Nick Sewak talks to his father on a daily basis. Even this week.
The other day, Georgia Southern’s backup long snapper got a call from his father Mike, Georgia Tech’s offensive line coach, who had reviewed his son’s play against Savannah State.
“He called me up and told me I looked good,” Nick Sewak said. “He told me I needed to put a little weight on.”
The youngest of Mike and Robin Sewak’s three children may not play against the Yellow Jackets in the first-ever meeting between the two schools, but he’ll be making the trip. Nick said he expects his father will wander over to watch him snap during warmups.
“He’ll, of course, hopefully be proud,” Nick said. “I know he will.”
Nick Sewak grew up in Statesboro, as his father was first offensive coordinator and then Georgia Southern’s head coach between 1997 and 2005.When his father was hired to coach Tech's offensive line after the 2007 season, Nick was 12 and in seventh grade. The family settled in Cobb County. Nick and his siblings attended Lassiter High.
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Nick speaks with obvious fondness for Statesboro, with fond memories of fishing and running down the hill at Paulson Stadium. It was in Statesboro, too, that his father coached him in baseball and basketball, including a baseball team that also included Tech center Freddie Burden.
“I loved being outside, I just loved being around the people,” he said. “Georgia Southern’s a great place.”
Great enough that Sewak chose to accept a partial scholarship to attend the school that fired his father after the 2005 season. After his firing, the family actually stayed in Statesboro, and Mike earned his master’s degree in sports management, occasionally guest lecturing classes that some of his former players were taking. Robin Sewak is also a Georgia Southern graduate.
Nick said he has been asked plenty how he made that choice – he also had offers to walk on at a few ACC and MAC schools. His answer is the town and the school.
“People here, you wave at them, they wave back,” he said. “It’s a small-town feel. The girls are pretty good-looking here, also. That didn’t hurt.”
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Nick, who speaks with obvious affection for his parents, wants to follow in his father’s footsteps into coaching and is in the same sports management program as his father. One of the professors in the department, in fact, is Burden’s father Willie.
He is hoping for a successful playing career first. He has added two inches and about 35 pounds from his high school frame, up to 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds. He redshirted last year in what turned out to be coach Jeff Monken’s final season in Statesboro before taking a job at Army. His first game was last Saturday’s win over Savannah State.
“They treat me so well down here,” he said. “I love it. Great new staff coming in. I have a feeling we’re going to have so much success going forward in the future. Hopefully this weekend.”
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