Recruiting Report: Nolan Prokosch/Hutchinson (2022)

<strong>HUTCHINSON-- </strong>Our next recruiting report takes us to Hutchinson on a key player that had a season-ending injury that cost him his sophomore season. He's recovered for 2020, and ready to take on his junior season for the Tigers. We chatted with 2022 NFN prospect <strong>Nolan Prokosch </strong>to see what's on tap for 2020 and see what he can bring this already stacked Hutchinson program. <strong>Get to Know Nolan Prokosch</strong> Prokosch is a 5'10 190 pound sophomore that plays cornerback and running back for the Tigers. Running back is his core position, but he gets reps at cornerback too. He's a lover of the game of football and has played his whole life. It wasn't until Nolan was in 7th grade, that he found a sincere love for the game. Year by year since 7th grade, his love of the game of football has certainly increased as he grew closer to playing varsity. To the table, Prokosch brings an intensity at running back that has the potential to be solid. He's a firm believer in challenging his teammates too, which is a teammate trait you cannot teach. Strength wise, Nolan said he's a motivator and can give his teammates hope whenever they need it. His mentality is he can "walk into the huddle when players heads are down, and tell the guys we can do this," Prokosch said to NFN about his ability to lead. <strong>Favorite Parts About Running Back/Cornerback</strong> The way Prokosch described running back, it reminded me of a roller coaster where you are at the top of it, and then it just drops you. The thrill of getting loose in the open field is a similar feeling for Prokosch, and that's a favorite about being a tailback. Another favorite thing for Nolan is when a back "works their butt off" to get through a line and the Tigers get rewarded with a long touchdown. Another new favorite I've heard from Prokosch is the feeling when you get knocked for a loss on one play, and then that next play boom you hit the open field and can hear the crowd cheering as you are running to the first down, end zone, etc. That response is why I believe football players, don't tune out the crowd when big things are happening, you embrace the crowd noise like a winner, and when you are losing, you want the crowd noise to go away! As for favorites at cornerback for Nolan, it is when you lock up a receiver and you can see it in their face that they aren't going to perform at their fullest which is a nonverbal cue I'm sure all defensive backs can agree with. <strong>College Interest/Elevator Pitch</strong> Being a player that didn't see much of the field as a sophomore, there aren't at this time too many coaches reaching out to this class of 2022 tailback. College football is a "dream" for <strong>Nolan Prokosch</strong> and it's something he strives for everything he's in the weight room, classroom, and on and off the football field. This is what this Hutchinson sophomore running back gave me for an elevator pitch to the college coaches out there that might want his talents in a few years. <strong>"I feel that I could bring hard work and drive to their program. If you tell me to do something, you can bet that I’m going to do it. If you challenge me to something, I will not stop until I win that challenge. Even on my off days, I try to be the most energetic person and I always try my best to challenge people and bring life and competition to workouts and practices."</strong> <strong>Improving for 2020</strong> The most common thing you hear in the offseason is coaches want their players to get bigger and that's true in Hutchinson too. Hutch coaches want Prokosch to get bigger because they want him to be more elusive with running the ball up the gut vs. bouncing to the outside as he does now. He's gone to strength training a lot this summer, fall, and winter. He's also gone the extra mile, as he has done extra drills and lifting after strength training was over during those times. Prokosch also focused on lifting during his track season and what's even better, is while recovering from his injury, he was still grinding with the weights in his hand. <strong>Nolan's Mentor</strong> Nolan's mentor is Tigers alumni and a freshman running back for the St. Johns Johnnies, that is <strong><a href="https://gojohnnies.com/sports/football/roster/josiah-nelson/12796">Josiah Nelson</a> </strong>who pushed Nolan to be a better player and Nolan crafts his work ethic after Nelson's energy. " Josiah always pushed me to be the best I could be. He would always push me to go lift with him when we didn’t have lifting that day and he would always challenge me in sprints and other workouts," Prokosch said about the way Nelson groomed him at the running back position he is to this day. Nelson was also key to giving Prokosch input on his game at tailback and showed him many ways how he could improve. <strong>Learning from Last Season</strong> "Sitting on the sidelines destroyed me," Prokosch told NFN as he also learned how much he loved the game of football while unfortunately sitting out almost the entire season in 2019. Prokosch also learned how important the weight room is to his game, and staying consistent with that will make things easier on the field. As for goals, Prokosch hopes to lock up the RB1 position on the depth chart. His other goals were to make another state-run, where hopefully Hutchinson doesn't have to worry about blown calls in the semifinal game like last year. Although Prokosch's tape limited due to his ankle injury that kept him out all but one game in his sophomore season, the tape we do have on Hudl shows you how well he can read defenders and can follow his offensive line where the hole is (<a href="http://highlightwww.hudl.com/v/2Aa4Z3"><strong>click</strong> <strong>here</strong></a><strong>)</strong>