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No longer a backup, Nick Maddox is thriving.
By BRIAN LANDMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 19, 2001
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida State junior tailback Nick Maddox isn't one to pen a letter to the Sporting News asking for a correction. But he justifiably could.
In its preseason issue, the magazine tabbed him as the ACC's most overrated player and said he was "buried" on the Seminoles depth chart.
Well, not only does Maddox start, a first in his collegiate career, he leads FSU in rushing with 131 yards on 17 carries, an average of 7.7 yards, and one touchdown.
He leads the team in punt returns, averaging 11.8 yards, and is one of the top kickoff returners with a 27.0 average. He also lines up in the slot in FSU's four-receiver set and has four catches for 60 yards and a score.
"Nick's really come up big so far," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said, praising Maddox's versatility.
"It makes me feel good about myself to know that the coaches have that much confidence to put me out there in so many different aspects of the game and have the ball in my hands that much," Maddox said.
"It's quite an honor, especially at a school like Florida State, where you really don't usually have to have a guy do something like that."
From most folks' perspective, a certain publication notwithstanding, Maddox's performance entering Saturday's game at North Carolina shouldn't come as a surprise. He possesses every prerequisite for success.
He has size and strength. He has breakaway speed. He has a sixth sense for avoiding would-be tacklers. And he has the track record, rushing for 6,624 yards and a state-record 114 touchdowns in his prep career in North Carolina.
But he said he had one little thing to work on first.
He had to rediscover his confidence.
Maddox, a 6-foot, 190-pound junior, played sparingly behind Travis Minor and Jeff Chaney as a freshman in 1999. Realizing he would have few opportunities in the same crowded backfield last season, he asked to move to receiver.
Again, he saw limited playing time, and it weighed on him.
"I knew I was going to be waiting, but I didn't think it was going to be as hard as it was," said Maddox, 20, who chose FSU over North Carolina. "I always knew I wanted to be at Florida State. I always knew I made the best decision for me. But I doubted how well I was doing.
"I had doubts about my ability. After you see so many great athletes come through here and you see them do it over and over again and you see them do it a little better than you do it, you start to think, 'Am I really that good?"'
The question lingered, until last season's Wake Forest game on Nov. 11. Chaney, Davy Ford and Greg Jones were injured in the game, pressing Maddox into duty at his old position. He ran for 70 yards on seven carries.
"That was a critical moment," he said.
Equally important has been the encouragement and advice from former Seminole star tailback Dexter Carter.
"His confidence was shaken, and it seems like he was looking for someone to validate that he could play running back," said Carter, who played seven seasons in the NFL, mostly with San Francisco.
"Once I got my opportunity, I showed what I could do. And that's what I was telling Nick. I said, 'Don't give up on yourself. Don't allow someone else to break your confidence."'
Carter also reinforced the message Maddox had been hearing from Bowden and running backs coach Billy Sexton; that he had to demonstrate that assurance in the way he carried himself and the way he carried the ball.
"Authority is the word I use," Carter said. "Go with authority. Make it happen."
"Dexter told me that he could tell I'd want to make a cut, and I'd stutter-step because I wasn't sure whether I should or shouldn't," Maddox said. "He said, 'Just go for it. Don't second-guess yourself. You can't ever run scared."'
If he did before, he's not now.
"He's running more aggressively," Sexton said. "He's been less tentative. That's the key. That's an adjustment for all the guys. The game is faster. You have less time to make a decision. You have to hit the holes faster and make quicker decisions.
"This spring, he moved back to running back full time and really ran physically and really picked up the pace."
Maddox hasn't slowed up since.
That's why Bowden didn't consider moving him to receiver when senior Robert Morgan and junior Anquan Boldin suffered season-ending knee injuries in mid August.
"That might have been a very logical move, but I felt he was our best tailback," Bowden said. "He's a natural at tailback, and he's making a lot of contributions to the team. There's no telling what all he's going to do."
Just ask anybody -- except perhaps the Sporting News.