Minium: Nick Mayers Had The Wisdom to Envision What ODU Football Could Become

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – Nick Mayers was among the first players Old Dominion signed before it began playing football in 2009, and as such, he had to be able to visualize what ODU football could become rather that than what it was.

That’s because when he signed in December of 2007, ODU football existed only on paper.

The L.R. Hill Sports Complex was under construction and a renovation to Foreman Field had only recently begun. Then ODU Head Coach Bobby Wilder relied on renderings of facilities, and the dream of creating a winning program at a school that hadn’t played football since 1940, in those early years.

“The guys who were in that first signing class, they were built differently,” said Bruce Stewart, now ODU’s deputy athletic director and chief operating officer, who was hired to help the Monarchs build a program from scratch as he had previously done at Coastal Carolina University.

“They had to envision what we were doing. A lot of people need to have something substantive to buy into a program. These guys believed in what ODU could become.

“And they helped us build a high-level FCS program that allowed us to become the program we are now.”

ODU is now an FBS program coming off one of its biggest victories ever – a 45-26 triumph at Virginia Tech on Sept. 13. It was the first road win for the Monarchs over a power program.

Mayers is proud of the foundation he and his teammates built.

“I was impressed with how they won that game at Virginia Tech,” Mayers said. “They showed so much grit and tenacity.

“All of the guys from those early teams, we take pride in building the foundation for this program.”

Never has an NCAA startup football program built such a sturdy foundation. The Monarchs hit the ground running with a 9-2 record in 2009. By year three, the Monarchs were nationally ranked and defeated Norfolk State, 35-18, in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

ODU was 11-2 and won the CAA title in 2012, Mayers' senior year, and finished sixth nationally in the FCS rankings.  A Dec. 1 FCS playoff game against Coastal Carolina, which the Monarchs won, 63-35, marked ODU's 28th consecutive home sellout.

ODU's four-year record: 38-10. 

A year later, the Monarchs were in their first transition season of the move up to FBS. 

Mayers was a favorite target for quarterbacks Thomas DeMarco and Taylor Heinicke, set several school records that still stand and was a second-team All-American as a senior in 2012.

Now a loan officer with NVR Mortgage, Mayers will be inducted into the ODU Sports Hall of Fame Friday night at 6. The Jeff and Billye Chernitzer Athletics Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction ceremony will be held 24 hours before ODU’s home game with Liberty University on Saturday.

He joins four others in a diverse hall of fame class of 2025:

Dana Sensenig, a three-time All-American field hockey player who played for the 2008 United States Olympic squad that competed in Beijing, China. She scored 59 career goals and had 171 career points, which is eighth all-time at ODU. She also won a Silver medal in the 2007 Pan American games. In 2006 alone, the midfielder from Denver, Pennsylvania led led ODU with 20 goals and 24 assists.

Chris Haywood, a former men’s soccer All-American who helped lead ODU to Sun Belt titles in 1987 and 1989. A three-time All-Sun Belt selection, he was named the 1987 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. He is ninth all-time at ODU with 68 career points and second in assists with 28. Despite being injured much of his senior year, he was second in scoring at ODU with three goals and five assists.

James Ambrose, a baseball pitcher from Chesapeake who helped lead ODU to a 38-14-2 record and an NCAA Tournament at-large bid in 1982. He was 11-3 with eight complete games, a 3.00 ERA and three shutouts that season. He had a 24-10 career record with a 4.10 ERA at ODU. He played briefly for the Houston Astros in their minor league system after being drafted in the 22^nd round in 1982.

Andy Zucker, ODU’s first full-time strength and conditioning coach, who served from 1989 through 2007 and worked with all 16 athletics teams. Of the thousands of athletes he worked with, 15 became professional athletes. He played a key role in helping ODU win 45 conference titles and 12 national championships. He is the leisure service and fitness manager at the Felsted School in England.

Mayers was far from your typical football player. As a senior at Virginia Beach’s Landstown High school, he was 5-foot-7 on a good day and he stood out in part because of the long, flowing hair that draped out of his helmet and almost covered the No. 7 on his jersey.

He was overlooked by most larger schools in part because of his size but also because injuries forced him to play quarterback most of his senior year.

His distinctive look, local connections and ability to get open against larger and sometimes faster defenders, made him a fan favorite.

“He had an uncanny ability to find a way to get behind a safety on a post route,” Stewart said. “I mean, he would get steps behind a safety, week in and week out.”

He remains among ODU’s top 10 career leaders in 10 offensive categories, including pass receptions (third at 190), passing reception yards (third at 2,688) and touchdown receptions (tied for second with Zach Pascal with 30).

He said one of his most memorable games came on Sept. 22, 2012, when Heinicke set what was then a Division I record with 791 offensive yards in a 64-61 victory over New Hampshire. Mayers hauled in 12 passes for 271 yards, still the most receiving yards by a Monarch in a single game.

“That’s a game I’ll never forget,” he said. “Taylor and I were just chill and laid-back people. It seemed like a normal day for him to throw for 400 or 500 yards.

“The relationships we made back then remain very special. A lot of us were 757 kids who didn’t get the chance to play at Virginia Tech or Florida State and we felt we were better than some of those dudes going to big-time schools.

“Old Dominion gave us a chance to show that we were good.”

Unlike his teammates, he came to ODU as a freshman already a father. During his five years on campus – he redshirted as a freshman in 2008 while the Monarchs practiced for the 2009 inaugural season – he often drove to Virginia Beach bring his daughter, Niveya, to campus with him.

Balancing football practice, meetings, classes, study hall and exams with being a teenage dad wasn’t easy.

“I would bring her to study hall, to the cafeteria,” Mayers said. “Sometimes, she would come to practice. I loved football, but she was my priority.”

“What he did was so hard,” Stewart said. “Trying to balance football and school with a young child was a huge challenge. I think we all admired the way he stepped up.”

Mayers said he wasn’t always as disciplined as he should have been at ODU.

“I was sometimes late for meetings,” he said. “If we had 12 hours of study hall, I would show up for seven.

“I’m grateful to Bobby Wilder and Bruce Stewart and so many others for supporting me.

“I had so much support (while caring for his daughter) from my coaches, from my family.

“Thomas DeMarco, he embraced me from the start. He saw value in me and I’m not sure Tayor would have embraced me as quickly were it not for Thomas.”

Heinicke won the Walter Payton Award as the nation’s best FCS player in 2012 and led ODU into a successful debut in FBS in 2013 and 2014. He would go on to play parts of seven seasons in the NFL.

And he credits Mayers with much of his success.

“Nick may not know this, but he was very easy to throw to because of how good he was,” Heinicke said. “And that gave me a lot of confidence early on when I really needed it. That helped me after he left.

“Nick was always a joy to be around. He always had a smile on his face. He was a great player, but an even better person. We were always on the same page and knew what each other was thinking.

“It’s awesome that he’s going into the hall of fame. He deserves it.”

Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram