alt=Brandon GurneyPROVO — He’s been known to get choked up while watching “The Good Dinosaur,” and he’s about to graduate with a degree in economics from Brigham Young University after engaging in a challenging yet rewarding stint at BYU since enrolling just prior to the 2015 football season.
He’s JJ Nwigwe, and he’ll be playing his final game at LaVell Edwards Stadium this coming Saturday when the Cougars take on Idaho State. What his emotions will be just prior, during and after the game is anyone’s guess, with Nwigwe describing himself as someone who exhibits inconsistent emotions.
“I’m kind of a weird emotional guy. I remember watching “The Good Dinosaur” and almost tearing up at the end, but my senior year of high school, I didn’t really even cry,” he said.
Nwigwe was prepped at Rockwall High School, which is in the Dallas area, before arriving at BYU where he signed on as an offensive line prospect. Things didn’t work out along the offensive line, with the 6-foot-5, 260-pound athlete making the switch to tight end where he saw limited playing time, before making his final, and overwhelmingly most successful position change to defensive end for his final season.
Defensive line coach Ilaisa Tuiaki, much like Nwigwe’s other position coaches, describes him as a ready learner who eventually rose to become a starter within his position group despite the condensed time to learn the position.
“He really learned the position pretty quickly,” Tuiaki said. “He came over to us in the spring and I’ve been real happy with his development.”
Nwigwe will enter his final home game with 10 tackles and a forced fumble on his stats, although the true impact made by defensive linemen goes beyond the stat sheet. Through nine games played he’s learned to make an impact steadily improving each game while increasing his amount of reps.
As for the circumstances which led to three position changes, it hasn’t been easy, although Nwigwe is ultimately grateful for the experience.
“It’s been different,” he said. “But it’s all definitely been worth it. I just want to thank coach (Ilaisa Tuiaki) and coach Kalani (Sitake) for giving me a home on the defensive line ... It’s been really fun.”
Nwigwe fondly recalls his first game experience at BYU coming with the miracle comeback win over Nebraska back in 2015 standing out, along with the moment Sitake was named BYU’s new head coach the year after. He notes a dramatic change in environment within the program under Sitake, which he’s overall been grateful for, stating, “Definitely him being here has made this experience a lot better.”
Nwigwe is on track to graduate this spring, noting a tough, but ultimately rewarding experience at BYU through all the position changes on top of the rigorous academic and social criteria involved.
“There are some things you can’t control, but you can control how you respond to those things,” Nwigwe said. “I think that’s the biggest thing being at BYU and how my career has been. I’m just ready to use that for the rest of my life.”