NASHVILLE, Tenn. – How does someone who started playing football the spring semester of his senior year of high school wind up starting an SEC football game? According to junior linebacker Nick Rinaldi, it’s all about staying in your process and learning from those around you.
At Dover-Sherborn High School, Rinaldi played basketball and lacrosse and ran track but hadn’t picked up the pigskin since his peewee football days. A Tri-Valley League All-Star in basketball and track and field, and eventually football, his natural athleticism was clearly there.
The head coach of his high school’s football team had been wanting Rinaldi to play. It wasn’t until the outbreak of COVID-19 pushed his high school’s football season to the spring semester that Rinaldi could play without fear of injuring himself for basketball season.
“A couple of my close buddies and I were like, ‘It’s our senior year; let’s just go out and have fun,’” Rinaldi said. “‘Let’s just do what we can to get outside and be with others.’”
That spring, instead of deciding between two colleges where he wouldn’t have played any sports, he chose a third option—a postgrad year at The Salisbury School in Connecticut where he could have one more year of playing experience at the prep level before pursuing a collegiate football career.
“I talked to my parents for a few days—that’s really all I had—to decide if I could take an extra year,” he recalled. “We decided that was best for me. I thought I could leverage my God-given athletic ability to get into a good enough academic school that I couldn’t get into with just my academics. I decided on Vanderbilt later, and I’m very glad I came.”
Even with an extra year of prep football, recruiting was still not an easy process for Rinaldi. He was being recruited by a few Ivy League and Division III schools but wasn’t really being looked at by any SEC or Power 5 teams.
“I emailed a bunch of SEC and Power 5 schools that I’d be interested in going to with high academics as well,” he said.
Former Vandy offensive analyst and current Boston College quarterbacks coach Jonathan DiBiaso got back to Rinaldi and helped to accelerate his process to join the Commodores.
“I took a long shot on a preferred walk-on offer here, and I’m really glad I did,” Rinaldi said.
So, the next fall, Rinaldi packed his bags and headed south for Nashville and West End.
“It was a really big learning curve, just…