Best in State: An Interview with Nebraska Class of 2016 TE/DE Noah Fant

Written by Ryan Wright

Best of lists are all opinions and pure biases but an argument can easily be made for Omaha South High School’s Noah Fant as one of the best players in Nebraska. The 6’5”, 215 pound, two-way star is at or near the top of every reputable recruiting service when listing out recruiting talent in the Cornhusker state and the play on the field backs up the wide spread opinions.

Fant’s defensive stats do not scream out elite recruit but opposing offenses went the other direction as much as possible forcing him to chase down plays to get the numbers. In nine games he had 28 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, and 1.5 sacks. His offensive production was not recorded so exact numbers are unknown. What is known is he broke the school record with nine receiving touchdowns in 2014.

With the accolades and the on the field achievements comes unseen but heavy pressure from every angle on a recruit with Fant’s abilities. Despite the Packers finishing the 2014 season 1-8, college coaches liked what they saw in person and on tape when evaluating Fant (pronounced Fint). Ten offers have rolled in with Iowa State, Iowa, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Cal, Buffalo, Liberty, Ohio, South Dakota State, and Wyoming all wanting to hone the tight end/defensive end to the best of their abilities at the next level.

Top recruits in smaller states like Nebraska, population of 1.88 million (2014), are under a different kind of microscope than his counterparts in other areas. When the top Division-I program in the state offers, a team that fills the void for a professional team in any sport, expectations from every fan within the state and every fan across the country for said program are waiting for the homegrown product to make good by staying in-state. Heaven forbid if said player goes out of state.

The one extended scholarship offer that offers no escape is the one that Fant received from new head coach Mike Riley. One can easily assume that a day has not gone by since Fant received his offer from the Cornhuskers that someone has bypassed the opportunity to stop him on the street or at the local grocery store wanting to know where he will play his college ball, or more importantly to them, if he is heading to Lincoln in 2016.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview I sat down with Noah after he made a west coast recruiting trip to Cal and UCLA to get an update on where his recruiting status currently rests. Noah also gave his thoughts on the upcoming 2015 high school football season along with some insight on what he has been doing in the offseason to have a standout senior season.

Interview
Noah, 2014 had to be tough fighting through a 1-8 season. But a lot of sports lessons are learned through a loss along with a lot of character that is built. Looking back on last year’s football campaign what were some of the things that you learned that will help you going forward?

“I’d say to keep fighting. That’s a rough season when you go 1-8, but it conditions you to keep pushing and keep fighting. With that, everyone has gotten better and we look pretty good this year with a lot of guys coming back. I think we’ll be much better.”

You said you have a lot of guys coming back with game experience, how many guys do you have coming back?

“We have a lot of people coming back. We only lost six seniors and a lot of those seniors split time with the younger guys coming up and starting to play. We’re looking pretty strong. Our team was young but now we have a lot of players coming back. It looks like we’ll have a lot of players with experience.”

What do you think will be one of the strengths of this year’s football team? (Cough) will it be the defensive line, the passing attack…

“(Laughing) I think both of those spots will be strong points. On offense, our passing will be big. On defense, our D-line is looking good. We have a couple of transfers coming into South. Me and another end will both be pretty good. We’re looking pretty solid on the D-line.”

What are your strengths on the field at defensive end?

“At defensive end I’d say my strengths are my pass rushing, that’s one of the big things in my game, and also chasing plays down. I have a high motor and being all over the field. I’d say those are my best attributes at defensive end.”

What about a tight end/H-back position?

“My strengths at tight end, I feel like my routes have gotten better and also my pass catching abilities and yards after the catch and yards after contact. Really being able to see the field and know what I’m going to do and where I’m going to go and where I’m going to stop my route out. I feel like those are some of my best attributes on offense, and also my run blocking. That was a big thing I’ve been working on after my sophomore year because I felt like that was something I needed to get better at. I’ve worked on that quite a bit.”

At the end of your junior season did you earn any individual honors?

“I think I was second team All-State and All-Metro. I think those are the biggest two that I got. This year I was nominated for the Super Six out of Nebraska. We’re doing the photo shoot on August 14. Those were the big two that everybody looks at.”

What are your goals for the 2015 football season?

“As a team we’re looking to definitely make a change this year. Like I said, we’re looking pretty good amongst the competition in Omaha. This year we’re looking to win more than six games and get to the playoffs, win a playoff game, and then from there we’ll let it all play out. Going from a one win season to making the playoffs and get that first win in the playoffs and then try to win every game after that. That’s a pretty good goal to have and definitely achievable for our team.”

What about personal goals for you? Do you have a set number of receptions, sacks, touchdowns, anything like that you want to hit during your senior year?

“I don’t really have any personal goals I just want to help my team out wherever I can. If that means I might not get a sack in that game but I’m rushing the quarterback and that turns into a pick-six for our DBs, I’m perfectly fine with that. All in all we’re going to get the “W” and that is all that I am worried about.

“As far as the season goes, I don’t put it all into the stats. When the coaches come and watch they can see that I am a high-caliber athlete and that I work hard. I don’t put too much into all the stats even though they are somewhat important.”

Says the school record holder! I had to tease you on that one.

“(Laughing) Yeah.”

You lined up all over the field last year, where all will we see you line up in 2015?

“Mainly at defensive end and tight end. We have a couple of coverages and blitzes where I’ll be dropping from the defensive end position into the flats and into coverage. You might see that a little bit. You might see me at outside wide receiver. I’ve been begging my coach (Mike Jones) to put me in the Wildcat (quarterback) set but he doesn’t know about that yet. Anything could happen though.”

Have you had a chance to look at the 2015 schedule and if so are there any games you are excited to play this season?

“Yeah I have. Big games I’m excited to play are (Omaha) Central (Sept. 25), (Omaha) North (Oct. 9), Bell (Bellevue) West (Sept. 11), and (Creighton) Prep (Sept. 18). Those are the four games – if we can come out of there, those are four really good teams we have on our schedule. North is the defending state champs but they’ve also lost a lot of players. If we can come out with two or three wins we’ll be looking good. Hopefully we’ll get four wins.”

What have you been doing in the offseason to try to attain the goals set forth for the team and for all your personal goals?

“All offseason we have been lifting in the morning and then we go outside and do conditioning. We’ve had our team camp, and then also, me personally what I do with two other players that are my good friends, we workout separately with our wide receivers coach doing a private workout working on routes. Sometimes we’ll go to the field and get work in pulling sleds, running with parachutes, and all of those kinds of things that will make us better. I feel like once the season comes along all those little things will show up. I think that’s when you see players rise to the top when they’ve been the ones putting in that extra work.”

Do you play any other sports for South?

“Yeah, I play basketball and track.”

How did the basketball season go for you?

“Basketball season went good. We came up short. We made it to the state championship and lost by five I think. But with that we only lost one senior, so again we have a great team returning. It was good.”

Do you remember what you’re stat line was in basketball?

“I averaged 11 points, 8 rebounds, and four assists.”

What position did you play?

“I was a playing like a power forward.”

Sounds like you were playing a point forward.

“(Laughs) Yeah.”

Are you receiving any recruiting interest for basketball?

“I was in my sophomore year and when I was doing AAU. I was getting some pretty heavy interest from schools Boise State and some, smaller D-I schools. Once they saw all the attention I was getting from football with all the big D-I schools they dropped off. They started to move on.”

You have 11 offers from great programs but which schools are showing interest in you but have not offered you yet?

“Schools that are showing interest in me but have not offered me yet are Notre Dame, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State – I’ve talked to them a little bit. Purdue has talked to me pretty heavily but they have not put a for sure offer out there yet. They’ve talked about offering but have not offered yet. Colorado State, Wisconsin, and Oregon are the others.”

Did you go to any college camps this summer?

“I did not. I did not have much time to go. I went to Nike and Rivals camps. I did not have much time for that. I think every week, I was also on a 7-on-7 team, I think every weekend in the month of June and July I was gone. I didn’t have much time to do those.”

I know you went on a few unofficial visits over the summer, where all did you go?

“I went to Cal, UCLA, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Iowa, and Nebraska.”

How did you visit to Iowa go?

“It went really well. Their coaching staff really showed me and talked to me about how they want to use me and let me know that I am a priority for them right now. They let me know they can do a lot of really good things with me.”

If I were to ask you about another visit that went well which school would you throw out there?

“Visits that went well I’d say it’s a tie between Cal and Vanderbilt. Both are very high academic schools and both are really good schools that I could see myself going to. Their coaching staffs have both showed me quite a bit of love too. I’d give those two schools a tie.”

The interview would be incomplete if I did not ask you about how the visit to Nebraska went. I know you’ve probably been asked about the Cornhuskers a million times already but…

“It went really good. I was a little leery at first because I did not know what the coaching staff would be like. I got to meet everybody and it was actually a really good visit. They have definitely expressed that they want me really bad. They’ve let me know they are excited about me. Every school wants you to commit, but it was a really good feeling. I definitely feel like a lot of things are going to change there and for the better. I think that Nebraska is on the rise as a program.”

Do you have a Top 5 list?

“Yeah, my Top 5 is UCLA, Cal, Nebraska, Iowa, and Vanderbilt in no specific order. I haven’t figured out where everyone is on the list yet. Me and my family have talked about this pretty normally, because we just got back and visited a few schools. We’re excited to come to a conclusion on everything.”

Do you think you’ll take an official visit to Nebraska?

“Yeah, so far those Top 5 schools that I named will all get my official visits.”

What type of feedback have you received from these college coaches when they talk about your skill set?

“They definitely look at, well first thing that they say is that I have a high motor and I never stop on the field and keep going and keep going. On the offensive side, they are really impressed with how I go after the ball at the high point of the ball and how I go get the ball out of the air. My blocking is something they have been impressed with. On the defensive side, my pass rushing is something the defensive coaches drool over. That’s something they are interested in with me. They’re also impressed with my athleticism on the defensive side of the ball.”

What position do you want to play at the next level?

“Me personally, I’m not quite sure what position. I’m leaning towards tight end but when I think about it I still want to play defensive end. Right now I’m not quite sure. I’m leaning more towards tight end but I have not made an exact decision yet.”

How are the different schools recruiting you? Are they recruiting solely as a tight end, a defensive end, or as an athlete?

“Pretty much all of them are recruiting me as an athlete. When they look at my film, one defensive coach said “man we want this kid on defense” and the offensive coach gets it and he’s like “well we need me on offense.” They’re letting me know it’s up to me on which side of the ball I want to play and they are recruiting me as an athlete. They’ve let me know I can play on either side of the ball in Division-I football. They let me know both sides want me and I can choose which side of the ball I want to play.”

Do you have a timeframe on when you will make your verbal commitment?

“Probably before the season but I don’t really have a date set. I want it to be done by the first game.”

If you take your five official visits after you have verbally committed how would you classify yourself? Would you consider yourself a soft or medium commit?

“I wouldn’t consider myself a soft commit. This is where I am at right now. When I commit I’m going to be a hard to medium commit, because that’s the school I want to go to. The schools that I have right now are the schools that I am interested in. I feel like if the other schools want me really bad, they’ll really keep pushing to flip me. At that point I will reassess from there.

“But when I make my commitment that’ll be the school I want to go to and the school that I feel comfortable going to at that point. I would not say that I’m a soft commit. Things could change. The coaching staff could change. That’s when I would have to reassess. I’m not committing just to commit. Once I do commit, that is the school I really want to go to. I just want to clear that up.”

That makes sense to keep your options open should things change and leaving yourself open to the process.

What are the main factors you will consider when choosing a college?

“I’d say the biggest thing is that when I graduate I want to be an orthopedic surgeon. I want to go to a school that has good academics and a place that I can flourish in. But also with football, I want to go somewhere that can get me into the NFL because that’s been one of my dreams since I was little, to play the game and make it there. I want to live that dream. I want to go somewhere that has the coaches that has the players produced into the NFL. I’d say those are two big things. And also, just a family style football team that is like a brotherhood that everyone comes into. I’d say those are the biggest things.”

Who has made the biggest impact on your football career so far?

“I’d say three people. All my life my dad (Willie Fant) and my brother (Chris Fant) have been there helping me. My brother is actually the head coach of our team now. My dad and my brother have worked with me all my life. They have definitely had a big impact.

“One that has popped up lately, my dad introduced me to one of his friends, is Mike Jones. He’s our wide receivers and offensive coordinators coach. He’s impacted me a lot too. He’s worked on me with my routes a lot. He was a receiver in college (Midland) and also played pro-indoor football. He’s taught me a lot about being a receiver.”

What is your favorite part of playing football?

“My favorite part about football is the competition level. I feel out of all the sports it is the highest competition level. You get all the rivalries and all the physicality. It is hard to beat. When you are playing the game you learn to love it. That’s the thing that draws me to it most is the high competition level.”

Photo credit: Omaha.com; Noah lines up at defensive end.
Photo credit: Noah Fant; Noah at Cal
Photo credit: Noah Fant; Noah at UCLA