Strong Man Zielinski Set To Anchor D-line

April 13, 2002

Courtesy of Blue Devil Weekly
By John Roth

When Matt Zielinski was issued his first official football uniform in eighth grade, his coach gave the prospective fullback and linebacker No. 35. That jersey number continued to serve Zielinski well all through his prep career, as he ran the ball and starred at linebacker for Clarence High School in East Amherst, N.Y.

Now a junior on the Duke football team, Zielinski continues to hold on to No. 35, even though it's not a number traditionally associated with his position. Zielinski's running back and linebacker days are long gone. At this point in his career, the 290-pounder can be found battling in the trenches as the Blue Devils' starting nose tackle on the defensive line. It's not a role he ever envisioned for himself, but it's one where he can become a key contributor as Duke tries to build a respectable defense under new coordinator Ted Roof.

"I always thought I'd be an inside linebacker," said Zielinski, who's added about 60 pounds to his 6-foot-2 frame in his three years since high school. "Really, I just wanted to play in a position where I could get on the field and feel comfortable. I struggled my first couple of years because I bounced around so much. I never stayed in one position longer than two months.

"Any time something went wrong on the field, I panicked. I stood there and looked around to see what was coming at me, and I couldn't do that. So I was happy when they finally said, 'This is where you are going to play, get to it.' After a year and a half, I feel so comfortable."

Zielinski played some nose tackle in preseason training camp his true freshman year. Then he moved to linebacker and eventually to defensive end and outside linebacker, where he saw action the first six games of the 2000 season as a redshirt freshman. A knee injury kept him out of the last five games and surgery kept him out of spring ball. By the time practice began for the 2001 season, he had been moved to nose tackle and had to learn the position from scratch. Most of his training came under the fire of game action, as he emerged as the starter early in the year.

"It was actually the first time I played down with my hand on the ground since freshman practice," he said. "The main difference between playing inside linebacker and playing down is just being physical. It's not so much reading the play but reacting to what the offensive line is going to do. It's getting in position and holding your ground so they are not driving you out of there.

"I think my strength, having such strong legs and upper body, has helped me a lot to play this position. Compared to most of the other guys I'm an inch or two shorter, but that doesn't matter. Weightwise I'm normal compared to the other guys who play the position, and strengthwise I can hold that position because of it."

Zielinski's strength is well-known within the Duke team. He has been considered one of the squad's top weightlifters for the last two years and currently reigns as the strongest Blue Devil by virtue of his performance in the latest lifting competition.

When the players were tested just before spring break, Zielinski had lifts of 575 pounds in the squat, 435 in the bench press and 365 in the power clean for a total of 1,375 pounds. That topped his total of 1,185 pounds last spring and enabled him to beat out linebacker Ryan Fowler and fullback Alex Wade for the designation as strongest Blue Devil.

Zielinski's improvement reflects the diligence with which most of the Devils attacked their offseason workouts in the wake of a second straight 0-11 season. The defensive and offensive lines focused on strength with four lifting days a week throughout the winter. Later in the winter, they were out on the turf at 6:00 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday going through the running and agility drills that are used at the NFL scouting combine.

What's more, said Zielinski, the grueling pace of offseason conditioning saw new team leaders step forward and helped the players deposit their 23-game losing streak in the past while taking aim at the future.

"Coming back from Christmas," said Zielinski, "everyone was enthusiastic. It was like, 'Out with the old blood and in with the new.' When the leaders emerged, last year was over with, it's done.

"Some of the guys last year had workouts that weren't what they were supposed to be. The younger guys would see that and think maybe they could sneak into that category too. The leaders wouldn't let that happen this year. They pushed everybody. Everybody stayed on top of things. We're in a better position now than we have been in the past three years I've been here."

Count Zielinski among those leaders, along with Fowler and lone senior Jamyon Small on the defensive side of the ball. Scott Brown, the Devils' defensive line coach, sees Zielinski's strength and quickness playing a role in the pass rush efforts of the team's new defensive approach but notes that his leadership qualities may be even more important.

"At the end of last season he began demonstrating a very positive commitment to becoming a factor in the change of direction for this football team," Brown explained. "He's worked extremely hard not just for himself but to exert some positive leadership for those around him. "He feels more comfortable now in a leadership role as one of the guys with some playing experience. Instead of sitting back and just trying to lead with his play, he's demonstrating much more verbal leadership and becoming more of a visible leader of our team."

Between classes and practice sessions this spring, Zielinski can be found in the Murray Building studying tape of all his workouts and scrimmages. Every day, the actions of No. 35 are looking more and more fluid as he establishes himself as one of the team's defensive anchors.

"The motions are coming to me and I'm now critiquing the little things like footwork and placement of the hands and stuff like that," he said. "Since we're putting in a new defense, everybody is in the same spot learning, so the emphasis is on fundamentals and knowing your position. Coach Roof coming in brought tons of enthusiasm so everybody is out there with an attitude that is totally changed.

"It's really uplifting. We finally have leadership. Usually when we go in a funk, everybody would go down and no one could do anything to bring us back up. This year there are a lot of guys going 'Let's go, let's get together.' That helps tremendously."

Strong Man Zielinski Set To Anchor D-line

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