‘Fuzz’ a fixture in the middle at NDA
GREEN BAY – It was the biggest job interview of Fuzz French’s young life.
If he was nervous, he certainly didn’t show it as he took a comfortable seat to make his case to John Nowak to be a waterboy on the Notre Dame Academy football team at the age of 5.
“Coach came in for track practice and sat in a chair in the middle of the gym,” French recalls. “I just walked up and sat in his lap. He welcomed me in, asked me what my name was and kept me there as he kept talking.”
French has been a fixture for the Tritons ever since.
While he’s held several roles with the program, his current one is as a senior captain.
Although the 5-foot-10, 255-pounder isn’t making a ton of flashy plays, his hard work in the middle as a center and defensive tackle has been a key to Notre Dame’s success the last two years.
“Fuzz is just a hard worker,” Notre Dame senior Josh Cribben said. “Every time we’re in the weight room and every time we’re on the field, he’s always the hype man that is getting us going and working the hardest out of all of us.”
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French pretty much grew up in Notre Dame’s weight room in being a waterboy or manager for the football team until he was in eighth grade.
Since his mother, Molly, was a distance coach for the track team, French also got to spend most of the spring with Hall of Fame coach John Nowak.
French seemingly never left Nowak’s side during his younger years and is just one of countless individuals who was impacted by the legendary coach.
“It was an amazing experience,” French said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. He taught me so much.
“We would go hunting for bad guys on the way down to the track. When I was 5 or 6, I’d hop in his car with him and on the way down to the field or the track we would hunt for bad guys because one time I saw a cop and was like, ‘They’re probably looking for bad guys. We should help him.’ That kind of stuck.”
It’s one of many fond memories French shared with Nowak. However, that’s not how Ryan French got his nickname.
French was branded with the nickname, Fuzz, as a toddler when his family lived in Texas.
“My hair was super short and fuzzy,” French said. “My aunt came down and said, ‘His hair is really fuzzy.’ The little neighbor kids we had over just started calling me fuzzy.”
While French possesses a fun-loving personality off the field, the two-way lineman is a fierce competitor on it.
“He’s good to have around,” Notre Dame coach Mike Rader said. “He’s been an asset for over 12 years already.
“He’s never going to be the biggest kid out there or the tallest kid out there, but he tries to play as big as he can. He keeps his motor going and is a lot of fun.”
After advancing to the WIAA Division 3 state semifinals last year, French knows his team has a lot of work to do if it wants go deep into the playoffs again.
“We’ve got to eliminate our mental mistakes and pushing through our low numbers that we have,” French said. “We have to grind through it.”
