As a tall, skinny kid coming out of Basehor-Linwood High School in Kansas in 2016, Nick Fisher didn’t grab the attention of major colleges.
However, after a successful career at Division II William Jewell College – located about 45 minutes from his hometown – Fisher is on his way to the Pac-12. Fisher recently announced that he will join the Colorado Buffaloes as a graduate transfer walk-on tight end.
“I know coming from a small school and obviously not being a big multiple star recruit out of high school, a scholarship was going to be a long shot,” he said. “I was looking for an opportunity. I’ve told Colorado that I’ll come help the team any way I can; special teams, whatever you need, I’m coming to help. I’m a guy who loves football and I’m just coming for the love of football and I will help you however you need it.”
First-year head coach Karl Dorrell is making a point of beefing up the roster at tight end, a position that CU plans to use a lot in its offense. Fisher is one of three tight ends to recently announce they’ll join CU as transfer walk-ons.
“I had a really good conversation with (tight ends coach Taylor Embree),” Fisher said. “I really liked everything he was telling me and their vision for tight ends and how he could use me. I sort of fell in love with what they were saying. I had a video call with coach Dorrell. Man, I was impressed with coach Dorrell. That night I decided to commit to Colorado as a walk-on and I’m really excited about.”
Although there wasn’t much weight on his 6-foot-5 frame coming out of high school, Fisher said he took his redshirt season in 2016 “really seriously” and added muscle. He’s now about 265-270 pounds.
“I was kind of a late bloomer,” said Fisher, who also had opportunities to play college basketball coming out of high school. “Then I was the starting tight end there for three years, I was really productive and I started realizing that I could possibly do a grad transfer somewhere else.”
After catching just 16 total passes in 2017 and 2018, Fisher racked up 39 catches for 596 yards last season. Only five tight ends in Division II caught more passes.
“I had a big year and talking to my coaches (at William Jewell), they knew and I knew that D-I, Power 5 was a goal for me and a possibility,” he said.
After receiving attention from a trio of Big 12 schools, Fisher was contacted by CU last month. He believes he can help the Buffs as a receiver and blocker.
“I’m hearing they’re going to really make (tight end) a cornerstone of the offense, with 11 and 12 personnel,” he said. “When you can get multiple good tight ends on the field, thatap a huge advantage for any team.”
CU returns starting tight end Brady Russell, who is a junior, but itap a very inexperienced group. Junior Jared Poplawski, who is recovering from a second ACL tear, and sophomore Luke Stillwell, who played special teams last year, are the only other scholarship veterans. True freshmen Caleb Fauria and Louis Passarello will also be on scholarship.
With the lack of experience, CU has recently added UCLA graduate transfer Matt Lynch and Arizona transfer Jake Peters as transfers, along with Fisher. The biggest of CU’s tight ends, Fisher also has the most career catches (55) and he’s eager to compete for playing time.
“I’m excited about it,” he said. “I’m a super competitive guy, especially when I step on the field. That room over there is really beefed up ever since Taylor took over and they’ve even got some really good ones there. I’m excited to get everybody in the same room and working with those guys and competing every day.
“I’m going to look at it as a challenge and itap a huge positive because that room is a lot better right now.”
New GAs
CU has added two more graduate transfers to its coaching staff.
BJ Johnson, who will help coach the safeties, is a graduate of Georgia Southern, where he played his senior year under current CU defensive coordinator Tyson Summers. That year, in 2016, Summers was the Georgia Southern head coach.
Johnson went through training camp in 2017 with the San Francisco 49ers – where he spent time with Embree. Last year, Johnson was the receivers coach at Savannah State.
Jason Grossman will also join the Buffs as a GA. A former receiver at Akron (2016-18), he worked as a graduate assistant with the Zips last season. According to his LinkedIn.com page, Grossman will work with receivers at CU.
Previously, CU hired Donovan Williams (offensive line) and Aziz Shittu (defensive line) as grad assistants.