will live forever based on work ethic and extreme accountability.  The man was a great philosopher and to be able to sit down with him and have a conversation and pick his brain would be priceless.

If you were to open a dance club, what would you name it?

•  Triple C.  I have two little brothers Chance and Cade and all three of our names start with the letter C and I love them more than anything so it would be a good fit.

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL?

• Davante Adams, I believe he is the best route runner in the NFL and the best receiver in the NFL but sometimes is left out of discussions about the top receivers in the game.

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

•  Love me or hate me you’re going to respect me.  I would rather be respected because respect is harder to gain than being liked.  I want to work so hard every day and constantly get better that it is impossible to not respect the hustle and the passion.

What player who had his career derailed by off-field issues do you feel for the most and why?

• I feel for Antonio Brown because he let his ego get in the way of team.  He has great work ethic and although he has been out of the league he still trains very hard and stays ready which is respectable.  It goes to show that no matter how talented you are and how hard you work nothing is more important than the success of team and how you affect the players around you.

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

• I hate to lose more than anything.  I’m too competitive for my own good it doesn’t matter what I’m doing.  Even if I’m just playing pool or ping pong with my little brothers I am trying to win at all costs and losing feels like I just lost the super bowl.  It is something I sometimes need to work on because not everything is that serious, but it definitely gives me and edge on the football field.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life and explain why?

• My parents have been the biggest influence in my life.  My dad has always been so involved in my athletic career doing anything he can to help me along the way.  He always has my back no matter what and truly exemplifies unconditional love.  My mother is the hardest working person I know she is always grinding daily.  Works for a company 5 days a week, does work on the side for her small business, and still has time to get a bunch of things done around the house.  She never stops and rarely relaxes.  She always feels there is more to do and is a huge inspiration for my daily work ethic.