University of Delaware Athletics
Despite Late Start to Football, Nick Boyle Enjoying Gridiron Success for the Hens
1/18/2015 1:20:00 PM | Football
October 4, 2014
Nick Boyle's love affair with the game of football took some time.
While most of his current University of Delaware football teammates were begging their parents to let them play back in grade school, Boyle was oblivious to America's Game.
As a youngster, Boyle was drawn to skateboarding, dirt bikes, and extreme sports. He loved being outside with his friends on the weekends and after school, learning all the latest tricks and putting them to practice on the ramps and rails at the mini skate park he built in his driveway.
He remembers how fun it was riding quads (all-terrain vehicles) with his father, Harry, around their property in Wantage in Northern Jersey - even the time when he drove one halfway up a tree and crashed it. When he was playing sports, it was usually basketball, baseball, or soccer.
And when he did venture back inside, it was never to watch football on TV. It was the X Games on ESPN that drew his interest.
Boy how things have changed.
He still doesn't have a favorite National Football League team, but Boyle can't imagine life without the sport of football. Whether it's watching film, practicing, or playing on Saturday, the game now consumes him.
“Football,” says the chiseled 6-6, 270 lb. Boyle, “is the only thing I can see myself doing right now.”
And he does it quite well.
NFL scouts have flocked to Delaware practices and games this fall to watch the talented tight end in action, leaving impressed with his work ethic, the way he runs routes, how he catches passes, and how he loves to block.
Now in his fourth season as a starter, Boyle is certainly among the top players at his position not only in the Colonial Athletic Association but in the country.
Some have even projected him among the top 20 players at his position in this year's NFL draft.
“Football is a driving force for him,” said Delaware second-year head coach Dave Brock. “He has turned his body into a major league football body. He runs, he blocks, he is an intense competitor, and he's a great practice player.
“I've told people many times since I got here that I would love to have 15 Nick Boyles and play them everywhere,” added Brock. “Three-technique, defensive end, tight end, tackle, you name it. He is the prototype of the player that you want to coach, attitude-wise, talent-wise, body-type wise. And he's doing a great job
leadership-wise as one of our captains.”
What he has done at Delaware so far is pretty impressive.
One of just five true freshmen to see game action in 2011, Boyle was pressed into duty midway through the season when All-CAA tight end Colin Naugle went down with a season-ending knee injury.
Boyle ended up playing in seven games with five starts but was mainly used as a blocker. His only two catches of the season were memorable ones as he caught an 11-yard pass on his first collegiate play vs. Maine and he later hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Tim Donnelly against Massachusetts at Delaware Stadium for his first career score.
He made great strides as a sophomore in 2012 when he appeared in 10 games with seven starts and ranked fifth on the team with 20 receptions for 181 yards to rank among the top tight ends in the CAA.
His breakthrough campaign came about last season as a junior when he ranked among the top tight ends in the nation, earning second team All-CAA honors.
He ranked third on the team in receiving with 42 catches for 474 yards and led the squad with seven touchdown reception. He caught at least one pass in all 12 games and his 42 receptions led all CAA tight ends and was No. 7 among NCAA FCS tight ends. When he caught two touchdown passes in a CAA victory over James Madison he became the first Blue Hen tight end to accomplish that feat since the 2006 season.
As a senior this fall, Boyle has continued to thrive. Teaming with wide receiver Michael Johnson, himself an All-CAA and NFL prospect, the duo is one of the most lethal offensive tandems in the nation.
Despite being held without a catch in the season opener vs. Pitt and collecting just one reception in the home opener against Delaware State, Boyle has caught fire over the last two games.
He caught six passes for 43 yards and two touchdowns in the 28-25 win over Colgate on Sept. 20 and hauled in a team-high five passes for 48 yards in last week's 30-23 overtime win over James Madison.
Entering today's non-league matchup with Sacred Heart, Boyle now has 76 career receptions for 777 yards and 10 touchdowns.
He needs just two receptions to tie John Yergey (1987-89) as the most prolific pass-catching tight end in Blue Hen history. His yardage total is No. 5 among all tight ends in UD history and his 10 touchdowns rank No. 2 all-time.
“He sets the bar high and he gets to it every day,” said Brock. “We have a great appreciation for what he does and how he does it. He has a great work ethic, he's tenacious, and he has been a dominant player for us.”
Not bad for someone who didn't even give the game of football a second look until middle school.
Boyle was always tall but never really big growing up. He gravitated to extreme sports and basketball as a youngster and didn't even play football until the eighth grade.
“Some of my friends were playing and they were bugging me to come out and play,” remembers Boyle about his first football experience. “They put me at defensive end and tight end but I really didn't like it that much. I wasn't a physical guy and most of the other guys were bigger and stronger.”
He began to enjoy the sport a little more as a freshman when he played outside linebacker and tight end at High Point Regional High School but mostly took part “because my friends were playing and it was something to do.”
Still weighing just about 185 lbs., Boyle played wide receiver on the varsity as a sophomore but was used mostly as a decoy in a triple option offense.
“I really didn't do much,” said Boyle of his sophomore experience. “People were still bigger than me and I got pushed around a lot.”
But that feeling didn't last for much longer. The football bug finally bit Boyle hard the summer before his junior year.
Motivated by his coach Jim Delaney, Boyle finally got into the weight room and that made all the difference.
“I was nervous to go in there at first,” recalled Boyle about his early encounter with the somewhat intimidating weight room. “All I could hear outside were all the weights banging around. I didn't want to go in there.”
But he did go in and he began to love it. He's never left.
He bulked up to about 220 lbs. that summer, studied and learned the intricacies of the game, started watching college and pro games on television, and it all clicked.
He started both ways as a junior in 2009 and as a senior earned all-conference honors while leading the team to an 8-3 record and a berth in the state semifinals in 2010.
Once spurned by NCAA Division III coaches at a summer camp following his sophomore year, college recruiters, including Delaware, were now starting to knock on his door and he couldn't wait to answer.
“I started to really love the game,” said Boyle. “And it was exciting to have colleges looking at me. I visited Delaware my senior year when the team went to the national championship. I knew they had a great team and a great tradition and when I came to the Duquesne game and saw all the people in the stands I had a really good feeling.”
He committed that night.
And those good feelings remain four years later as Boyle looks to finish his career strong and hopefully embark on a professional career.
“Being able to play in the NFL would be awesome,” said Boyle. “You hear people and coaches tell you all the time that someday its all going to come to an end. But I don't want it to end. Football takes up so much of your time and I want to continue doing something that has taught me so much about life. I just want a chance and that opportunity to play at the next level.”
But if those NFL dreams don't come true, Boyle knows exactly what he wants to do. Coach college football.
That yearning to coach has been there since Boyle began playing, but it really
intensified when Brock and his staff took over the reigns of the program following the 2012 season.
“I have really learned a lot from Coach Brock and the staff,” said Boyle, an economics major at Delaware who is on course to graduate in May. “I've learned a ton about defenses and why you do what you do, why you block a certain person. It is really interesting to me. I'm always trying to fix what I've done wrong in practice and I think I get it enough to explain it to others. I like being able to help people get better.”
You could make the claim that Boyle is already coaching. As a senior, he is playing a key role in developing and mentoring Delaware's trio of talented freshmen tight ends in Brandon Whaley, Jake Powell, and Ryley Angeline.
“When I first came in during the summer, Nick was such a big help to me,” said Whaley, who has already moved into the No. 2 spot on the depth chart behind Boyle. “He told me all the routes I needed to run and taught me all the formations I needed to know. Now, when I need to know something, he's just like another coach. He always knows what to do. He is the leader of our group and has helped all of us every step of the way. He definitely has the ability to be whatever he wants as a coach. He picks things up so quickly and he's a great leader. He's told me all the great things about Delaware football and he was right.”
Boyle still has great memories of his days riding skateboards and dirt bikes and still likes to ride his quad when he gets home. He still watches the X-Games, but football game films are much more likely to be on his television or laptop these days.
And although he hasn't tried it in years, he's confident that with a little practice he could still stick a “double kick flip” on his skateboard. However, much to the delight of his coaches, he wouldn't dare attempt the stunt and risk an injury.
“That stuff stays with you,” says Boyle. “I still enjoy those things but I know not to act like an idiot.”
Sounds just like a smart guy with a great future ahead of him.
