Montminy looking to take charge for Nashua North football

Dante Laurendi has been around high school football players long enough to know when he's got one who can handle being a leader.

Brian Montminy qualifies as one of those players.

The Nashua High School North senior enters the season as a two-year captain, something Laurendi hasn't had a lot of during his coaching tenure.

And had it not been for a big senior class two years ago, Montminy might be entering his third year as a Titans captain, as he came up a couple of player votes short as a sophomore.

The way Laurendi sees it, it's well-deserved faith from his teammates.

"He had the respect of the guys because they know there’s probably no body on the team who works harder," the coach said. "They see what he does day to day, how hard he plays and how hard he practices.

"He’s been more of a quiet leader, but he’s coming out of his shell. He’s grown a lot. He’s been a kid who, since he was a sophomore, we’ve put a lot of responsibility on him because he’s just a smart football player."

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Montminy's desire to be the hardest worker has been something his teammates picked up on early and have tried to emulate. 

"He’s one of those guys who anybody can get behind," fellow senior Austin Oullette said. "He won’t say much, but the way he works, he will work harder than anybody. He’ll be the first one to finish every single (drill). His work ethic is crazy and it’s something that everyone should look up to."

As a freshman, Montminy was ready to play wherever the coaches would put him. He started out playing receiver and safety, and figured those would be his positions throughout high school. 

But that didn't last long.

"I was like OK, this is where I’ll be for the next four years," he said. "In a split second, I was changed on defense. The game after that, I was changed again. Offensive, I’ve been a running back and wide receiver, even a little quarterback. I’m just all over the place."

During that first high school season, the North coaches saw something that made them believe Montminy could play more than just one position on both sides of the ball. 

"Freshman year he made some big plays and he just had a knack for being around the football," Laurendi said. "He had good hands, good vision, and then early sophomore year, we knew he’d be a pretty good football player.

"What was more impressive was we put him in a situation to make a lot of defensive calls and he handled it. Then we switched him around different positions, and it was his ability to adapt and play it well, we knew he’d be a special player for us."

Last year, Montminy's versatility gave the Titans the freedom to play the hot hand at other positions throughout the season. If someone was having a better week of practice at one spot, Montminy would slide somewhere else and be ready to go for that game. 

"When I learn one position, it gives me a sense of the next position," he said. "When I was at safety, I knew all the coverages, what everyone was doing on the field, so when they put me at outside linebacker, I already had the sense of what (that position) was doing. On offense, it was kind of the same thing."

Laurendi expects that it will be more of the same for his senior captain this season.

"I think he’s going to fill whatever we need him to be," the coach said. "I think right now we’re looking at him as keeping on the outside so he can make some calls for us and make defensive adjustments.

"We’ll see in a couple of weeks, what the other guys can contribute. The more versatile we can be with as many players, the better, but in the same sense, we know he’s a workhorse."

Montminy is hoping that the combination of the two - his work ethic combined with that versatility - will help him get noticed by coaches at the next level. 

"I’m looking to play in college," he said. "It’s been my dream since I was little, to play football in college."