Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
"Mature beyond his years” Vattiato finally takes the reigns of the Blue Raider Offense
8/24/2023 5:25:00 PM | Football
After an early start, followed by a long wait, it’s finally Nicholas Vattiato’s turn
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Talk to Nicholas Vattiato for more than a few minutes and one thing becomes clear: there's not a small thing that gets by him.
A FaceTime recruiting call from the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic? The quarterback remembers each building former assistant coach Siriki Diabate showed him to help sell him on MTSU. His first college touchdown pass? Well, you might expect him to remember that toss to DJ England-Chisolm pretty well, but his recall of other plays, a touchdown against Toldeo, a blocked punt he wasn't even on the field for against Charlotte, makes what his position coach, Brent Stockstill, thinks all the more obvious.
"All the little details he takes a ton of pride in," Brent Stockstill said. "Some that people might not see, but he does and it's paying off."
To many folks who've been around the Blue Raider football program, Vattiato has been a part of the conversation at quarterback far more than most of his peers who will enter the 2023 season with the "R-So." class designation on the depth chart. His path to the starting job and to his team captaincy, getting named one of four non-senior captains for the Blue Raiders in 2023, was far from typical.
Start with the recruiting process as a high school quarterback, one that saw Vattiato transfer schools just so he could have a senior season in the fall of 2020. One where there were no real visits, no face-to-face meetings, just phone calls, FaceTimes and Zoom meetings alongside his mom in their kitchen.
Through all of those challenges, Vattiato said, Rick Stockstill stood out as the person he wanted to play for, sold on the head coach's character and leadership, as well as the fact the former FSU quarterback was willing to check in with him and his family on things outside of recruiting, often making contact personally three to four times a week.
His start in Murfreesboro was far more typical. The only true freshman in the quarterback room under then offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon, Vattiato didn't even make the initial public depth chart the Blue Raiders put out in 2021. Instead, the signal caller earned his reps primarily as the quarterback for the scout team, a role Vattiato wholeheartedly embraced.
Learning a new offense each week, or at least enough of the basics to run the various cards MTSU used to get a right look, was a challenge, of course. But the opportunity to face off against that Blue Raider defense, with folks like Reed Blankenship, DQ Thomas and Jordan Ferguson across the line of scrimmage, that really made those reps stand out to Vattiato. Particularly when the scout team found some success.
"As a scout team player, if you make Coach Shafer mad and yell at the defense, you did your job right," Vattiato said. "Anytime we could get Shaf yelling at the defense, it was good."
Midway through the season, however, Vattiato found himself called upon. With the departure of initial starter Bailey Hockman and then the ACL tear of Chase Cunningham, the Blue Raiders were down to just two scholarship quarterbacks — Vattiato and Mike DiLiello — to finish out the final four games of the regular season, a stretch where MTSU would need to win two of those four just to reach bowl eligibility.
DiLiello was the listed backup to Cunningham prior to his injury, but Vattiato ended up winning the job that week after the two split reps ahead of a trip to Western Kentucky the next weekend. The start of the game, an 8-play, 75-yard drive capped off with a 49-yard touchdown pass over the top to DJ England-Chisolm, could not have gotten Vattiato's first career start off better.
The rest of the afternoon, however, could not have gone much worse. Vattiato was picked off once, leading to a Hilltopper touchdown on the ensuing drive. Then he was picked off again, this time a pick-six, no offense needed for WKU. The first quarter ended with MTSU sneaking back into Hilltopper territory, only for Vattiato to get picked off again.
Several hours later, the final line for the first-time starter told the story of MTSU's 48-21 loss: 24-for-41 for 205 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. What stood out, even at the time, was the confidence Rick Stockstill still placed in his true freshman quarterback.
"He's a mentally tough kid. He showed that. He feels like he let the team down, but it's a team game," Stockstill said at the time. "I love that sucker, and he's going to be alright."
Vattiato did learn, the quarterback said. The whole team did. And thanks to his smart play down the stretch and some opportunistic play on defense, Vattiato helped the Blue Raiders to that bowl game in 2021, eventually winning the Offensive MVP honors in the Blue Raiders' 31-24 win over Toledo in the Bahamas Bowl after tossing two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Rockets.
The details come to Vattiato like the play just happened.
"That touchdown to Jarrin, we had been repping that all preparation leading up to it," Vattiato recalled. "We knew their defense, the way their safeties played, they liked to be aggressive. So, on that play with the motion with (Jaylin), Jarrin kind of ran a great route and I hit him over the top."
The strong end to the season placed Vattiato onto the CUSA All-Freshman team, and left MTSU with a quarterback dilemma entering 2022. Do they stick with Vattiato, who will have the entire spring to learn Mitch Stewart's Air Raid scheme firsthand, or do they go back to Chase Cunningham, who will get back from his knee injury just before fall camp, only having mental reps until then?
The battle was tight, but it was one that Cunningham won, something Vattiato had to adjust to after the highs he'd experienced just a few months prior.
"When Coach Stew and Coach B-Stock told us how it was going to be," Vattiato said, "I had to gather myself and be like 'Alright, I'm not going to be the guy this year, but how can I learn from Chase, accept my role in the team and do my best.'"
Accepting the backup role did not come without some benefit, however, as it also gave the Florida native a chance to earn his redshirt back after having it pulled during his freshman season. Something that Brent Stockstill and Stewart were clear was the priority not only for Vattiato, but also true freshmen QBs Kyle Lowe and DJ Riles. In blowouts, both for MTSU and against them, Preston Rice and Stone Frost would get the garbage time reps. The other three? Well, they'll just be "Break Glass if needed" QBs.
The time to break the glass came against LA Tech, when Cunningham went down with a concussion. Vattiato couldn't complete the comeback against the Bulldogs but did earn the win against the Charlotte 49ers the next week, completing 22 of 29 passes for 203 yards for his fourth win as a starter for the Blue Raiders.
With Cunningham's return the next week against FAU, Vattiato earned the redshirt back. And with a pair of seasons behind the Knoxville native, Vattiato said the lessons he learned from Cunningham's leadership set him up well to take over that role the following spring after Cunningham's graduation.
That's when the whispers started that Vattiato wasn't just the freshman who stepped up in a year no one expected him to be called upon. He was the vocal leader in the huddle, elevating those around him.
"He's always been a lead by example guy, the work part of it has never been an issue," Mitch Stewart said. "He's really taken control of that huddle. He's not afraid to jerk somebody in the facemask and go 'Hey listen, this is the way it's got to be done.'"
Vattiato said that calling teammates out that need to do better is just a small part of leadership. Far more impactful are the little moments, the encouragement coming off the field, the compliments after a good rep or a good play, that give you the authority to take a guy off to the side and tell him he needs to step up when it's warranted.
"He's mature beyond his years, he's a professional in everything he does," Brent Stockstill said. "He really elevates the people around him. I think when you make everyone else around you better, in turn you kind of grow yourself."
That growth has been evident both in person this fall camp and in listening to his coaches, who have been crystal clear on the progress Vattiato has made and continues to make.
"He's continuing to get better every day," Rick Stockstill said. "This is his third year in the program, but he's only played in six games. So he's still maturing, he's still learning, he's still developing, he's still growing. But he's taking that next step every practice."
More important than his coaches' endorsement, perhaps, is that of his teammates, who elected him captain and have been equally willing to stand up for the redshirt sophomore.
"When you said, Vattiato, I smiled," DJ England-Chisolm said at CUSA Kickoff in July. "Coming in this summer, I hear him. When we have team throws after weightlifting, he's bringing his voice out, he's being more mature.
"He's leading us, he's leading the offense," the wideout continued. "Our offense is fast-paced, so he's hammering on us how we have to be fast. He's being a leader, and we're following him."
The trust he's been given by the Blue Raider program is not lost on Vattiato. It's a trust that is reciprocated by the quarterback, who hopes he can inspire his teammates to be the best version of themselves when things kick off in Tuscaloosa on September 2.
"Even with a great opponent like Alabama, we have a great opportunity to go out there and show what we've been building," Vattiato said. "I believe in my guys more than anyone to be able to go out there against some competition and show what we have.
"Not to prove to ourselves, because we all believe in ourselves, but maybe just to prove to other people that we're here and we're here to play."
A FaceTime recruiting call from the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic? The quarterback remembers each building former assistant coach Siriki Diabate showed him to help sell him on MTSU. His first college touchdown pass? Well, you might expect him to remember that toss to DJ England-Chisolm pretty well, but his recall of other plays, a touchdown against Toldeo, a blocked punt he wasn't even on the field for against Charlotte, makes what his position coach, Brent Stockstill, thinks all the more obvious.
"All the little details he takes a ton of pride in," Brent Stockstill said. "Some that people might not see, but he does and it's paying off."
To many folks who've been around the Blue Raider football program, Vattiato has been a part of the conversation at quarterback far more than most of his peers who will enter the 2023 season with the "R-So." class designation on the depth chart. His path to the starting job and to his team captaincy, getting named one of four non-senior captains for the Blue Raiders in 2023, was far from typical.
Start with the recruiting process as a high school quarterback, one that saw Vattiato transfer schools just so he could have a senior season in the fall of 2020. One where there were no real visits, no face-to-face meetings, just phone calls, FaceTimes and Zoom meetings alongside his mom in their kitchen.
Through all of those challenges, Vattiato said, Rick Stockstill stood out as the person he wanted to play for, sold on the head coach's character and leadership, as well as the fact the former FSU quarterback was willing to check in with him and his family on things outside of recruiting, often making contact personally three to four times a week.
His start in Murfreesboro was far more typical. The only true freshman in the quarterback room under then offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon, Vattiato didn't even make the initial public depth chart the Blue Raiders put out in 2021. Instead, the signal caller earned his reps primarily as the quarterback for the scout team, a role Vattiato wholeheartedly embraced.
Learning a new offense each week, or at least enough of the basics to run the various cards MTSU used to get a right look, was a challenge, of course. But the opportunity to face off against that Blue Raider defense, with folks like Reed Blankenship, DQ Thomas and Jordan Ferguson across the line of scrimmage, that really made those reps stand out to Vattiato. Particularly when the scout team found some success.
"As a scout team player, if you make Coach Shafer mad and yell at the defense, you did your job right," Vattiato said. "Anytime we could get Shaf yelling at the defense, it was good."
Midway through the season, however, Vattiato found himself called upon. With the departure of initial starter Bailey Hockman and then the ACL tear of Chase Cunningham, the Blue Raiders were down to just two scholarship quarterbacks — Vattiato and Mike DiLiello — to finish out the final four games of the regular season, a stretch where MTSU would need to win two of those four just to reach bowl eligibility.
DiLiello was the listed backup to Cunningham prior to his injury, but Vattiato ended up winning the job that week after the two split reps ahead of a trip to Western Kentucky the next weekend. The start of the game, an 8-play, 75-yard drive capped off with a 49-yard touchdown pass over the top to DJ England-Chisolm, could not have gotten Vattiato's first career start off better.
First TD of the day: @MT_FB ✅ pic.twitter.com/uOkTHYM6zN
— Stadium (@Stadium) November 6, 2021
The rest of the afternoon, however, could not have gone much worse. Vattiato was picked off once, leading to a Hilltopper touchdown on the ensuing drive. Then he was picked off again, this time a pick-six, no offense needed for WKU. The first quarter ended with MTSU sneaking back into Hilltopper territory, only for Vattiato to get picked off again.
Several hours later, the final line for the first-time starter told the story of MTSU's 48-21 loss: 24-for-41 for 205 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. What stood out, even at the time, was the confidence Rick Stockstill still placed in his true freshman quarterback.
"He's a mentally tough kid. He showed that. He feels like he let the team down, but it's a team game," Stockstill said at the time. "I love that sucker, and he's going to be alright."
Vattiato did learn, the quarterback said. The whole team did. And thanks to his smart play down the stretch and some opportunistic play on defense, Vattiato helped the Blue Raiders to that bowl game in 2021, eventually winning the Offensive MVP honors in the Blue Raiders' 31-24 win over Toledo in the Bahamas Bowl after tossing two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Rockets.
The details come to Vattiato like the play just happened.
"That touchdown to Jarrin, we had been repping that all preparation leading up to it," Vattiato recalled. "We knew their defense, the way their safeties played, they liked to be aggressive. So, on that play with the motion with (Jaylin), Jarrin kind of ran a great route and I hit him over the top."
.@canesqb11 and @jarrinpierce3 combine for the longest pass play in Middle Tennessee Football bowl history.
— Middle Tennessee Football (@MT_FB) December 17, 2021
This 59-yard strike puts the Blue Raiders up two scores. pic.twitter.com/n5L68le4Uj
The strong end to the season placed Vattiato onto the CUSA All-Freshman team, and left MTSU with a quarterback dilemma entering 2022. Do they stick with Vattiato, who will have the entire spring to learn Mitch Stewart's Air Raid scheme firsthand, or do they go back to Chase Cunningham, who will get back from his knee injury just before fall camp, only having mental reps until then?
The battle was tight, but it was one that Cunningham won, something Vattiato had to adjust to after the highs he'd experienced just a few months prior.
"When Coach Stew and Coach B-Stock told us how it was going to be," Vattiato said, "I had to gather myself and be like 'Alright, I'm not going to be the guy this year, but how can I learn from Chase, accept my role in the team and do my best.'"
Accepting the backup role did not come without some benefit, however, as it also gave the Florida native a chance to earn his redshirt back after having it pulled during his freshman season. Something that Brent Stockstill and Stewart were clear was the priority not only for Vattiato, but also true freshmen QBs Kyle Lowe and DJ Riles. In blowouts, both for MTSU and against them, Preston Rice and Stone Frost would get the garbage time reps. The other three? Well, they'll just be "Break Glass if needed" QBs.
The time to break the glass came against LA Tech, when Cunningham went down with a concussion. Vattiato couldn't complete the comeback against the Bulldogs but did earn the win against the Charlotte 49ers the next week, completing 22 of 29 passes for 203 yards for his fourth win as a starter for the Blue Raiders.
With Cunningham's return the next week against FAU, Vattiato earned the redshirt back. And with a pair of seasons behind the Knoxville native, Vattiato said the lessons he learned from Cunningham's leadership set him up well to take over that role the following spring after Cunningham's graduation.
That's when the whispers started that Vattiato wasn't just the freshman who stepped up in a year no one expected him to be called upon. He was the vocal leader in the huddle, elevating those around him.
"He's always been a lead by example guy, the work part of it has never been an issue," Mitch Stewart said. "He's really taken control of that huddle. He's not afraid to jerk somebody in the facemask and go 'Hey listen, this is the way it's got to be done.'"
Vattiato said that calling teammates out that need to do better is just a small part of leadership. Far more impactful are the little moments, the encouragement coming off the field, the compliments after a good rep or a good play, that give you the authority to take a guy off to the side and tell him he needs to step up when it's warranted.
"He's mature beyond his years, he's a professional in everything he does," Brent Stockstill said. "He really elevates the people around him. I think when you make everyone else around you better, in turn you kind of grow yourself."
That growth has been evident both in person this fall camp and in listening to his coaches, who have been crystal clear on the progress Vattiato has made and continues to make.
"He's continuing to get better every day," Rick Stockstill said. "This is his third year in the program, but he's only played in six games. So he's still maturing, he's still learning, he's still developing, he's still growing. But he's taking that next step every practice."
More important than his coaches' endorsement, perhaps, is that of his teammates, who elected him captain and have been equally willing to stand up for the redshirt sophomore.
"When you said, Vattiato, I smiled," DJ England-Chisolm said at CUSA Kickoff in July. "Coming in this summer, I hear him. When we have team throws after weightlifting, he's bringing his voice out, he's being more mature.
"He's leading us, he's leading the offense," the wideout continued. "Our offense is fast-paced, so he's hammering on us how we have to be fast. He's being a leader, and we're following him."
The trust he's been given by the Blue Raider program is not lost on Vattiato. It's a trust that is reciprocated by the quarterback, who hopes he can inspire his teammates to be the best version of themselves when things kick off in Tuscaloosa on September 2.
"Even with a great opponent like Alabama, we have a great opportunity to go out there and show what we've been building," Vattiato said. "I believe in my guys more than anyone to be able to go out there against some competition and show what we have.
"Not to prove to ourselves, because we all believe in ourselves, but maybe just to prove to other people that we're here and we're here to play."
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