Wisconsin outside linebacker Nick Herbig speaks to Sky Sports about his friendship with Pittsburgh Steelers star TJ Watt, his pre-game ritual, growing up in Hawaii and playing with his brother Nate; watch all three days of the NFL Draft live on Sky Sports from April 27-29
Saturday 22 April 2023 09:20, UK
"Dynamite comes in small packages" is the mantra by which Nick Herbig plays as he enters the NFL Draft well-rehearsed in fending off questions over his size. Originating from the Hawaiian island of Kauai and its truncated history of football fame hasn't stopped him, nor will he allow pounds and inches to.
For the fiery and vivacious competitor who tears down quarterbacks and hounds ball-carriers, Herbig is about as softly-spoken and reclined as you might stereotypically imagine a Hawaii native to be. As for flicking the switch, team-mates in the past would share little detail as to Herbig's very particular process of revving himself up for a game, only teasing a regimented procedure.
"There’s a lot," Herbig tells Sky Sports. "It’s a lot to say. It involves just my family, talking to my pops, my brother, thinking about them. Listening to my music gets me going and then I go to a dark place from there. I listen to three songs..."
"I listen to In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins, Untouchable by YoungBoy Never Broke Again and the last one I’ve got to listen to is Back In Black by AC/DC. I don’t know why but those songs just get me going and get me ready to do my thing. Every game those are the last three songs I listen to when there’s about 15 minutes left before we have to get ready."
The Wisconsin Badger has quietly become one of the more engrossing, diversely-projected, 'how will teams use him?' talents within the handsome depth of this year's edge class. He might also serve as one of the sovereign sleepers of his position as the recipient of the modern 'tweener' and hybrid tags with his ability to match electricity as a pass rusher with gliding range as an off-ball linebacker.
A search for downside tends to resort to his slighter frame at 240lbs and shorter arms at 31 1/4" in comparison to others coming off the edge, but undersized pass rushers have arrived clouded by doubt before, and prevailed, such is the space for duality in today's roaming schemes.
He gets to the quarterback. And plans to continue doing so, regardless of his stature.
"I just tell teams if they want a dog I'm right here, I'm going to give them everything I've got every single day," Herbig says. "Everybody says I'm too small and can't play on the edge, I put it on tape and I've said dynamite comes in small packages. High motor, tenacity, I refuse to lose, that's who I am. I won't take no for an answer.
"I try not to pay too much attention (to doubts), all I need is a chance and one team to believe in me. From there I'll show them what I can do."
Herbig's body type and accompanying flexibility fits into a similar category to that of projected first-round pick Nolan Smith, while Philadelphia Eagles sack machine Haason Reddick has been floated as another loose comparison and beacon of encouragement having entered the league at 237lbs back in 2017.
With Herbig comes explosive first-step burst at the snap, flashed on tape throughout his college career and before the eyes of onlooking scouts at the NFL Combine as he ranked fifth among edge rushers with a 1.59-second 10-yard split.
"I think that's a big part of it, the get-off is more than 50 per cent of your pass rush," he said. "I also think my motor is what separates me, my tenacity to get to the quarterback."
He is less your run-and-pummel bruiser off the edge, and more so a dip-and-deceive flyer who wins with rifling speed, bend and sharp jinks but with the added ability to throw down with his hands.
Herbig comes with something of a trademark chop-and-swipe move during which he entrusts his second-phase balance and short-area quickness to maintain leverage as he uses a long crouching stride to flip tackles and pierce the backfield.
Wisconsin would occasionally deploy him as a wide 9-tech off the tight end or even expanding his width as a 5-tech off the tackle's outside shoulder in order to grant him an extended runway with which to hit maximum speed prior to contact or to exploit his bend in stunt designs whereby he would loop to the opposite side of the protection.
In his final two seasons at Wisconsin Herbig collected 20 sacks (including 11 in 2022), 43 hurries, 12 quarterback hits, four forced fumbles and 30 tackles for loss (PFF). He believes he can do it all, whether it be as a 4-3 end or 3-4 linebacker.
"Teams just want to know if I can play off the ball in space and I 100 per cent can, I'm not worried about that at all. I know whatever happens I'll do the best I can to be the best I can be," he noted.
He likes to think he takes after his older brother Nate, who just signed a two-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers having previously gone undrafted back in 2019. Where some linebackers might watch other linebackers, Herbig finds himself continuing to take tips from his offensive guard sibling.
"Even though we play two completely different positions I love watching his film, it motivates me and inspires me," said Herbig. "He plays the right way, he's nasty, he's physical, he hates to lose, he refuses. Watching him play gets me motivated and gets me up a little."
When they were younger the Herbig brothers would race to see who could finish a bottle of water faster or who could eat their dinner faster, while Nate typically roughed Nick up as a means to asserting his seniority.
Competition ran in the family: their dad, a councillor at their elementary school, would spend his mornings before class challenging kids to games of Connect 4, the prize for beating him being a pizza and a juice.
With two Herbigs around, the play fighting might be about to move from the garden to the field.
"I can’t even put it into words, I kind of get emotional talking about it but it’s crazy man," said Herbig. "We dreamed about this since we were little kids, we always wanted to be here one day. I feel like that dream is so close, we’re right there, so close to accomplishing all our dreams. Whatever happens from here on and our careers, I know we have no regrets. I’ve worked my tail off to get here, I’ve done everything in my power."
From one set of brothers to another, Herbig's Wisconsin ties have seen him befriend fellow former Badgers in JJ and TJ Watt, the latter with whom he remains in close contact as he picks the pass rush brains of the Steelers star.
"I've learned a lot from him, he's taught me a lot of pass rush moves, I've watched him work out and just seen the level I want to reach and how far I have to go to get there, it's inspiring," said Herbig. "To see a guy of his calibre go at it, he still makes time for me and still talks to me, I'll text him and call him and he always answers, he's always there for me. Seeing a guy of his stature that doesn't act like he's above anybody, it's pretty cool."
Watt has 77.5 sacks, 333 tackles, 88 tackles for loss, 23 forced fumbles and 162 quarterback hits in 87 games since entering the league in 2017. Makes for an adequate mentor.
"When you watch his film sometimes he won't hit on his first move but he doesn't stop, the guy goes and when he's gone he's gone. He's a beast, he's unstoppable."
Herbig was raised on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, population around 70,000, and grew up on a small plot of land on which his military grandpa had built homes for his close relatives. Beyond his brother, there was a shortage of examples when it came to local footballing role models.
"I remember as a kid the only guy I really knew that got to the NFL from there was Jordon Dizon who was a linebacker too," he said. "My dad coached him in high school so I always looked up to that guy. It’s tough being from that area, my parents had to sacrifice a lot.
"I actually went to high school that was on a different island. My freshman year of high school they sent me to a different island to play football and that’s where my football started taking off a little bit because it was a big time football programme, one of the biggest in the nation. It only raised my level. I’m thankful my parents did it."
Herbig helped guide his Saint Louis Crusaders high school team to four successive Open Division state championships before committing to Wisconsin ahead of the 2020 season, awaiting him a transition from a "boy from Hawaii into a man" and a stark switch in climate.
"That was crazy," he laughs. "I graduated high school early so I enrolled early in my freshman year and my first day was some time in January. I come off the plane and it’s like 10 degrees, freezing cold, snowing everywhere, ice. I’d seen snow before but nothing like that, that was different and I was just like ‘what did I get myself into?’.
"I actually liked it, I got to dress up a little bit, I got to wear hoodies, sweats, beanies, kind of things I didn’t really do before in Hawaii because there’s only one season in Hawaii. It was nice to experience all four seasons!"
Then came his introduction to "Jump Around", a long-standing college football tradition that has seen Badgers fans spring with their arms aloft to the sound of the House of Pain track at every home game since 1988. If unfamiliar, a quick YouTube search will get you hooked, while adding a trip to Wisconsin to the sporting bucket list.
"The first time I experienced Jump Around I had adrenaline going through my body, people are going crazy, it’s like the stadium is moving," he recalls. "Every single person in that stadium is jumping around, nobody is thinking about the football game, everybody is in that moment which is a cool thing about it."
As if Phil Collins and AC/DC wasn't already enough, Jump Around suffices as instant fuel.
Such was the dominance of his high school team, Herbig points to the experience of learning to lose in college as a valuable factor in his growth. It was a test of the fundamentals his family had sought to install, namely the drive and resilience to hurdle every setback. His journey to date has readied him for life at the next level.
"How my parents and brothers brought me up, it was to be hard-nosed and that everything I wanted in life I’d have to go and get it, everything is earned, nothing is given," he continues. "I knew I wanted to play football, I had dreams of playing in the NFL since I was a little kid, other people just laughed at me. Where I’m from you don’t see it that often at all. I was just keeping my head down and grinding and having the mindset that nobody would stop me.
"Everybody is rooting for me and my brother to do big things, eventually I’d like to go back home and do something for the community and give back. I’ve got to start my career first but eventually I’ll go back and give back."
