A positional nomad, McNitt appears to have found true home
Luke McNitt's college career is just three years old, but already it has taken enough twists and turns to earn a role in the next Fast and Furious sequel. He turns just 22 next Wednesday, yet he's played three different positions at two schools at completely different levels.
His most recent stop has him practicing at fullback this spring, but it appears this is where his positional merry-go-round may come to rest. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound junior has an intriguing blend of size and athleticism that has drawn strong early reviews from the coaches.
“If I could go back I might have done things differently," McNitt admits. "But the way things worked out, I don’t think I would change a thing. Things have worked out well for me."
Both of McNitt's competitors to replace the departed Andy Janovich have an edge on him in important areas. Harrison Jordan has played fullback his entire career and converted running back Graham Nabity is faster and has more experience carrying the ball.
But the coaches are clearly excited about the possibilities McNitt's unique skill set opens up for the offense. Coordinator Danny Langsdorf praised McNitt's intelligence and said his time spent at tight end greatly helped his blocking ability.
"He’s going to be a guy that we can run some lead plays, cut the edge, and then bluff and then get into the flat where he can be a threat throwing him the ball," Langsdorf said. "He’s made that transition nicely. We had hoped that he would be a good, kind of logical guy for that fullback spot. He could be an ‘H' at the same time, but that’s kind of an interchangeable spot. We’re playing him more at fullback in that personnel group, and he’s done a nice job this spring."
McNitt never could have predicted this is where his career would be four years ago. A star at Kearney High, McNitt moved on to Nebraska-Kearney and was the starting quarterback for much of his freshman season in 2013.
But he wanted to test himself, to see if he could make it at the Division I level. McNitt accepted he wouldn't be able to play quarterback at Nebraska, but the Huskers took him on as a tight end. After redshirting in 2014, he caught one pass last year, a six-yarder against South Alabama, before making the move to fullback this offseason.
"Coming out of high school a lot of schools didn’t know if I’d be able to make that transition," McNitt said. "They didn’t know if I could go from playing quarterback to putting my hand in the dirt. I knew I could do it. It was just a matter of learning it, getting reps at it.
"It’s been a pretty crazy two years with all the changes, but I think it’s gone well.”
The junior faces heated competition from Nabity and Jordan, both of whom have participated in more games at Nebraska. But neither of those players can boast McNitt's career experiences, and his previous positional stops make him a strong contender to step into Janovich's giant shoes.
McNitt still approaches the game like a quarterback and says he can't help but read the defense when the offense lines up before a play.
"I think that helps me understand what the defense is doing," he said. "I don’t have to do half the reads quarterbacks have to do. I have one or two that I have to make, but I can tell what the d-line is going to do or what the safeties are going to do based off of pre-snap reads.”