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Gainesville Class of 2022 graduate Ryan Nolan to play football at Army
(Courtesy: @ryan_nolan5/Twitter)

Gainesville Class of 2022 graduate Ryan Nolan to play football at Army

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Gainesville High School senior Ryan Nolan has been playing football for well over 10 years. His dedication to the sport is about to pay off as he recently signed to play college football for the United States Military Academy West Point, better known as Army.

While playing youth football four years ago, his former coach and former Florida Gators player Vincent Brown likened him to Earl Thomas, a seven-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion.

During his time with the Gainesville Panthers Youth Football Program, Nolan won an American Youth Football National Championship in 2012 with the Rattlers and a national runner-up finish in 2016 in the United Youth Football League.

Over the past two years as a starter for the Hurricanes, Nolan has been all over the field on both sides of the ball, playing quarterback, running back and wide receiver on offense and cornerback, safety and nickelback on defense. He is expected to play mainly on defense at Army, and it becomes clear why when looking at his stats.

In his first varsity season with Gainesville, the team did not perform well, finishing with a 2-8 record. He did, however, lead the Hurricanes to an 8-3 record this past season and a 4-0 record in 6A District 4 play.

Nolan committed to the Black Knights last July, wanting to commit to a college prior to his senior season starting. Nolan said he chose Army not only because of the coaching staff’s interest in him, but also the opportunities that open up for him when he hangs up the cleats. Nolan’s father also served in the Army.

In addition to the Black Knights, Nolan had a scholarship offer from Navy, as well as garnering interest from schools such as Duke, Georgia Tech and Troy.

Along with football, Nolan competed in track and field and played basketball, though said he fell in love with football due to the physical nature of the sport. He describes himself as a leader, hard worker and good teammate.

At 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, Nolan hopes that one day he can achieve his ultimate goal of playing in the NFL, no matter what position he ends up playing.

The Black Knights finished this past season with a 9-4 record and a 24-22 victory in the Armed Forces Bowl against Missouri.

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