Gazette MVP: Brunswick's Eli Nichols seemed larger than life

Whether in the throwing circle or barreling down the track, wreaking havoc on the football field or orchestrating some off-field shenanigans designed to get a laugh, 6-foot-2, 215-pound Eli Nichols was a larger-than-life presence throughout his four years at Brunswick High School. First and foremost, the multi-faceted, fun-loving Nichols has been named Gazette MVP for boys track and field after becoming the first Medina County male since 2010 to medal in a field event and track event at the same state meet. Nichols ran the anchor leg for a second-place 4x100-meter relay that included Noah Surovey, Ryder Kern and Jacob Sepesy, which tied the county record of 41.71 while finishing just 0.05 seconds behind victorious Massillon Jackson in Division I, placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 165 feet, 11 inches and took 11th in the shot put with an effort of 52-6.75. His top efforts of 169-3 in the discus and 55-1.75 in the shot led the county. "It's crazy knowing the numbers he puts up in the weight room and the muscle he has," the 6-1, 165-pound Kern said. "It shows you how athletic he is. He's a one-of-a-kind, generational athlete. If he wanted to, he could run, he could throw, he could jump. If you were to look at his combine numbers in football — 36-inch vertical, 4.5-(second) 40-(yard dash) — he could do whatever he wanted, and he could do it well." Nichols, who plans to major in marketing while playing football and throwing for Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, was a terror on the football field for the Blue Devils, finishing his career with 37½ tackles for loss while playing primarily defensive end over his final two seasons. In earning Northeast Inland District D-I Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Ohio honors as a senior, he led the county with 20 TFLs, nine sacks and five forced fumbles. Most notably, the 18-year-old with a big-time personality did almost everything with a huge smile on his face. "He's a joker, man," Brunswick boys track and field coach Owen Coughlin said. "He's always having the best time of anybody around. Eli's one of the wittiest kids I know, and he's always looking for the next joke. He's the greatest kid you could hope to coach across the board. This kid is a grown man, and he's a good one." Nichols comes from good stock, as father Sondre played high school and college basketball and mother Tanya, whose maiden name was Cole, was Gazette co-MVP in girls track and field as a Brunswick senior in 1993 before going on to a successful career at Kentucky. Nichols' older brother Cole, who graduated from Brunswick in 2023, also was a thrower for the Blue Devils and like Eli is named after maternal grandfather Elezar Cole. While Nichols helped the Blue Devils to the highest sprint relay finish at state in program history, his mom did the same with the girls team. Tanya ran anchor in 1992 when the 4x1 that included Amy Rooks, Kim Clement and Becky Beckstrom took second in 49.0. As a senior, she also ran anchor as a 4x1 of Amanda Hutcheson, Clement and Jenny Menick finished third in 49.27. "My parents have always been there," Nichols said. "They never miss football games, never miss track meets. Since my mom was so good at track, I'm always forced to do better. They both always know I can do better, so you have that force pushing you. "They wanted us to have fun, but they also pushed us to get where we should be. They knew what we were capable of. If we were not on that path, they pushed us to get there." The owner of a 3.7 grade-point average and a score of 1330 on the SAT, which places him in the 89th to 93rd percentile nationally, Nichols can bench press 315 pounds and squat 495. "When he came in as a freshman, he was already a big, powerful-looking kid," Coughlin said. "One of the first times he came into the weight room, he was just messing around. Eli loves messing around, and some of the biggest laughs I've had over the last four years have been because of him, but that day he was doing whatever he wanted. "I could tell he thought pretty highly of his abilities, so I pulled him aside and told him he could be really good, that he had been the best guy in his class for a long time but that was going to run out pretty soon. He seemed kind of angry at the things I was saying, but I could tell he was listening. I said, 'It seems like you think you're the chosen one, but there are guys bigger, faster and stronger.' From that point on, he was the hardest-working guy in the room, and it stayed that way for four years." The fun-loving, prankster side of Nichols never disappeared, however. At one meet that required an overnight stay, he somehow got in the hotel rooms of his teammates, stole their mattresses and hid them. At another, he was in a hotel room playing cards with friends when a team member came in sporting a nice robe. Nichols got up without saying a word, went to his room, took the sheet off his bed and came back wearing a toga. "I was jealous of that robe," he said with a hearty laugh. "Plus, togas are what they wore at the Olympics way back when. I had to get in that mode." Nichols' favorite prank involved a number of accomplices on the track team and stemmed from Coughlin once telling the Blue Devils how he and his college teammates had put a pig's head on the bed of another teammate. With Nichols involved, it shouldn't be surprising that a group of Brunswick athletes began concocting an elaborate scheme to do the same thing to their coach. One went to a butcher shop and plunked down $40 for the pig head. It took some time, but several others got their hands on the room card of the assistant coach who was sharing a room with Coughlin. Once the room was vacant, the mission was carried out. "That process took soooo long," a chuckling Nichols said. What is definitely not a joke is that Nichols used his rare blend of power and speed to win Greater Cleveland Conference titles in the shot put as a junior and senior and discus crowns as a sophomore and senior. The fact he also was a sprinter made those accomplishments even more remarkable. "When I started sprinting, my mom said I was running like a football player," he said. "I have more power than most people because of the weight room, but I'm a mentality runner. I run a lot faster in relays than in an open event. People are depending on me, so I have to go a certain speed. "We weren't supposed to get close to a state championship (in the 4x1). We weren't even in the conversation, but we just pulled up. It was crazy." Better still is that everyone had fun doing it, no one more so than Nichols. At some point during the season, Coughlin, for reasons he still doesn't quite understand, agreed to shave his head if Nichols reached the state meet in the shot and discus. He then doubled down and agreed to also shave his beard if Nichols also made it in the 4x1. Like finding a way to work with others to put a pig's head on his coach's bed, all those missions also were accomplished. "When it's time to get serious, I'll get serious, but we talk a lot during practice and say a lot of outlandish things," Nichols said. "If you can't make an environment fun, people don't want to be there. But if you're having fun, you work hard without realizing you're working hard, if that makes sense." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.