Tulane LB Nick Anderson's 1-0 Mentality Prepared to Propel Him to NFL Level
Nick Anderson says he had a host of transfer options from Power 5 programs ahead of the 2022 season. But he wasn’t focused on any of that. Instead, he took to part in a player meeting in January and talked about the expectations for the season being to win it all.
His sights were purely set on the Tulane program right in front of them and playing an integral role into helping the Green Wave to an AAC Championship.
He had the trophy as his profile picture ahead of and for the entirety of the season. It was something some saw as a bold move for a team that finished 2-10 in the previous year and hadn’t received much national attention at all in its history as a program.
It was anything but bold in the end though, serving as symbolic of a 1-0 mentality that sounds cliche at first but was the essence of why the team was able to win the conference championship and come away with perhaps the best bowl game win in history with a 46-45 victory over USC that came down to the final seconds.
Nick Anderson believed. And he developed into a leadership figure that helped Tulane believe in itself and made the nation believe in Tulane.
Tulane’s 1-0 mentality is more than a cliche that means to focus on a single opponent at a time.
That’s something Anderson will tell you and it stems more from a sense of appreciation and passion that have played a huge role into why he’s looked at as one of the prime leadership figures of the Green Wave team.
Anderson went through more than his fair share in a dismal 2021 season, missing time with a injury issues and dealing with a lot of adversity off of the field. The team was relocated to Birmingham, Alabama in the midst of Hurricane Ida and Anderson’s sister was involved in a major car accident at the same time he and the Green Wave were relocated.
The now NFL Draft-bound prospect from the small town of Vicksburg, Mississippi said that it all gave him a new perspective.
“Me getting hurt and having to step away from football really showed me how much I love it, how much I love what I do, how much I can’t take it for granted and that’s what has helped me preach the 1-0 mentality this year,” Anderson said.
“Every Saturday that you get to see is a blessing. It’s another opportunity and you’ve made it through the week, you haven’t gotten hurt and nothing bad has happened and you get to do the simplest thing – to play football.”
Outside of the simple belief that his team has a chance against anyone, anywhere, at any time, it also comes down to staying steady and in the present. That’s something much easier said than done.
“It’s just one of those things of always staying in the moment,” Anderson said. “That’s one thing that Coach Mutz always emphasizes… Don’t get ahead, don’t think about the past, play every play and stay in the moment… Alabama doesn’t relish when they beat Mississippi State. They don’t throw parties because their mentality is a championship, and we have that same mentality to win a championship. In order to do that, you’ve got to focus on every opponent. You can’t take off from one opponent or put too much into another opponent. That’s one of the things we’ve been doing since the Southern Miss game is just dialing in week by week.”
There’s no doubt that Anderson has left his mark on Tulane as key element in one of the most remarkable turnarounds in sports history, and he’s got a chance to make a similar impact at the next level after he finished out the season with 113 combined tackles (62 solo), 4 passes defended, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.
Anderson knows what he brings to the table as an underrated prospect.
“Overall, just leadership, intelligence, physicality,” Anderson said. “This year, I feel like they’ve used me in different aspects in letting me use my talents and being in coverage more, rushing the passer more and I’m one of those guys who can do just about anything on the defensive side of the ball.”
At 5-foot-11 and 225 pounds, Anderson says he’s aware of some of the concerns where height is concerned, but it’s obvious that hasn’t limited his ability at all to this point and, about that, there’s a positive spin to be had.
“I was born with natural leverage. A lot of people look at that as undersized, but I look at it as leverage because there’s a lot of moves I can make that other guys can’t do because they don’t have the bend that I do,” Anderson said. “That’s one thing I feel like scouts will pick up about me is that I can play anywhere. I can play special teams, I’m a team player, I’m a leader and I’m all in for whatever team I’m on.”
Anderson has been one of the top forces in a passing defense that held strong as the top in the nation for several weeks in 2022, something that certainly projects well to the next level where he looks to thrive. He praises defensive coordinator Chris Hampton’s scheme, which he also says has helped him grow as a player.
“The NFL is more of a passing league,” Anderson said. “So to have one of the top passing defenses in the nation is something that obviously correlates…Being able to zone drop, being able to play match on the back end, man coverage. We run a lot of different things on defense that I feel like is going to help me at the next level.
