Q&A with Kentucky QB Nik Scalzo
Kentucky freshman quarterback Nik Scalzo handed off to Travis Tisdale during camp last summer. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
One of the more intriguing stories on the offensive side of Kentucky's roster is redshirt freshman quarterback Nik Scalzo.
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native was a big part of the Wildcats' 2019 signing class coming off a senior season which saw him pass for 2,185 yards and 24 touchdowns at Cardinal Gibbons High School. He established himself as one of the nation's top quarterback prospects while helping lead the Chiefs to their first 5A state championship.
Unfortunately, he did not get to finish his senior season after suffering a serious knee injury in the playoffs.
Things were looking up for Scalzo when he reported to UK. Rehabilitation on his right knee had gone well, and he was making a strong push for third-team reps behind veterans Terry Wilson and Sawyer Smith on the depth chart.
However, another setback awaited him. Scalzo reinjured the same ACL in one of the Cats' preseason scrimmages and had to undergo a second surgery.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Scalzo was on schedule to resume some practice activities this spring. Cats Illustrated caught up with him this week to check on how he's progressing.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: How has your second round of rehab been going?
NIK SCALZO: It's been going really well. My knee is feeling a lot better than when I left (campus and returned to Ft. Lauderdale). In the last couple of weeks or maybe a month, it has felt extremely good. The football staff gave me a rehab guide to follow and they've set me up with a (physical therapy) place down here that I'm able to go to every day. It's going so good. I'm so excited to get back on the field.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Have there been any special challenges since your rehab has coincided with the coronavirus safety measures?
NIK SCALZO: Not really. The bigger challenge is that it's my second tear on the same knee in the last year, so we're taking it slower this time. They want it to be 100% this time.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Did you think you rushed things the last time?
NIK SCALZO: No. Not really. I was cleared by all the doctors that worked with me. It was just a weird thing to do it again, and I want to make sure it's 100% And, in a way, since we didn't have a full spring this year, I was able to rest it a little more than I would have. It allowed me to focus 100% on rehab, so it may end up being better in that way.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Does it help to be back at home and around family to support you?
NIK SCALZO: Definitely. It's awesome. When I'm at home, my mom makes me get on the Peloton bike and do some cardio with her. It's good that they're here to push me and help me get better.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Since you've already been through this once, is there anything that's easier this time, or is it even harder?
NIK SCALZO: Honestly, the biggest thing I've learned since tearing my knee twice is patience. I realized that I didn't have a lot of that before, but over the last year and a half I've really learned and come to understand what it means to be patient. With my second surgery, they had to do a different kind of procedure. On the first one, they used my hamstring to put in my patella tendon. On the second one, they actually cut my kneecap and the tendon under that and put it inside my ACL. It was a different type of feeling, a different type of pain to adjust to when I'm doing certain movements. The first one kind of hurt in the back of my leg, my hamstring, and this one hurt more in the front of the knee. And it's different in terms of the rehab on it. My mom said I must be really special because only about 2% of people do this a second time. It's pretty rare for someone to tear the same knee. But everything happens for a reason, I believe.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: You were going to be limited in spring practice. What were you able to do at the time?
NIK SCALZO: I was doing all the warm-ups, all the routes on air, all of the quarterback drills. Once it moved on to contact stuff, I wasn't involved with that. They were telling me that, by the end of the spring, possibly with a week or two left, I could do some 7-on-7 stuff, but we never got to that point.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: I bet you were looking forward to that...
NIK SCALZO: I miss it. It feels like it's been so long since I've been able to play. My last game was the second round of the playoffs my senior year. I did get to go through four weeks of camp when I got up there to Kentucky, but I tore it in our last scrimmage, and it was non-contact, so that was a little tough to handle.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Both Mark Stoops and Darin Hinshaw have told us you really impressed them before getting hurt...
NIK SCALZO: Coach Hinshaw told me that I was up at the 3 spot. I had jumped a couple of spots in those four weeks I got to practice. It's kind of crazy to think, but I probably would have played if I hadn't got hurt. I think about that every day. When I heard that, it was an even bigger downer, but I've turned that into motivation now because I can look back on it and say that's how much trust they had in me. I can do this.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: What's the quarterback room like with you and Terry getting closer to full health and some new additions to the roster?
NIK SCALZO: It's a really cool group of guys. There's like seven guys in there, and we're all really tight. We all get along. There's no turmoil between anyone. I think we all have one goal in mind, and that's to win. We're going to support each other and whoever gives our team the best chance to win.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: You were on the Dean's List and the SEC Academic Honor Roll this past year. Did not playing give you even more time to focus on that side of your college life?
NIK SCALZO: Yeah. I've always been serious about academics back to high school. My dad said the only way I was allowed to have a car during high school was if I had straight-As all four years, so that kept me accountable. It kind of transferred on to college. I consider myself to be pretty smart. I like that part of college. I like to learn. And when you're hurt, you have a little bit more time to study and get into it.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Does your dad still hold you to any standard in that regard?
NIK SCALZO: He gives me a place to stay when I come home, so I better keep it up. (Laughs)
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Harvard was one of the schools you considered in your recruitment if I recall...
NIK SCALZO: Yeah. I almost went there. They don't give full scholarships, though, so one of the things you had to consider was paying $70,000 a year to go there. I didn't want to put my parents in that position, and I also wanted to play against some of the best players in the country in the SEC.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Coach Hinshaw likes to stress the mental aspect of the position. Do you enjoy some of the challenges he sets up for you guys?
NIK SCALZO: Oh yeah. He wants you to learn the playbook like the back of your hand. We have been getting into blitzes and coverages and stuff like that. When we do Zoom meetings, on Thursdays, we have a Jeopardy game with two quarterbacks in each group. You go head to head and compete. It's literally like a Jeopardy board with categories -- coverages, blitzes, progressions, and a couple other things. There's a money amount assigned for each one, so you play it just like Jeopardy. Coverages for $200. (Laughs).
CATS ILLUSTRATED: So is Coach Hinshaw your Alex Trabek in that?
NIK SCALZO: (Laughs) Yeah. Our quarterback GA, Cam, he sets it all up with the questions and everything. He does a great job. It's a lot of fun.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: How do you fare in the Jeopardy standings?
NIK SCALZO: I tied for first today. It was a good one. It came down to the last question.
Kentucky freshman quarterback Nik Scalzo handed off to Travis Tisdale during camp last summer. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
One of the more intriguing stories on the offensive side of Kentucky's roster is redshirt freshman quarterback Nik Scalzo.
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native was a big part of the Wildcats' 2019 signing class coming off a senior season which saw him pass for 2,185 yards and 24 touchdowns at Cardinal Gibbons High School. He established himself as one of the nation's top quarterback prospects while helping lead the Chiefs to their first 5A state championship.
Unfortunately, he did not get to finish his senior season after suffering a serious knee injury in the playoffs.
Things were looking up for Scalzo when he reported to UK. Rehabilitation on his right knee had gone well, and he was making a strong push for third-team reps behind veterans Terry Wilson and Sawyer Smith on the depth chart.
However, another setback awaited him. Scalzo reinjured the same ACL in one of the Cats' preseason scrimmages and had to undergo a second surgery.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Scalzo was on schedule to resume some practice activities this spring. Cats Illustrated caught up with him this week to check on how he's progressing.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: How has your second round of rehab been going?
NIK SCALZO: It's been going really well. My knee is feeling a lot better than when I left (campus and returned to Ft. Lauderdale). In the last couple of weeks or maybe a month, it has felt extremely good. The football staff gave me a rehab guide to follow and they've set me up with a (physical therapy) place down here that I'm able to go to every day. It's going so good. I'm so excited to get back on the field.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Have there been any special challenges since your rehab has coincided with the coronavirus safety measures?
NIK SCALZO: Not really. The bigger challenge is that it's my second tear on the same knee in the last year, so we're taking it slower this time. They want it to be 100% this time.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Did you think you rushed things the last time?
NIK SCALZO: No. Not really. I was cleared by all the doctors that worked with me. It was just a weird thing to do it again, and I want to make sure it's 100% And, in a way, since we didn't have a full spring this year, I was able to rest it a little more than I would have. It allowed me to focus 100% on rehab, so it may end up being better in that way.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Does it help to be back at home and around family to support you?
NIK SCALZO: Definitely. It's awesome. When I'm at home, my mom makes me get on the Peloton bike and do some cardio with her. It's good that they're here to push me and help me get better.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Since you've already been through this once, is there anything that's easier this time, or is it even harder?
NIK SCALZO: Honestly, the biggest thing I've learned since tearing my knee twice is patience. I realized that I didn't have a lot of that before, but over the last year and a half I've really learned and come to understand what it means to be patient. With my second surgery, they had to do a different kind of procedure. On the first one, they used my hamstring to put in my patella tendon. On the second one, they actually cut my kneecap and the tendon under that and put it inside my ACL. It was a different type of feeling, a different type of pain to adjust to when I'm doing certain movements. The first one kind of hurt in the back of my leg, my hamstring, and this one hurt more in the front of the knee. And it's different in terms of the rehab on it. My mom said I must be really special because only about 2% of people do this a second time. It's pretty rare for someone to tear the same knee. But everything happens for a reason, I believe.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: You were going to be limited in spring practice. What were you able to do at the time?
NIK SCALZO: I was doing all the warm-ups, all the routes on air, all of the quarterback drills. Once it moved on to contact stuff, I wasn't involved with that. They were telling me that, by the end of the spring, possibly with a week or two left, I could do some 7-on-7 stuff, but we never got to that point.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: I bet you were looking forward to that...
NIK SCALZO: I miss it. It feels like it's been so long since I've been able to play. My last game was the second round of the playoffs my senior year. I did get to go through four weeks of camp when I got up there to Kentucky, but I tore it in our last scrimmage, and it was non-contact, so that was a little tough to handle.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Both Mark Stoops and Darin Hinshaw have told us you really impressed them before getting hurt...
NIK SCALZO: Coach Hinshaw told me that I was up at the 3 spot. I had jumped a couple of spots in those four weeks I got to practice. It's kind of crazy to think, but I probably would have played if I hadn't got hurt. I think about that every day. When I heard that, it was an even bigger downer, but I've turned that into motivation now because I can look back on it and say that's how much trust they had in me. I can do this.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: What's the quarterback room like with you and Terry getting closer to full health and some new additions to the roster?
NIK SCALZO: It's a really cool group of guys. There's like seven guys in there, and we're all really tight. We all get along. There's no turmoil between anyone. I think we all have one goal in mind, and that's to win. We're going to support each other and whoever gives our team the best chance to win.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: You were on the Dean's List and the SEC Academic Honor Roll this past year. Did not playing give you even more time to focus on that side of your college life?
NIK SCALZO: Yeah. I've always been serious about academics back to high school. My dad said the only way I was allowed to have a car during high school was if I had straight-As all four years, so that kept me accountable. It kind of transferred on to college. I consider myself to be pretty smart. I like that part of college. I like to learn. And when you're hurt, you have a little bit more time to study and get into it.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Does your dad still hold you to any standard in that regard?
NIK SCALZO: He gives me a place to stay when I come home, so I better keep it up. (Laughs)
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Harvard was one of the schools you considered in your recruitment if I recall...
NIK SCALZO: Yeah. I almost went there. They don't give full scholarships, though, so one of the things you had to consider was paying $70,000 a year to go there. I didn't want to put my parents in that position, and I also wanted to play against some of the best players in the country in the SEC.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: Coach Hinshaw likes to stress the mental aspect of the position. Do you enjoy some of the challenges he sets up for you guys?
NIK SCALZO: Oh yeah. He wants you to learn the playbook like the back of your hand. We have been getting into blitzes and coverages and stuff like that. When we do Zoom meetings, on Thursdays, we have a Jeopardy game with two quarterbacks in each group. You go head to head and compete. It's literally like a Jeopardy board with categories -- coverages, blitzes, progressions, and a couple other things. There's a money amount assigned for each one, so you play it just like Jeopardy. Coverages for $200. (Laughs).
CATS ILLUSTRATED: So is Coach Hinshaw your Alex Trabek in that?
NIK SCALZO: (Laughs) Yeah. Our quarterback GA, Cam, he sets it all up with the questions and everything. He does a great job. It's a lot of fun.
CATS ILLUSTRATED: How do you fare in the Jeopardy standings?
NIK SCALZO: I tied for first today. It was a good one. It came down to the last question.
