Adams: Nick Reveiz not satisfied with how far he has come

Nick Reveiz has had the same football vantage point since he was 10 years old. So everything looks familiar.

And everything is a clue.

He watches how the offensive linemen approach the line of scrimmage. He studies their stances, looking for a tell - run, pass or bootleg. It all makes sense to him because he has been watching football from middle linebacker since he was 10 years old.

He was a fullback, too, but that was just a position. Middle linebacker is an identity.

He embraced the position in peewee football and never lost his passion for it. You had a better chance of bowling him over in a short-yardage collision than changing his identity.

When friends heard he was walking on at the University of Tennessee, they advised him to try fullback, not linebacker. When he introduced himself to Lane Kiffin, UT's new coach wondered if he were a kicker.

His father, Fuad Reveiz, was a UT and NFL kicker. Nick is more interested in kicking butt and has prepared himself accordingly.

He was an all-state wrestler at Farragut High School. Now, he's a tightly wound package of muscles that unfurl in the face of a ball carrier. He pushes weights around like an offensive lineman (bench-pressing 315 pounds 10 times and maxing out at 455), and hits guys so hard in practice you could mistake him for Eric Berry.

You might see him as the consummate over-achieving local kid, following in his father's footsteps at UT, happy to have run through the "T" and thrilled to have earned a scholarship. But he's way past that.

"When I came here as a walk-on, people were saying, 'Wow, you're playing on special teams,' " he said. " 'That's really good.' "

But making the team wasn't on his bucket list. Neither was making special teams. And as much as he appreciated his father's football legacy, just running between goal posts - even ones as hallowed as those at Neyland Stadium - was never a goal.

He admits to having chills watching the Vols run through the "T," but that's the fan in him talking, not the middle linebacker. Remember, he has been one almost as long as the other.

"My goal has always been to come here and start, to be an All-SEC player," he said. "I have a goal to go to the NFL.

"So I'm not happy just to be running with the 1's (in practice). My goal is to start."

The UT junior doesn't exactly fit the NFL middle linebacker prototype, or the SEC's for that matter. Certainly, no one would mistake the 5-foot-10, 225-pound Reveiz for Alabama's Rolando McClain or Florida's Brandon Spikes. He just wants to be mistaken for Zach Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs.

"He's someone I have tried to study," Reveiz said. "He's really short."

UT coaches wouldn't discourage that comparison. Linebackers coach Lance Thompson, who coached Thomas with the Dolphins, noticed similarities.

"He was telling me that the other night," Reveiz said. "Coach (Ed) Orgeron also said I reminded him of Thomas."

His new football mentors have provided Reveiz with something more tangible, however. The have given him details. And he devours details.

"I've learned so much more about football this year," Reveiz said. "This staff is so detailed. Everything has to be perfect."

Everything isn't limited to the defense. The linebackers have studied the offense as well.

"We've got to know the name (of the offensive play)," Reveiz said. "We've got to know what everybody's doing on the line. We've got to know the kind of routes the receivers are running.

"We've got to know everything they're doing over there."

For a guy who has been studying football since he was 10, just consider it higher education.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.