Anthony Sweeney Translates De La Salle Success to NAU Football

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 27, 2020) - Even casual observers of high school football have likely heard of De La Salle High School in Concord, California.

With a 151-game win streak from 1992 to 2004, one that prompted both a book to be written as well as a movie adaptation, and numerous state titles in the years following, the school has never struggled to draw national attention to its football team.

What might come as a surprise to some is the presence of one of the school's former quarterbacks, one who helped lead the Spartans' many state titles, starting in the secondary of Northern Arizona University. The path from state champion quarterback to starting at safety for the Lumberjacks wasn't always a smooth one for Anthony Sweeney, and it helped become the person he is today.

"All I needed was an opportunity and it came to a point where I wasn't getting it," Sweeney said. "Do I think I could have been a great quarterback? Heck yeah, of course. I grew up doing it. But there came a point where just like I love this game so much, I just wanted to play football. I just needed an opportunity."

There's no doubt Sweeney's time at De La Salle allowed the junior to arrive at NAU with valuable experience and an innate ability to lead. Namely, the natural pressure of playing quarterback coupled with De La Salle's tradition offered Sweeney opportunities few places could match.

"I've always lived by pressure, it's inevitable," Sweeney said. "It's kind of the standard... I think that's what was so great. You had everybody working toward this common goal. Not for an (East Bay Athletic League) championship, not for an NCS championship. It was a state championship and a national championship. So of course there was a lot of pressure, but I wouldn't say to perform. Obviously there's pressure to perform, but it was pressure to uphold the standard and uphold the culture that was already set."

Sweeney and his teammates performed and upheld De La Salle's reputation during his senior season, one that ended in a the aforementioned state championship in December 2015. Rushing for 1,123 yards and 21 touchdowns, in addition to 1,435 yards and 16 touchdowns through the air, Sweeney played an integral role in De La Salle's triple-option offense. Former Eastern Washington Eagle Antoine Custer led the Spartans with 1,339 rushing yards and Andrew Hernandez added another 1,208 yards on the ground to complete one of the nation's most dangerous offenses. 

Those results, however, did not lead to an opportunity to replicate the results at the next level. Undersized as a quarterback by most measures in Division I football, Sweeney quickly realized the trouble he'd have finding the next stop in his football career. 

"With the demand for your prototypical quarterback nowadays, I knew it was going to be tough for me to play quarterback at the next level. Not because of my ability, but just because what a coach is looking for," Sweeney said. "That was really hard for me, trying to make it out to play at the next level."

CARRYING OVER A CULTURE

From a young age, Sweeney was mesmerized by De La Salle's history and culture.

As far as he can recall, it was around second or third grade when his father took him to a De La Salle football game and offered him the first glimpse of what his future held. While football was absolutely a selling point, Sweeney later learned how valuable the education De La Salle he'd have access to would be as well. 

"You hear the tradition about De La Salle and of course, when you're that young, you're not really worried about school. You're just worried about football," Sweeney said. "It's like a college prep school, it's just not about sports. You're getting instilled the values that you're going to take to any walk of life. Whether that's sports, whether that's a manager job, any walk of life. Growing up, it had always been a goal of mine. I'd heard so much about this school, I hold myself to high standards so this is where I need to be."

The extensive tally of victories and state titles also leads to a vast array of successful alumni. With former pro football players, such as Maurice Jones Drew or D.J. Williams just to name two, regularly in attendance at De La Salle's games, Sweeney said he and his teammates played with a source of pride for the work of those in the past. 

"You want to win games for the people there, but you also want to win and you want to put on a show. You want to do it showing the best character and being the best you can be as a person and as a football player for the people who came before you," Sweeney said. "It's just so crazy to me and surreal to even have had the opportunity to experience that. It is hard to put into words."

Though the experience ended on a high note for Sweeney, it came after both a challenging junior season and a surprising start to his senior year.

An injury robbed him of playing in the state championship in 2014. Rushing for 201 yards and passing for 568 across six games, Sweeney missed half of his junior season with an elbow injury. The Spartans finished 14-0 and came away with the state title, but Sweeney was on the sidelines for the victory. Considered the top team in the nation to begin 2015, a season-opening loss immediately spoiled plans of another undefeated season. The early setback paved the way for what would eventually become a journey back to the top of the national rankings, but one Sweeney and his teammates were forced to learn from.

"We dropped the ball. We didn't come ready to play and I think the kind of No. 1 in the country got to our heads a little bit," Sweeney said. "But from that point, after we lost that game, there was no doubt that we were the best team in the country. We had that aura that we couldn't be beaten."

Sure enough, with Sweeney running the offense, De La Salle rattled off 12 consecutive victories, 11 coming by more than 30 points to set up a rematch of the previous season's state title game. Representing Southern California, Centennial from Corona, Calif. headed north for the matchup as nation's new No. 1-ranked school. Falling behind 21-14 late in the third quarter, De La Salle tied the game on a long touchdown run almost immediately after Centennial broke the tie. That set the stage for Sweeney, whose 26-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes to play would be the final score of the game as De La Salle won 28-21.

"I can't really put it into words other than it feels like this weight is just lifted off of you," Sweeney said. "Your last career game at De La Salle, playing for a state championship, playing against the No. 1 team in the country at the time... all the hard work that we had put in paid off. You want to go out on top as a senior. So it was just like four years of hard work was just lifted."

NEEDING AN OPPORTUNITY

Even with a California state title in hand, the college offers remained few and far between for Sweeney.

"That whole recruitment process for me was one of the toughest times in my life," Sweeney said. "Schools would call, 'How much do you weigh? Size and weight? Ok, we'll get back to you.' Never heard from them again. I'd get called in for an official visit, and I'd get shut down on the official visit. I started to turn away from God for a long time and and turn away from my plan. I said, 'I just want the opportunity to play football'."

Announced as a member of NAU's 2017 signing class, and enrolling at the university in time for spring practice that year, Sweeney had been forced away from the sport in the meantime. After taking a grayshirt for the 2016 season, Sweeney found his opportunity. However, it was coming on the opposite side of the ball from where he had played for years.

"You could put me at kicker, punter, left tackle, I don't care. I just want to play ball and for the most part, things have worked out," Sweeney said. "Yeah, I'm playing another position, but I have an opportunity to play college football and at the end of the day, that's really all that matters... This is all part of the plan, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't meant for me to be here. I'm just grateful for everything I went through because it built me up as a person, as a human being and as a competitor."

Though Sweeney was excited for the opportunity, and continues to embrace the position he has found himself, the disappointment about the process hasn't faded. It has just been harnessed in a productive fashion.

"My whole life, when it's come to this game of football, I feel like I've always been overlooked, but that's fine," Sweeney said. "Not everyone is going to have the same expectations and the same feelings in regards to myself as I do. So I constantly play with a chip on my shoulder and like I said, I haven't earned anything yet."

DEVELOPING ON AND OFF THE FIELD

Sweeney redshirted in 2017 as the Lumberjacks' defense finished among the top 25 for passing yards allowed and pass efficiency defense. Finally back on the field in 2018, for the first time since December 2015, Sweeney stepped in as a key rotational player in a secondary that again finished top 15 in passing yards allowed and pass efficiency defense. 

Learning from a quartet of All-Big Sky honorees in the secondary, Wes Sutton, Kam'ron Johnson, Maurice Davison and Khalil Dorsey, Sweeney's difficult transition from quarterback to safety was made at least somewhat simpler due to the help on his own team.

"Whether you're struggling, whether you're curious, whether you need help, you can go ask them a question, have them answer it and help you on your journey," Sweeney said. "It was the best thing in the world for me, and I love every single one of those guys. It was awesome learning from those guys, being able to pick their brain and try to take something from their game to add into yours."

Sweeney's redshirt season of 2017 delayed his debut at his new position, one he admitted was a challenge to learn at first. Moving from carrying the ball and calling an offense to backpedalling and dropping into coverages, much of the physicality changed even if some of Sweeney's knowledge transferred over. In each of his seasons, Sweeney has finished inside of the team's top 10 tacklers, first ranking eighth in 2018 before leading the team in 2019 with 83. With a pair of interceptions, 10 pass deflections, nine tackles for loss and two forced fumbles during his two years in the Lumberjacks' secondary, Sweeney found ways to make an impact on the field while still learning everything about it.

"I'm nowhere near perfecting the position. I think that's a goal of mine, to perfect the position," Sweney said. "I want to play at the next level. So every year you learn something new. From the multitude of coaches I've had during my career here and at De La Salle, you learn something new from all of them. You're able to take something from every coach and kind of put it in your little arsenal."

As important as Sweeney's development in the secondary has been for NAU, his leadership within a position group and a defense as a whole will be reliant on multiple underclassmen is crucial. 

A two-year captain at De La Salle, Sweeney said he's constantly growing as a leader. Between his move to the defensive side of the ball and the inherent differences between college football and high school, Sweeney feels he's a much different leader than he was just a few years ago when playing quarterback for the Spartans.

"You've got to find new ways to lead. This is college football, and college football is a big deal and it gets tough at times. Being somebody who prides himself on being the best person I can be, I like to think leadership is one of my greatest qualities. I've been a leader my whole life, so all the experiences that I've had and that I've gone through, they've helped me become the leader I am today."

Priding himself on the ability to adapt to different teammates, Sweeney stressed the importance of learning from any member of the roster, regardless of position or placement on the depth chart. Using his experiences at De La Salle, his time seeking a college football opportunity and his three years at NAU, Sweeney said they have all molded him into who he is now as a person and a leader for the Lumberjacks.

"I'm a guy who's always been approachable, and I think that's kind of been my leadership mentality," Sweeney said. "It's been one of the greatest experiences of learning leadership that I've ever had. There's so many different styles of leadership and so many different backgrounds... leadership comes in so many different forms."

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