TomVH: An Interview with Nick Patti

Nick Patti is a 2012 quarterback prospect out of Dr. Phillips High in Orlando. He was just up in Ann Arbor with his teammate Demetrius Hart, and I caught up with him to see how it went. Take a look at his highlights first, and then the questions.

TOM: How did this visit come about? What made you decide to go up there?

NICK: I got a hold of Coach Smith, and they invited me up there to get the recruiting thing going. I decided to invite Demetrius up with me, since he's on their radar too. We just kind of made it a good thing, and made it a good trip.

TOM: You're only a junior to be, so I imagine you haven't seen to many campuses yet. What were you expecting to see in Ann Arbor, and what did you see?

NICK: You're expecting to see a lot of tradition, and you're expecting to see a lot of stuff that makes Michigan, Michigan. That's exactly what we saw. We saw everything that makes that program special, a lot of things that mean a lot to the program, and saw that it would be something cool to be a part of.

TOM: Run me through the two days that you had there. What all did you get to see?

NICK: The first day we headed right over to Schembechler Hall, and we got to see the weight room, locker room, the practice facilities, and then the Big House. The Big House is really something special. That was all on the first day, so we did a lot. The second day we kind of took our time, and slept in a little. We headed back to Schembechler Hall and met with Coach Smith. He talked offense with us, and what they try to do offensively. We talked for about two to three hours with him about football, and then he took us around for a bit. We got a lot done in a short period of time. 

TOM: A lot of people come away impressed with the coaches when they meet them, what was your impression?

NICK: You meet the coaches, and you meet Rich Rodriguez, and when ever you meet a head coach you're meeting an important person. But, he's so down to earth. You can talk to him about anything. With Coach Smith it was all about business, but you still feel really comfortable. It's really easy to be around all of them.

TOM: Your dad was up there with you, did he feel the same way?

NICK: Yeah, my dad liked it. He was very impressed with the facilities, and how new everything was. He's basically on the same page as I am.

TOM: When you were talking to Coach Smith about the offense, how was he saying you fit in? Did he try to compare you to anyone?

NICK: With my size I'm sometimes compared to Tate (Forcier). He compared me to Tate, Denard, and Devin all mixed into one at some points. It really just all comes down to intangibles, and who can make the decisions. They have a set characteristics and intangibles that they want their quarterbacks to have.

TOM: You said with your size, how tall are you right now?

NICK: I'm 5-foot-11, and I weigh 185-pounds.

TOM: You're young, but how do you see your recruitment playing out? How do you want to dictate the way your recruitment goes?

NICK: I've heard from a lot of schools early, and I'm going to take some visits and see what I'm going to see. I don't want to drag it out all. I don't want to say I'm going to end it as soon as possible, but I definitely don't want to drag it out.

TOM: So if you think you'll decide relatively quickly, do you have some schools that stick out right now?

NICK: Michigan is definitely a school that sticks out. Oregon, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Florida State are all schools that stick out right now. I'll probably have a better idea as things get more serious.

TOM: On a non football note. Were you close with Ricardo Miller when he was at Dr. Phillips?

NICK: Yeah, I was pretty close with Ricardo when he was here, and we still have a good friendship. We're real close, so it was good to see him, and have him up there.

TOM: What's next from here? Are you going to try to make it back up to Michigan any time soon?

NICK: Coach Smith wants me to get up there as much as possible. We're planning on going up September 4th, for the first game against U Conn. I think that's our plan right now, and we'll try to get up there again as soon as possible.