Indians QB Nevin signs with La Salle

by Don Seeley, Pottstown Mercury Sports Editor

Posted on March 24, 2007

RED HILL -- Upper Perkiomen head coach Keith Leamer was always impressed with Sean Nevin’s knack for making the right call and his handling of the ball as the quarterback in the Indians’ complex offense.

La Salle University head coach Tim Miller hopes there will be a day he’ll share those same feelings ..some day soon, too.

Miller won the recruiting battle for Nevin, who committed to the Explorers’ Division I-AA program earlier this week and signed his official letter of intent Friday afternoon.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Nevin -- one of the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s most proficient passers for two seasons who last fall proved he was just as capable running with the football and had a knack for finding the end zone, too -- opted for La Salle over Randolph-Macon (Va.) and Lebanon Valley.

"First of all, La Salle is a great academic school, and (Miller) is trying to rebuild the football program, so I want to be part of that," Nevin said. "I want to go to a place where I can play, and I feel I can (at La Salle). I just liked the atmosphere there."

A member of the Metro Altantic Athletic Association, La Salle is coming off a 3-7 season under Miller, who was hired less than a year earlier with the hope of turning the Explorers’ fortunes around.

La Salle played football from 1931 through 1941, then dropped the program. It was revived in 1997, but the Explorers have had just two winning seasons -- 7-4 in 2002 and 5-4 in 2003 -- and are 35-66 overall since returning to the football field.

Because of Miller’s late hiring last year, there was little time for recruiting. Ten freshmen, as well as a number of other inexperienced upperclassmen, took on starting roles. Quarterback Chris Hanson guided the Explorers last fall and returns for his senior year. Back-up Eric Hetrick, a graduate of Wilson (West Lawn), is a junior back-up for the Explorers, who begin their spring drills today.

"I went down there first as a defensive back," Nevin explained. "But the coaches sat me down and told me that were looking at me as a quarterback.

"But it doesn’t matter to me if I’m offense or defense. I just want to play. If I had my choice, I’d take quarterback, though."

Nevin feels the position change may have been due to the fact there were few highlight reels of his defensive play at Upper Perkiomen, where he was a key part of the secondary.

"They looked at my tapes, but there wasn’t much of me playing defense," Nevin said. "I guess they liked what they saw and that’s why the move to quarterback."

As a junior, Nevin was relied on mostly for throwing the ball. He responded by completing 137 of 235 attempts for 1,724 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a senior, despite a better ground game -- which he was a big part of as well with 648 yards and 16 TDs -- Nevin still managed to complete 127 of 232 attempts for 1,619 yards and eight scores.

Nevin was part of Leamer’s creative offensive schemes, too, which should help him at La Salle.

"They run a little of everything," said Nevin, the son of Jenni and Edward Nevin of East Greenville. "They run everything from the shotgun to the I, and last year ran a lot of one-back ..so I’m kind of familiar with them all.

"(The coaches) didn’t make any promises. I feel I can compete for a position and play, but I have to get stronger and quicker.

"I like the coaches, and I like their philosophy down there. They believe in working as hard in the classroom as on the (football) field. That was pretty much our philosophy at Upper Perk."

Nevin, who carries a 3.1 grade-point average, is undecided as to a major. But he’s quite focused as to where he’s going ..and what he wants to do once he’s there.

"I’m not concerned about the academics and playing football," Nevin said. "I’ll work a lot at both. It’s a hard school (academic wise), but I’m going to work hard because in the end, it’s going to open up a lot of doors for me."

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