An ideal physical specimen Jake Rothschiller is not.
However, being one of the shortest safeties for New Mexico hasn’t stopped the 5-foot-7 Rothschiller from getting plenty of reps in during this fall camp.
The fact that Rothschiller, doesn’t have a physical advantage over most receivers only gives him more motivation to work on aspects he can control.
“I have a chip on my shoulder every day. There are no days off for me,” he said. “(The coaches) have put a mindset in me saying, ‘Yeah, you’re short, but don’t worry about your height. Go out there and show them you can play football.’”
Rothschiller has gotten reps at nickel, strong and free safety over the past couple of weeks. He said it doesn’t matter what position he plays as long as he gets on the field.
“Coach (Charles) McMillian told me I need to know all three,” Rothschiller said. “The strong safety is more of the quarterback of the defense: you have to know what everyone is doing. I don’t really prefer one. Nickel is more of a true outside linebacker, more of a run fit guy. That’s nice when you want to be a run player. Free safety is mostly a ranged player.”
McMillian, who coaches the safeties, said Rothschiller’s work ethic is among the best he’s seen. He mentioned how Rothschiller will still be practicing his technique when a play is happening on the other side of the field.
“Rothschiller can play it all. The one thing about Rothschiller is his work ethic: he takes coaching and he watches film,” McMillian said. “Just because of his size he had to do little extra things. I love him because of his work ethic, and he wants to learn the game and I think he has it.”
Rothschiller comes from a football family. His father, Curt, played football at Porterville College, while his two uncles, Bob and Scott Kimball, played in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos, respectively.
He also has a twin brother, Kyle, who played with him at Westlake High School and Moorpark College. Kyle was a walk-on at Nevada but left the program to go back to community college.
When his brother Kyle graduates this upcoming summer, Jake Rothschiller said he hopes a family reunion can happen at UNM.
“I’ve definitely been talking to him about coming to UNM,” Rothschiller said. “I don’t really have to tell him or communicate with him. I’m definitely trying to get him to come here. He wants to come here.”
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Injury Report
During the middle of Wednesday’s practice, Davie called the team to circle around him so he could tell them some good news. Davie told the team that offensive lineman Toye Adewon didn’t suffer a major injury after going down earlier in practice.
“We got some great news back, and everything looks good,” Davie said. “When one of your guys goes down it’s a distraction, which it should be. We just grabbed a hand and prayed in our own way.”
Scrimmage Saturday
Davie said the Lobos plan to hold a scrimmage Saturday night. It will be the third live scrimmage that UNM will hold this fall camp.
“It’s the balance between the work that we dramatically need compared to when do we start breaking it down,” Davie said. “So far, so good.”
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
