Huskie Outsider

For twelve years, Huskie fans have been waiting patiently for a 4^th Vanier Cup title to come to the city of bridges, only to have it slip through their fingers. Some years the team has been close. Really close. One student now holds the Huskies best national title hopes firmly in his grasp. At 6”0 220 pounds, Laurence Nixon, the 5^th year veteran quarterback out of Vancouver College, isn’t the most physically imposing player to go behind center, and athletically he may not blow people away. But his long and winding road, which started at the age of six playing flag football in his hometown of Richmond B.C., has led him to becoming one of the top signal callers in the country.

Back for one last shot, he aims to become the 2nd quarterback donning #11 to lead his team to a championship, next to Ryan Reid.  He is the unquestioned leader, and it’s a role he’s more than prepared to take on.

“To me, leadership has always been defined as respect” Nixon explained. “You can’t really lead a team or lead anybody without their respect. The QB position is always a leadership position and some people step into it and are acting like a leader but they don’t have that respect.”

Nixon has clearly put in the time and earned that respect from his peers while being one of the most approachable and genuine guys around. Even without any playing time in his first year, he seized an opportunity.

“My first couple years here I red-shirted and I think that really gave me the ability to get to know guys, so that when it became my turn in my third year, it just helped on a personal level.”

Nixon and current Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Brent Schneider have been working together for six years now, and no doubt know each other on a personal level. It’s a player-coach relationship that has stood the tests of time.

“I 100% respect what he says and have faith in him both as an Offensive Coordinator and a Quarterbacks coach. There are some games I think back, they were tough games but I think we came through because he had great play-calling. The thing he’s been saying to me for three years is ‘you gotta watch more film, you gotta get in there and do more prep’. Now I’ve been able to see the value in it because I think it helped my game a lot.”

Then came time for him to prove himself on the field amid stiff competition.  In 2007, with the Huskies down by 20 to SFU at halftime and in need of a spark, Nixon got his opportunity.  It was a situation he could only explain as nerve-wracking.

“Schneider came down from the booth and told me ‘you’re gonna play the second half.’ I was really nervous but I remember a coach of mine at Junior Varsity once said “you basically have nothing to lose, no ones really expecting you to go in, you just gotta go out there and remember the fundamentals and do what you can do”

Coming into those pressure situations isn’t something he relishes, but instead takes in stride, allowing him to shrug off some of the adversity that comes with being a Huskie

“I don’t necessarily hope for those opportunities or love those opportunities. You don’t want it to be like that. When there’s not as much pressure in the middle of the game, there’s little things that distract you but when it comes to the situation of immense pressure, you can’t afford to think about other things.”

In order to lessen the pressure that comes with his position, he’s realized since high school that he needs to take some of the pressure off himself and just enjoy the moment.

“You want to sit back and say this is the last I’ll probably ever play football so I have to enjoy it. I’ve been getting better at just eliminating a lot of the pressures that you put on yourself and you don’t need to worry about. What you can control is how you prepare each week and knowing a lot of your reads, and from there you build confidence.”

A lot of that confidence is also a credit to those who helped him get here. Those who have been with Laurence in the long run and the time and effort put in by his family is what allowed it all to happen. Nixon credits his dad for coaching him and his brothers, and for working tirelessly to ensure Laurence was getting valuable experience playing the game.  Lots of driving was necessary as the family tried to find time to make it to both his and his brother games, with his brothers sometimes having a game in Surrey while he had to play at Richmond.  He also made mention of his sister being a real support to him, exclaiming that “even in this past week when we played Western, she was listening to the game, and she goes to the University of Toronto.”

Nixon also had coaches in his earlier playing days that helped pave the way.  His coach at Junior Varsity, Todd Burnett, was a standout QB at Eastern Washington Univ. and had been coaching him since grade 8 on his throwing technique and footwork.  He was someone Laurence believes is  “partially responsible for me making the team with the Huskies.”

Going to the U of S wasn’t always on the radar, but it didn’t take long before it was in the immediate plans.

“When BT came out to talk to Shea Emry (current Montreal Alouettes linebacker), that was the first time I’d ever really heard of the U of S. Then the next year he came out and talked to six or seven of us, I was serious about leaving Vancouver, I wanted to get out and experience something new. I came out (to Spring camp) and I ended up loving the program, loving the culture. That kind of sealed the deal for me”

In that spring camp in 2005, Nixon was clearly in tough to make a lasting impression. The team had many potential starting pivots that year, including the likes of Steve Bilan, Mark Feader, Ryan Kroeker and Trevor Barss. His best impression however, came in a conversation with the coach afterwards.

“There were seven QB’s at that camp, they cut two, and they only wanted four so I met with coach Schneider after the scrimmage and he said ‘how about if you take a year off and play some junior ball and we keep in touch.’ I told him that at this point, I’m almost sold on the university and I’m 80% sure I want to come here no matter what.”

“He said ‘If you’re willing to come here then we’ll have a spot for you, we’re not going to deny you that.’”

Being 80% sure then, we now know Laurence Nixon is 100% sure of one thing. He wants to be the player to lead his team over the hump.

He’ll do everything in his power in the next three months to make sure no one denies him of that.

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