Blue White Illustrated

hen the o9ers started to 8ood in and the media inquiries followed, a slightly nervous Nick Dawkins did what his football instincts led him to do: He buried himself in 7lm. Well… sort of. Dawkins found interview videos on- line of some of the stronger personali- ties in sports and pop culture. Among his favorites: Muhammad Ali and Kanye West. Now, this type of thing comes naturally for Dawkins, a Penn State o9ensive line commit who is as charismatic as he is tal- ented. "I like to be involved in conversation, especially classroom conversation and such," Dawkins said in a recent phone in- terview. "So I would say I'm boring, but I'm also a little bit outgoing." Dawkins thinks it's important to sepa- rate his life on the 7eld from his life away from it – where he falls into a similar rou- tine almost every day. He comes home from practice, reviews 7lm, looks at his scouting report, does any classwork that requires his attention and then immerses himself in TV or YouTube videos with friends or family – laid-back activities for a laid-back guy. On the 7eld, Dawkins is totally di9er- ent. "When I'm on the 7eld and you're across from me, you're not my friend," Dawkins said. "On the 7eld, it's just war. That's all it is." Rated by Rivals.com as a three-star prospect, the Allentown resident is the No. 12 recruit in Pennsylvania. This year, he's helped lead Parkland High School to a double-digit-win season and a deep postseason run, and he hasn't done it by being nice. "The next person who's in front of me, who's lined up across from me, is keeping me from my goals and success with my brothers," Dawkins said. "That's kind of where it comes from. I always channel my anger throughout the week because I don't take it out on anyone. I take it out physically." Listed at 6-foot-4, 305 pounds, Dawkins is one of the bigger players on the 7eld at any time, so he mostly lines up at tackle for the Trojans. He said he expects he'll move into the interior at Penn State, depending on how much weight he adds when he gets to University Park. Among the strengths of his game are his footwork and foot speed, especially for his size. Dawkins tabbed his long reach as a tool he can use at the next level to hold o9 defensive linemen in pass protection. He also listed pad placement and pad level in the run game as the assets he'll bring to the Nittany Lions. But for Dawkins, it's easier to talk about the things he doesn't do well. Like so many high-level athletes, he focuses on the areas in which he can improve rather than being self-congratulatory toward the strengths of his game. "I have more critiques on my game than positives because I just always want to get better," he said. He wants to play lower. He wants to be more aggressive with his punch. He wants to improve his 8exibility and stamina. He's straightforward with himself, and Penn State was straightforward with him, too, throughout the recruiting process. For Dawkins, who received 29 scholarship o9ers, including o9ers from Pittsburgh, Tennessee, West Virginia, UCF and Louisville, the sta9's restrained approach helped make the decision to attend Penn State easy. He didn't feel as though the Nittany Lions were trying to sell him something. They weren't blowing up his phone with text messages. They wanted to have real and honest conversations, and that's what clicked with Dawkins. "A lot of schools, their tactics are always di9erent with how they recruit," Dawkins said. "I would get 50 text messages from every single coach from one school. I did- n't really like that. "Penn State, they would check up on me. When I talked to them, it was always just a normal conversation. It wasn't just recruit to a coach." For an outgoing guy like Dawkins, that was more than enough. "I couldn't ask for anything more," he said. ■ Dawkins' determination brings football success | W THE DAWKINS FILE STATS Started at o0ensive tackle on a Parkland team that won 10 of its first 12 games this season and averaged 213.4 rushing yards per game on its way to reaching the District 11 Class 6A title game... Had 27 pancake blocks through 12 games... Helped Parkland go 7-5 in 2018... Had 19 pancake blocks as a junior HONORS Named a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 12 prospect in Pennsylvania... Won first-team All-League notice as a senior CLICK HERE to see video of Dawkins in action.

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