CHARLESTON, S.C. -
Ethan Ray,
Nick Salley,
Justin McIntire, and
Garris Schwarting arrived at Charleston Southern University bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, with the odds stacked against them. Instead of taking advantage of a scholarship offer from another school or hanging up their cleats, these student-athletes took a chance on themselves and their athletic abilities.
Part 1: Ethan Ray (October 12) | Part 2: Nick Salley (October 19) | Part 3: Justin McIntire (October 26) | Part 4: Garris Schwarting (November 2)
The walk-on journey is not a desirable one because there is never a guarantee that a student-athlete will earn a scholarship – they have to go to practice and prove they belong every day with hopes the coaching staff will notice and elevate their role on the team.
For these four players, their abilities were apparent early on when Head Coach
Autry Denson and the current CSU coaching staff took over the helm of the Buccaneers' football program in January 2019.
"Right away what we saw in them (Nick, Garris, Ethan, and Justin) was the ability to lead, and more importantly, the willingness to want to be led," Denson said. "They didn't know us from Adam, but they accepted the different things we brought in and the culture we were trying to establish. They embraced our championship habits, our standards and excelled in their ability to apply it. They had what we like to call blind faith."
Coach Denson recalled an exercise he utilized to get to know the players a little better. Early on, he asked the team if they had to make one phone call to anyone on the team about a life problem, who they would reach out to.
It was unanimous that it would be one of the current 2020 six captains:
Nick Salley,
Garris Schwarting,
Justin McIntire,
Ethan Ray,
Jack Chambers, or
Geoffrey Wall.
For a former walk-on to earn the recognition of his peers is an incredible accomplishment and speaks to the leadership and intangibles each of these players brings to the team. Denson reflected as much as he elaborated on the process that goes into picking a captain and the standard he holds them to.
"As coaches, we look for guys who naturally or intentionally exhibit those Buccaneer championship habits, which is putting the team before yourself, being unified and understanding the bigger picture," Denson said. "We are an outreach ministry that has an important football component. It's important because we use athletics as a platform on which we influence and win lives for Christ."
He continued, "Obtaining the title as a captain of the CSU football Ministry means you must live the standards day in and day out which are: Give a God-honoring effort with a God-honoring attitude. Understanding that we're champions in Christ so we're required to do more. They understand that it's all about being significant - the more they do, the more they can be a blessing to others. Tying all of that together is our pillars which are Faith, Family and Football and never allowing that order to be distorted for anything."
Continuing the Defensive Line Legacy
Since
Nick Salley's early days at Colleton County High School, he's had the heart of a lion. Salley was a relatively undersized 165-pound linebacker/edge rusher at Colleton County, but he was effective for the Cougars, accounting for 83 tackles and forcing four turnovers as a senior.
"I was always smaller than the dudes who were in front of me, but I seem to always be more technical than everybody else," Salley said. "They had the size, but they weren't completing the assignments the way that coach wanted them done."
As an undersized walk-on to Charleston Southern, Salley knew his work ethic could never be in question. He learned quickly to take pride in everything he did because he understood he was under constant evaluation from the coaching staff. His success is directly correlated to the underdog mentality he still carries to this day.
Defensive Line Coach
Jason Brooks noticed this mentality and work ethic from Salley when he stepped on campus in January 2019.
"He still carries that chip on his shoulder," Brooks said. "He still practices and works in the weight room and still carries himself like a walk-on trying to earn a spot for the first time. I've never seen him get complacent, take it easy or back off over my two years of being here."
Salley, a protégé to one of the best defensive edge-rushing tandems in Big South football history, Anthony Ellis and Solomon Brown, he picked up on small details from both of their games to help improve his own.
He focused on the technical side in patterning his pass rush moves from Ellis, a two-time Big South Defensive Player of the Year. He took the leadership aspect from Brown, a four-time All-Conference selection, and was challenged to focus on the little things like hustling to the ball and doing everything full speed all the time.
"He (Brown) would always harp on the small things," Salley said. "He was another technician who would always dot his I's and cross his T's when it came to technique."
Salley said, "I was right behind him, and I went in when he needed to come off. He wasn't really used to that; he was used to always being in the game all the time."
Salley was constantly adding to his bag of pass rush moves by watching these guys, and he credits his success to learning from a variety of players across the field. It helped add to his versatility and made him an asset to the defense in his early CSU career by being able to take quality, meaningful game reps.
Part of earning a coaches' trust and earning more game reps include showing a pattern of working hard every day, taking care of business in the classroom and taking initiative in the film room. Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
Zane Vance witnessed very early on how Salley was excelling in all three areas daily.
"Nick is incredibly mature," Vance said. "You don't get a bunch of emotional highs and lows and silliness from him. He's where he's supposed to be, and he's another guy that stays off of the negative lists."
While his athletic ability has garnered him accolades off the field by way of All-American and All-Conference recognition, his leadership ability off the field has also been recognized by both his peers and the coaching staff. In Salley's case, he finds his leadership ability comes from voicing the thoughts of his teammates to the coaches and vice versa, and providing a clear conduit of communication to both parties.
"It's not as easy as everybody thinks it is," Salley said. "Being a captain is having to represent every teammate the right way; you have to present things to administration or the coaches in an articulate way."
Denson has been impressed at Salley's ability to be the guy to stand up in front of the team and coaching staff and advocate for the players.
"He has the courage to always be the one to speak up when no one else is willing to jump on that sword," Denson said. "He also has worked to have those tough conversations with us on behalf of his teammates."
As a former walk-on, Salley feels he would be doing a disservice to his younger walk-on teammates if he allows them to just get by. Getting by isn't winning football and more importantly getting by won't get them a scholarship.
As Salley continues to develop into a stronger leader, his main focus is representing each one of his teammates in the right way and continuing to be a strong voice for and to his teammates.
