Photo by: Sarah Snyder / L.A. Rams
Mustangs in the Pros: Dzubnar, Koski Ride High into the NFL from Cal Poly
5/26/2021 3:30:00 PM | Football
From Spanos Stadium to Sunday Night Football, two alumni have made their Cal Poly family proud by riding high all the way to the NFL. Nick Dzubnar and J.J. Koski have followed their dreams to play professional football after persistently breaking records as Mustangs.Dzubnar, a southern California native, grew up visiting San Luis Obispo because his dad went to Cal Poly, and realized at a young age he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and attend Cal Poly as well. Dzubnar graduated in 2015 with a degree in Construction Management and immediately started his journey into the NFL. He signed as a free agent with the then-San Diego Chargers, and appeared in all 16 games, serving a role primarily on special teams. After five successful years on the Chargers, he signed a one-year contract with the Tennessee Titans in 2020.
Koski, who was born and raised in the Bay Area, graduated from Cal Poly in 2019 with a degree in Business Administration. After being named Cal Poly's MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, he signed a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020.
Dzubnar started playing football as a kid after realizing you can play a sport where you're able to tackle without getting in trouble. "My dad asked me if I wanted to go watch my friends' Pop Warner football practice one day. I saw these kids running around, hitting each other and I looked at my dad and asked if I was allowed to hit kids and not get in trouble. He's like, 'Yeah, you are, but only if you play football.' The next year my dad signed me up for football." Unlike Dzubnar, Koski was surprised about the contact that occurs on the football field because he grew up playing less physical sports.
"I started playing football in eighth grade. I didn't know any of the rules and the contact was new to me because I grew up playing sports like basketball and soccer," Koski recalled. "I just started playing because that was the thing to do in high school. My dream was to play in front of my friends and family in high school."
Dzubnar's 40-yard interception return for a touchdown in the Mustangs' 42-34 road win over Northern Arizona in 2012 was crucial toward Cal Poly winning the Big Sky Conference championship, capping a season in which he made 107 tackles.
In addition to earning All-Big Sky First Team honors at wide receiver, Koski also shined as a kick and punt returner for the Mustangs, including scoring on a 70-yard punt runback against Sacramento State in 2018, a season which also saw him showcase his playmaking ability scoring on a pair of reverses. Koski also had an 85-yard kickoff return against San Diego in 2016 during the FCS Playoffs.
Both alumni realized after their junior years at Cal Poly that they had the chance to play in the NFL after college.
"I would say after my junior year I realized I could possibly play at a professional level. I was just having fun and playing and then I started to get some calls from agents, which was really cool," Koski said. "Then it all started to become a reality going into my senior season, which was my best season by far. I kept to myself about it and wanted to focus and just keep performing. I guess it just worked out in that sense."
Koski averaged 20.7 yards per catch as a senior, ranking No. 8 in the country. Then, in August 2020, after competing at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, Pro Football Focus evaluated Koski with its highest deep-reception grade in the entire wideout draft class: scoring a 99.0 in verticality on their film breakdown.
"You start to assess these goals and look up to the older guys and start to think, 'Okay, what do I have to do to get to that next level? What steps do I have to take? What stats do I have to have?' Each year your confidence progressed to more and more and more," Dzubnar reflected. "Then, going into senior year, you're just really starting to feel confident and believe in yourself. As the season went on, you just kept thinking, we were going to have a really good run at this, so let's just keep going. And I hoped for the best to stay healthy."
In 2014, Dzubnar set Cal Poly's all-time single-season record for tackles, making 167 stops (second-most in the country) on his way to All-America selections by the AFCA, Sports Network and AP. He finished with 414 tackles for his career, and also tied for the Division I-era program record for forced fumbles, with seven.
Transitioning from the FCS to the NFL might seem more difficult than doing so from the Power 5 ranks; however, Cal Poly's program prepared players especially well, including with regard to time management, Dzubnar noted.
"When you go from a program that you grind your butt off from sunrise to sundown, like waking up at 4:30 a.m. to go get taped, then drive up to the field, then walk half a mile to our practice field [at the time, the Upper Sports Complex], and then start practice before the sun even comes up — you develop a bit of a grit, which I think just solidifies the way that Cal Poly plays football," he said. "In the NFL you're waited on hand and foot. You have all this access to all these treatments, all this food, any meal prep you want, nutritionists, dietitians, anyone to get your body right. I'm just like, 'this is a cakewalk,'" the sixth-year vet said of utilizing all of the extra amenities provided by the league.
Koski agreed that Cal Poly's program is unmatched due to the work ethic that not only coaches instilled but also professors expected.
"The constant offseasons at Cal Poly definitely prepared me for the NFL. You know, we're up at 6 a.m. a lot of times. I remember we were running at 5 a.m. every weekday and then going straight to class for almost six hours," Koski remembered. "That molded a lot of the guys to have a no-flinch mentality, which they always talk about at the next level. It makes you take the shots and roll with it when you're not thinking too much about it because you're so prepared since you've worked so hard and have been grinding around the clock. That's essentially what we did at Cal Poly, which made the transition to the NFL smooth," Koski added.
In September last fall following camp, the Rams signed Koski to their practice squad. More recently, this past January he signed a reserve/future contract with L.A.Dzubnar, meanwhile, has now played in 81 career games in the league — 65 during his first five years with the Chargers and then all 16 in 2020 with Tennessee, particularly excelling on special teams. He made 14 tackles last season, bringing his career NFL total to 74.
Going from being the best athlete on your team in college to playing with some of the best athletes in the world can feel intimidating, especially going into your rookie year in a new place with a new organization. For Dzubnar, the work ethic he honed during his time at Cal Poly helped make his dream a reality.
"It's fun and it's challenging. You've got to bring your best every day," said Dzubnar, now married and enjoying life as a dad himself. "You can't take a day, a play, a game, or a practice off. But it has been awesome. It's been a challenge, but it's been a fun challenge. I love challenges. I love being competitive and I love seeing what I can do against some of the best guys in the world. So for me I really enjoy it. It's been hard, but a good hard."
Formal training camps around the league start July 27, with the 2021 NFL preseason set to kick off on Aug. 5.
Going from being the best athlete on your team in college to playing with some of the best athletes in the world can feel intimidating, especially going into your rookie year in a new place with a new organization. For Dzubnar, the work ethic he honed during his time at Cal Poly helped make his dream a reality.
"It's fun and it's challenging. You've got to bring your best every day," said Dzubnar, now married and enjoying life as a dad himself. "You can't take a day, a play, a game, or a practice off. But it has been awesome. It's been a challenge, but it's been a fun challenge. I love challenges. I love being competitive and I love seeing what I can do against some of the best guys in the world. So for me I really enjoy it. It's been hard, but a good hard."
Formal training camps around the league start July 27, with the 2021 NFL preseason set to kick off on Aug. 5.
Photos Courtesy of Tennessee Titans and Sarah Snyder / LA Rams
Hannah Teague, production intern with Fox Sports, is a fourth-year Journalism major at Cal Poly.
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