Big Sky Conference

FAMILY & FOOTBALL: SUU linebacker Needham’s journey to success

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Mike Needham has a lot on his mind these days.

The Southern Utah senior linebacker has his sights set on the NFL. He’s got the build at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds. He has the skill and the production — 276 tackles, five forced fumbles and eight interceptions over the last three seasons — to follow in the footsteps of the recent line of SUU defenders to the league.

His Thunderbirds are contenders to win the Big Sky Conference for the second time in three seasons. And Needham is working up to become the 45th player in history to earn first-team All-Big Sky honors three times in a row.

Southern Utah linebacker Mike Needham/by Jason Bacaj

“He’s just such a special talent in terms of what he can do,” SUU defensive coordinator Rod Chance said. “I haven’t found many things he can’t do. His height, his size, his length, his physicality and his ability to run and play against guys on the edge on the outside is a huge advantage for us because he can run just as fast as they can…He’s a really skilled athlete who can do a great many things for us.”

Those lofty expectations alone would be enough to preoccupy any college athlete. But to Needham, those take a backseat to his newest fan. Swaddled in his wife Jessica’s arms is Nelly, Needham’s two-month-old daughter, his new driving force.

“I shouldn’t, but I get distracted sometimes and look up in the stands,” Needham said.

After last week’s 46-28 upset victory over Eastern Washington, Needham held Nelly as he posed for postgame photos with a smile for achieving what he covets most: to be a father and to play football.

“He’s always telling me he wants a baby during football season so he can look up and see us,” Jessica Needham said. “When we are at his games, it’s so rewarding because it’s like ‘yes we’re all together.’”

Needham helped his Thunderbirds to a Big Sky Conference championship in 2015. One year later he earned his second straight first-team All-Big Sky honor, turning heads of NFL scouts in the process. Now Needham’s dream of reaching the NFL is becoming more real.

But all of that almost never happened.

Southern Utah linebacker Mike Needham (34) vs Montana State in 2015/by Brooks Nuanez

Before the 2015 season, Needham returned from a two-year LDS mission in Monterrey, Mexico. He learned Spanish on the fly to share his church’s message. Like many missionaries who found homes upon return at SUU, Needham acknowledges the experience changed him fully, causing him to develop from a boy into a man. 

As his mission ended, Needham faced a difficult decision. He wanted to transfer to BYU, the FBS powerhouse in Provo and a devout Mormon school. Undoubtedly, playing for the Cougars would boost his resume, but that would likely come with its own conditions: less playing time, more competition, less attention and being farther away from home than he had before.

At Southern Utah, a school proven to mold NFL stars, he would lead a top tier defense, but without the heralded marker of the FBS or the entrenched reputation of playing for a program draped in tradition like BYU. 

Unsure what to do, he trusted his religious faith to guide him.

“If it weren’t for God, I wouldn’t be at SUU,” Needham said.

After his breakout sophomore season, Needham met Southern Utah’s recently hired new  wide receivers coach Jared Ursua. Ursua, a former wide receiver for SUU himself (2008-2010), introduced Needham to Jessica, Ursua’s sister-in-law.

“He thought Mike was a really cool guy. I just got back from serving an LDS mission and (Ursua) was just like ‘Hey this stud — you need to talk to him.’ Mike messaged me and it just went from there,” Jessica Needham said.

The two were married in 2016. Nelly was born last August, and it seemed to Needham that everything was falling into place.

“It’s a dream come true,” Needham said.

Southern Utah linebacker Mike Needham (34) vs Montana in 2016/ by Brooks Nuanez

Needham has a versatile, athletic build that could land him at a number of positions on an NFL roster. A former standout running back at Desert Hills High School in St. George, Utah, he returned three fumbles for touchdowns in 2015 and picked off eight passes in two seasons at outside linebacker.

“We can do so many different things with him,” head coach Demario Warren said at the Big Sky Kickoff in Park City, Utah, in July. “He can guard slot receivers. He can be in the box making tackles in the A gap. He can come off the edge on third downs.

“If we move him around and really highlight his abilities and get him matchups that he can dominate, it helps our whole defense.”

Needham has marched an interesting path at SUU. In 2015, he was a key cog on a defense that also included current NFL standouts former Big Sky Defensive MVP defensive end James Cowser (Oakland Raiders), safety Miles Killebrew (Detroit Lions) and cornerback LeShaun Sims (Tennessee Titans). Last season, Needham was the standout on a group without many seniors searching to reclaim its dominant league championship form.

Before this season, junior middle linebacker Chinedu Ahanonu, the Big Sky’s leading tackler in 2014, returned from his LDS mission, finally uniting one of the best linebacking corps in the conference. SUU also expected to get Zak Browning, the 2013 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, back from his mission before last year but Browning retired before the season. In the first quarter of SUU’s 46-28 win over No. 8 Eastern Washington, Ahanonu tore his ACL, leaving Needham as the T-Birds’ primary playmaker once again.

Southern Utah linebacker Mike Needham (34)/by Jason Bacaj

Racking up stats as a linebacker is difficult, though. With so many talented players on the defense, the need for Needham to make every play has not been as paramount, which in turn affects his statistical production.

“You kind of have to take a few chances and execute,” Needham said. “I don’t feel like I’ve had the year I had last year or the year before. I think I’m starting to pick it up now. I’m always prepared for when my time comes. I’ve taken my role seriously as a senior to help this team.”

Needham said he plans to forego the spring semester to prepare for the NFL. Southern Utah has become a hot bed, from former quarterback Brad Sorensen being selected in the 2013 NFL Draft to Killebrew and Sims being selected in the 2016 draft before rising to starting statuses with their current teams. Last season, six different Thunderbirds signed free agent contracts with NFL teams. Needham hopes he’s the next in line.

Needham played a key role in that defense that helped SUU to its first Big Sky title in 2015. He stays in consistent contact with his former teammates now in the league.

“Those guys have been my go to guys when it comes to questions about the NFL,” Needham said. “I don’t know anything about it. I just want to know all the ins.”

Regardless what happens, or who gives him a next level shot, he’ll still be able to look up in the stands to see Nelly — never fussing or crying during a game.

Southern Utah linebacker Mike Needham (34)/by Jason Bacaj

“You can tell she really likes it,” Jessica Needham said.

The path for Needham from here to the NFL still has its challenges. Weekend trips for away games will still feel like an eternity, and nights will still be interrupted with cries of a woken baby. The couple will lose some sleep here and there. But by now, the Needhams are used to it.

“He’s just been such a good dad and so involved, he works hard for us,” Jessica said. “We kind of have this down now.”

Photos attribution noted. All Rights Reserved. 

About Nick Puckett

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