After three years starting for Levelland – accumulating numerous accolades along the way – Gerber has garnered his first FBS college interest with UNT.
Blessed to receive an offer from North Texas! #GMG pic.twitter.com/h6X3o2bRSV
— Nick Gerber (@Nick15Gerb) January 15, 2017
Other schools with offers include Navarro Junior College, New Mexico Military Institute and Cisco Junior College.
Gerber broke the all-time Lone Star State passing and touchdown marks in a single season, throwing for 5,617 yards and 77 passing TDs. Gerber is currently ranked third nationally in all- time touchdowns; the current leading mark is 91. The dual-threat quarterback lead the Lobos to the fourth round – their farthest postseason berth in 66 years.
As well as a fantastic quarterback, Gerber excelled at field generalship and involving his teammates in an offense that averaged 56 points and 617 yards per game. Three receivers and two rushers totaled over 1,000 yards, each scoring over ten touchdowns.
Gerber currently excels in two other sports and boasts a 3.9 GPA – an advantage to a UNT program that just qualified for the Heart of Dallas Bowl on the merits of their Academic Progress Rate when there weren’t enough 6-6 or better teams to qualify for the postseason. The five wins for the Mean Green are their most since 2013 and mark only the third time in the last 13 seasons that North Texas has won five or more games.
I spoke with Gerber about UNT, work ethic and lessons he learned from playing for Levelland.
What was your reaction getting the UNT offer?
I was very happy and excited about it. Talked to coach (Graham) Harrell from UNT and he told me. I’m excited about it and I’m excited to get down there and take an official visit.
When do you think that’s going to be?
The last weekend of January is when I’m going down.
Was there any frustration on your part? Because, I understand that was your first FBS offer…if I’m not mistaken. I know you got a handful of schools interested before, but nothing that was at that kind of level. Was there frustration? Is there still frustration?
I’m not really too frustrated. My coaches just told me it was a long process. That I’ve got to be patient. I guess my patience paid off and I’m glad someone is taking a chance on me.
How many other sports do you play in high school right now?
I play basketball and baseball.
How do you do that and still have a high GPA? What’s your work ethic look like to balance everything?
I go to school and then I go to practice and then I come home. If I have any homework, thats what I do. I’m a senior, so I only have five classes. It’s not like I have a full day of going to classes. If I have to do something – I’m out of school right now, I’m not at school from 12-3 – I have a lot of free time to do it right there.
I know that UNT made the last bowl game they went to on the merits of being intelligent. There weren’t enough 6-6 (or above) teams that could make it. They were 5-7 and made the Bowl game against Army and lost. How important is it that UNT really stresses education in their program?
It’s important to me, because after football, I’m going to need to do something with my life. I plan on doing sports management, so whenever I go down there, I’ll be looking into what they have to do and see what kind of program they have that will really best fit me. Because, after football, I’m going to need an education. That’s really what I’m looking for in a school.
You thinking about getting into coaching?
I’m thinking about that or maybe an athletic director or get something in the college ranks.
Going back to Texas high school football – because that’s what our sites’ about – you leave our state…I mean, you’re in the record books and the all-time list. What does that mean to you when you look back at it – say in like 5-10 years – and you’re still there. What does that mean to you that all the work paid off for something that’s going to probably be in the history books forever?
It means a lot to me. It’s nice to see my hard work pay off. But, it’s not just me. It’s my teammates and my coaches. Everybody that surrounded me. They got me to where I am today. I couldn’t have been surrounded by a better group of people. It’s an honor. It really is, just to be at the top with some of the best quarterbacks that ever played the game in the state of Texas. It’s something I’ll never forget.
What were some of the things that you learned from the coaching staff to get to where you’re at now, where you finally have an FBS offer and you’re obviously going to college next semester. What have they taught you to get to where you’re at?
They taught me how to grow up and how sometimes you have to be responsible. Football’s a lot like life: when something isn’t going your way, you can either get down on yourself or find a way to fix it. Find a way. That’s really what I learned from them, just keep going. You can never give up. Hard work really does pay off, that’s what coach (Jared) Sanderson – my coach here – always stresses. If you work hard, results are going to come. And I feel like, wow…hard work is really paying off right now.
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