FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 26, 2021) – There wasn't a single fan in the Walkup Skydome seats, but that was the furthest thing on
Morgan Vest's mind. The Northern Arizona safety was healthy and back to doing what he's always loved – playing football.
In NAU's spring 2021 opener, devoid of fans because of COVID-19 protocols, Vest used the Lumberjacks' come-from-behind 34-33 victory over Southern Utah as a launching point for a triumphant return. Finishing the game with 11 tackles – the penultimate one preventing a Southern Utah first down and the final a play later stuffing the Thunderbirds on 4th-and-1 to turn the ball over on downs setting up the Lumberjacks' game-winning drive – Vest immediately put the Big Sky Conference on notice.
"Getting to play football, there's no better feeling," Vest said. "My sister and I did the math and it had been something crazy, like 790 days since I had actually played a football game. It was emotional for me. I'm not going to lie, I cried."
You'll have to excuse his emotions given Vest's football journey, one that he refuses to let be defined by setbacks and being overlooked.
On the surface, Vest was born to star on the gridiron. His grandfather, Rodger, played football at the Air Force Academy and his father, Kevin, similarly played at Texas Tech. His first word was "ball," and he threw on the shoulder pads for the first time at four years old.
Still, with the sport seemingly in his blood growing up in the football-crazed state of Texas, he was never forced into playing. It just happened to turn into his passion from an early age.
"I'll give my dad credit. He told when I was little that just because he played (football), didn't mean I'd have to play," Vest said. "He wanted me to find something I loved and to run with it and it just so happened to be football. From the beginning, it's something I fell in love with."
A multi-sport athlete at Rouse High School in Leander, Texas, Vest sprinted on the track & field team and was an outfielder on the baseball team, but he knew from his freshman year that football was the sport he'd pursue.
Early on, it appeared that decision would pay dividends. After a standout sophomore year in which Vest tallied 82 tackles and four interceptions and was the runner-up for Central Texas Newcomer of the Year, the college interest started flowing in. What followed though was a junior year derailed by an injury, causing schools to pull their offers.
Even after a senior season in which Vest recorded 75 tackles and two picks, earning him his third all-district honor and a spot in the Central Texas All-Star game, he was left with just a single offer from Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State.
"I honestly sat there and asked myself 'what do I do?' I went from having every offer from schools in the state of Texas to one Division II school," Vest said.
Ultimately opting against the offer, Vest's college route began in South Carolina, where Blake Gideon, a former all-state player out of Vest's hometown of Leander and friend of his father's, was an assistant coach under Will Muschamp. With no promises made, Vest took the leap seeking a Division I opportunity.
After redshirting the 2016 season as a walk-on, Vest was faced with another decision. Saddled behind on the depth chart in a loaded defensive backs room with a couple of guys who would go on to play in the NFL, Vest decided to bet on himself once more, moving back home and taking the junior college route at Kilgore College.
Self-described as one of the best decisions he's ever made, Vest starred at Kilgore, roughly four hours northeast of Leander. In his first season, Vest posted 51 tackles, four pass breakups and two interceptions before seemingly putting himself back on the map with a huge second year. Recording 88 tackles and adding five PBUs and one pick, Vest earned second team all-conference honors on Kilgore's 10-2 Southwest Junior College Football Conference championship squad.
"At Carolina, waking up at 5 a.m. every morning just to go get beat up on the scout team, it makes you sit back and think, is this what you want to do," Vest said. "Do I love football enough to still do this? Going to Kilgore, it helped me realize that I do love football and I don't know what else I would be doing. The JUCO grind is real though, but I learned that if the dream is still alive, I'm going to chase it."
His dream was still alive, but the offers did not materialize despite two outstanding years at Kilgore. That was before an unexpected Christmas present.
"It's Christmas Eve and I'm at my aunt's house and I get a message on Twitter from Memphis saying that I'm going to get a call from Coach Ball at this number and I need to answer it," Vest said. "About five minutes later my phone rings and it's Coach Ball and he tells me he just got the job at NAU. He knew who I was and had been recruiting me at Kilgore and he offered me a scholarship. I'll never forget it."
"I had to sneak away from my wife because I would've been in trouble if she found out I was calling recruits on Christmas Eve," Ball recalled of the phone call. "I told him 'Merry Christmas and you have an offer at NAU.' I don't know if he even knew where NAU was at the time."
Although the call from
Chris Ball, who was previously announced as NAU's head coach two weeks prior, came as a surprise to Vest, the Lumberjacks' new man in charge was already familiar with his first official offer.
When first looking at the roster he was inheriting, Ball knew he needed a safety, a fact confirmed by holdover assistants
Aaron Pflugrad and
Robin Pflugrad, and he immediately dug through Memphis' database where he was wrapping up his tenure as defensive coordinator.
Deciding ultimately between NAU and Incarnate Word – an FCS school in his home state – Vest committed to the Lumberjacks following a visit to both campuses and was officially announced as part of Ball's inaugural signing class in February 2019.
Amped and ready to make good on Ball's belief in him, Vest's first season as a Lumberjack was halted before it ever got off the ground. During a summer workout before preseason camp officially started, Vest tore his meniscus in three different spots requiring surgery and a recovery process that was longer than anticipated.
"It was tough. I showed up ready to contribute," Vest said. "Sitting in the stands and having to watch Coach Ball's first year was rough knowing there was nothing I could do about it. It wasn't a setback though. It was a bump in the road and I knew my talent and I just had to get back and I would be alright."
With eyes on getting back on the field, Vest's hard work led him to being physically cleared to practice and play heading into last fall. Of course, the fall season would be pushed back to the spring, delaying Vest's debut even further although the extra couple of months gave him additional time to hit the ground running.
Vest's game-high tying 11 tackles in the Grand Canyon Trophy win in the Skydome on Feb. 27 was just the start of the breakout season. Starting all five spring games at safety, Vest led the team with 53 tackles – including double-digit tackles in four of five games – to go along with 2.0 tackles for loss, five pass breakups, two fumbles recovered and an interception.
It all added up to a unanimous selection to the All-Big Sky First Team, and cementing himself as not only a leader on the NAU defense, but one of the elite defenders in the league.
"We needed leadership on defense and Morgan's work ethic was a huge difference," Ball said. "He worked his tail off to get healthy and he's just a really good football player. He shows every day very consistent with his play and as a leader and he's done a really good job solidifying our secondary."
The Lumberjacks saw immediate returns with Vest's return. With Vest out in 2019, NAU allowed 41.3 points per game and 527.4 yards of total offense. Albeit a smaller sample size, the Lumberjacks' defensive numbers improved dramatically in the spring with Vest spearheading the secondary as NAU's points and yards allowed decreased to 27.0 and 443.2 respectively.
Looking forward to the 2021 season and with excitement surrounding the Lumberjack football program as high as it has been in years, Vest will once again anchor a defense that returns all 11 starters and a secondary that includes a host of talented underclassmen.
"The first year, we know we didn't play to our standard," Vest said. "We held each other accountable and we made a lot of strides. The young guys contributed a lot and they're going to be important for us again. I know we can carry the momentum into this season now that we know what we're capable of."
Success is earned and there is no doubt that Vest has earned every bit of it along his journey from redshirt walk-on to unanimous all-conference honoree.
In fact, Vest admits that his experiences that started as an overlooked high school player were necessary.
"It's tough, but my gut says no," Vest said when asked if he'd be where he is today without the speed bumps he encountered. "Going to South Carolina and going to Kilgore, having those experiences made me the person I am today. It made me appreciate football and chasing my dream more than anything."
Given that NAU was among the teams he heard from as a high school sophomore, maybe Vest – who still has two years of eligibility remaining – was destined to be a Lumberjack all along. All that matters now is that he's in the Blue & Gold regardless of the road it took.
Come NAU's season opener versus Sam Houston, the defending FCS National Champions, on Thursday, Sept. 2, there will be thousands of fans in the Walkup Skydome unlike Vest's long-awaited debut in February. Among them will be two very important people – his parents – who will see him in a Lumberjack uniform for the first time.
That, like everything else Vest has waited for through the ups and downs over the last handful of years, will be well worth the wait.
