PINEVILLE, La. – Coming into the 2010 season, the Louisiana College defensive coaches were looking to replace all but three starters from 2009. After sophomore Will linebacker Nate Janzen's performance against Belhaven in last Saturday's season opener, it seems that one slot has been filled with authority.

“Nate was with us last year as a special teamer and rotator at linebacker,” LC defensive coordinator Buck Buchanan said. “We thought coming in that he would figure into the discussion at linebacker, either Mike or Will. Last week, he rose to the occasion and won himself a linebacking job.”

In his debut as starting weak-side linebacker, Janzen was in on 18 tackles (seven solo), had a half-tackle for loss and, most importantly, forced and recovered a fumble inside the Belhaven 10 to set up a score and spark the Wildcats' comeback from down 24-7.

Although LC fell short in its bid for the road win, falling 41-34, Janzen proved one of the happier notes of the opener.

“Nate had the best game on the defense,” Buchanan said. “It really makes me proud, as the guy who initially recruited him, to see him develop into the player you thought he could become in high school.”
Were Janzen's story to stop there, with a rising sophomore making the most of his first chance to start, the story would be triumphant enough.

However, Janzen has traveled a unique path to get where he is today and his story dates back two years and a few headaches to his days as a standout at Pottsboro High in Pottsboro, Texas.

In a way, it's fate that Janzen is at LC.

Buchanan, himself a native of neighboring Denison, Texas, recruited the 6-foot, 220-pounder through his friendship with Janzen's high school coaches, Pottsboro head coach Matt Poe and defensive coordinator Randy Matthews, both of whom have a connection, albeit indirect, to the LC program.

“The Poe family is synonymous with football in the state of Texas,” Buchanan said. “I played against coach Poe's brother in high school and college. And Coach Matthews played for Coach (and Louisiana College Director of Football operations Vance) Morris. And I went college with the basketball coach there at Pottsboro. I guess you could say we were connected.”

Of course, Janzen was on more than just LC's radar and entertained offers from several other colleges, most notably Ouachita Baptist, before choosing LC, where, as a final ace in the hole, his cousin, Dennis Dunn, just so happened to be head coach.

“Nate's a special player and very special to me just for the fact that he's a cousin of mine,” Dunn said before joking, “The fact that he's an outstanding player doesn't hurt my feelings either.”
If the story of Nate Janzen stopped even there, it would be the stuff of novelty if not legend, a cute piece about a young man who, by virtue of several chance connections, becomes a vital member of a college football program.

But, Janzen's saga runs deeper still.

The rising star of the LC defense has not only traveled a unique path, but cleared more hurdles than most who attempt a career in NCAA Division III athletics.

“To day the least, Nate has had to overcome a lot in the last year just to remain here,” Dunn said. “You wouldn't believe how many obstacles were in his way.”

Those obstacles started shortly after Janzen arrived at LC as a true freshman special teams ace.

“I had just got here when I found out that my mom had gotten really sick and had to stop working,” Janzen recalled. “She's doing better now, but she's still not able to go back to work. I spent a lot of my time worrying about her.”

That worry caused Janzen's output in the classroom to suffer and forced him to play catch-up to remain academically eligible, a situation he has since remedied.

“My first year, my grades weren't where I wanted them to be,” Janzen said. “So, I started taking some summer classes to get everything right.”

No sooner had Janzen begun the path to academic success than his father fell ill and also had to miss work meaning that, on top of tending to his own collegiate affairs, Janzen would have the added responsibility of caring for, and financially supporting, an ailing family.

“My dad couldn't work for quite a few weeks,” Janzen said. “I pretty much had to take up the slack.”

He took a job with the City of Denison doing what he called, “weed-eating and other outdoors-type work.”

Somehow, he managed to earn enough money to give his family the financial boost it needed and afford to pay his own way back into LC, with positive grades to boot thanks to completing his summer studies.

“To me, Nate is the epitome of the D-III athlete,” Buchanan said. “He's a guy who is working his way through school and helping to take care of his family, but is still out there playing football just because he has a passion for the game.”

“Nate has overcome so much,” Dunn added. “For him to perform like he has in the face of such adversity says a lot about him as a man. I know I am proud of him.”

That passion, beyond his natural skill, has translated into success on the field.

“He is the most competitive person we have,” Buchanan said. “Whether it's on the field or in the weight room, whatever the situation, he has an innate desire to be the best and wants to succeed. You can't teach that. I think that's really what has carried him this far. He just won't accept failure. He just doesn't want to lose and is going to do whatever it takes to be a winner.”

Case and point, as of Tuesday afternoon, Janzen could not recall his stats from Saturday's game. All he knew was that the Wildcats had fallen short.

“Statistics are just numbers on a piece of paper,” Janzen said. “They really have no meaning to me. My only concern is getting a 'W.' I've never seen the importance of that other stuff.”

A young man forced to grow up fast, pull himself up by his own bootstraps and successfully pursue his dream in the face of adversity.

If the Janzen story ended there, it would be that of legend.

But the story doesn't end. Not for another two years. At which point who knows what chapters will have been added to the Janzen saga.