SUNBURY — Nolan Buirley has never shied away from contact when he’s running with the football. The Big Walnut senior almost seeks it out.
After all, the fastest way from the backfield to the end zone is straight ahead.
So when Buirley was asked what drew him to the sport in the first place, his answer was not surprising.
“I like to hit people,” he replied.
A fitting response considering when Buirley moves on to play at Northwestern next fall, he’ll switch to linebacker.
Buirley is the son of Matt Buirley, who spent six years playing minor league baseball after starting at Ohio State. The elder Buirley played football as well at Mount Vernon, where he graduated in 1994.
Nolan, like his dad, is a standout in both sports. But unlike his father, he shifted focus to football after his sophomore season when he found success as Big Walnut’s featured back.
Buirley was a first-team all-Ohio honoree the last two years and co-offensive state Player of the Year last year after rushing for 4,379, helping them to a pair of state semifinal appearances.
“He’s got great vision,” said Big Walnut coach Curtis Crager, who is in his fourth season. “He just runs so hard and fights when he runs. He’s very smooth.
“He does a good job sometimes of running slow and then turning it on when he sees the hole,” Crager said. But I just love how aggressive and how physically he runs.”
How does a running back of his caliber become a linebacker? It came down to size, said Buirley, who is 6-foot-2 and fluctuates between 205 pounds and 210.
“Me and my family were talking (about how) we don’t see many running backs like me in college,” Buirley said. “If you put on TV and watch a college game, they’re normally like 5-10, 180 (pounds) to 200 … they’re just smaller.”
Attending college camps over the summer further hit home that point. Buirley wasn’t going to get recruited by a Big Ten school as a running back.
So, when Northwestern reached out to him, he found defensive coordinator Tim McGarigle relatable to his situation.
McGarigle was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik and Dick Butkus awards as a senior. He graduated from Northwestern in 2006 as the program’s all-time tackles leader with 545 and played three seasons in the NFL before turning to coaching.
“(He) was a running back in high school in the same situation as me,” Buirley said. “I think he kind of saw himself in me.”
Buirley is entirely new to playing linebacker, besides some time there in middle school. He’s spending about a half a practice to a full practice with the linebackers at Big Walnut in preparation for the move.
His hope is to play more on defense during the second half of the year.
“I just think (Northwestern) saw his athleticism and physical attributes and just thought he’d be a good fit,” Crager said. “I’m still not sure that when he gets there, they see him, they don’t just decide to put him at running back. He’s just such a good running back.”
Buirley went for 248 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries in the Eagles’ 39-7 victory over Dublin Coffman in Week 2. Overall, he’s got 39 carries for 435 yards and five rushing touchdowns for Big Walnut, which is 2-0 heading into their game at Reynoldsburg on Sept. 4.
Meanwhile Eli Stumpf, a senior quarterback committed to Michigan State, is 25 of 36 for 303 yards and four touchdowns this season.
Big Walnut is in a loaded Division II, Region 7 with Massillon Washington, who the Eagles have beaten in the final in each of the last two years. Back-to-back Division III state champion Watterson joins the region this year in a group that includes DeSales, Canal Winchester, Ashland, Uniontown Lake and North Canton Hoover.
“Right now, all that matters is Reynoldsburg,” Crager said. “I think if you start looking ahead, you’re going to do your kids a disservice and not get them properly prepared.”
