Willing to Work – Nowakowski Makes the Most of IU Opportunity
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Riley Nowakowski saw this coming even if others did not, this emergence as a tight end force for Indiana’s top-seeded playoff football team.
Once a walk-on fullback at Wisconsin, this 6-foot-1, 249-pounder has worked his way to difference-maker status as the Hoosiers (13-0) prepare to play Alabama (11-3) in the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl.
Consider Nowakowski has set career highs with 25 catches for 316 yards and two touchdowns, with a long reception of 43 yards, many by smash-mouthing would-be tacklers. He complements the big-play abilities of receivers Omar Cooper Jr., Elijah Sarratt, E.J. Williams Jr., and Charlie Becker. He’s also an imposing blocker for IU’s best-in-the-Big Ten rushing attack (221.2 yards per game, 29 touchdowns) and conference-leading offense that averages 41.9 points and 472.8 total yards behind Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
“This is something I've always felt I could do,” Nowakowski says. “I always felt I was athletically gifted enough to have an effect in the pass game. Obviously, I haven't always had the opportunity to show it, but I think I've built a great relationship with Fernando.”
As transfers (Mendoza came from the University of California), they bonded quickly upon arriving in Bloomington last January.
“We became friends,” Nowakowski says. “We did a lot of work together during the winter, spring, and summer. We ended up building a relationship where he had a lot of trust in me. Opportunities arose, and I tried to take advantage of every opportunity that came to me. I think that helped build trust with the coaches and I've been rewarded for the work I've been willing to do.”
This is what head coach Curt Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan envisioned when signing Nowakowski out of the transfer portal.
“The first thing I would tell you about him is he's a great person,” Cignetti says. “He's a great worker. He's always up. He's intelligent. He's one of the team leaders, without a doubt. He's very consistent day in and day out. You know what you're getting. He's a better athlete than a lot of people realize.
“He went to Wisconsin as a walk-on fullback. When they made a coaching change (to Luke Fickell) and quit using a fullback, they moved him to tight end.
“He's made some really big plays for us in the pass game in terms of taking short routes and extending those, breaking tackles and making big, explosive plays.”
That included a key 29-yard catch during IU’s fourth-quarter, game-winning drive at Penn State and some big plays against Ohio State.
“He gives it everything he's got,” Cignetti says. “He's not your prototypical 6-foot-6, 260-pound tight end, but I'm sure glad we got him.”
Riley was an all-state linebacker and running back at Wisconsin’s Marquette University High School athletic enough to also letter in basketball and track.
Still, he didn’t generate many major college offers, and he ended up walking on at Wisconsin.
“When I was a little kid,” he says, “I was always told I was too small, I was not good enough. I leaned into it. I worked really hard. I was blessed with opportunities to get on the field and I worked every day. I worked my butt off.”
At Wisconsin, work delivered 18 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown over 21 games and 10 starts in his final two seasons.
As a Hoosier, his production has soared.
“I came to the stadium when other people were sleeping,” he says. “I was the last one to leave the stadium at times. I’ve done that my whole life. My parents instilled that in me -- you have to work hard your whole life, that there won’t be anything given to you. You can do anything you want, but you have to be willing to work for it.”
Nowakowski is willing, and the best might still be ahead.