Coach Speak: Razore on Nguyen

The Bellevue Wolverines have been known for their Wing-T and Double Wing running attack for years, and although Head Coach Butch Goncharoff and his staff tweaked things a little bit in 2011 to incorporate more shotgun into the equation, they still rely on running the ball. And no one did it more for BHS than John Nguyen.

According to the Seattle Times, Nguyen was Bellevue's No. 1 rushing threat, going for 672 yards on 96 carries, scoring nine times.

"He's our best player," said Matt Razore, Bellevue's defensive backs coach and the one that takes care of a lot of the college recruiting duties for the Wolverines when asked by Scout.com recently about the 5-foot-7, 180-pound Nguyen, a prospect for the 2013 recruiting class. "He is a power back and elusive. Not one person takes him down. He's low and he's super, super strong. His vision is incredible. The jump-cut - the LaDanian Tomlinson, Barry Sanders two-footed cut - he has that."

The Nguyen family just might be the most unheralded footballing family in the greater-Seattle area. John's brothers - Peter and David - were phenomenal players for Wolverine teams that also won state titles for Bellevue. Both are playing collegiately at Montana right now.

"It might be cool to go to the same school," John Nguyen told Scout.com, adding at the same time that his recruitment really hasn't heated up yet. "I'm going to go to some camps, but I haven't decided yet which ones. I don't want to go too far."

So who is going to be the best Nguyen brother of them all? John won't say, but Razore had some thoughts on the subject. "Johnny may end up being the best, but Peter was one to reckon with," he said. "He's returning punts and starts as a running back at Montana and David hopefully starts at safety this year at Montana too. He's got a good pedigree there.

"We gave him the ball eight times in a row to start the game against O'Dea and he drove us down the field for a touchdown. He ran over all of them. Against Lakes, he ran over Manaea, Cedric Dozier…everybody. There was not one person on any team - Carlos Mendoza from Oaks Christian…he made them all look stupid or shed their tackles. He's really, really hard to tackle."

All that being said, what's keeping him from being recruited by the top, top programs out west? Nguyen doesn't have a blazing 40 time, and in this day and age you have to be a burner or do something extraordinary from a physical standpoint to get recruited at the Pac-12 level. That's why Nguyen will more than likely follow his brothers' footsteps and find his perfect fit at the Big Sky level.

John Nguyen 2011 Highlights