Billy Brittain is a former walk-on from Albuquerque La Cueva High School who has improved dramatically since arriving on campus. He earned a scholarship in August of 2004 and has emerged as a key player off the bench this fall after serving as all-Mountain West Conference selection Marcus Parker’s understudy for the past two years.
A powerful, aggressive player, Brittain is the strongest defensive lineman on the team. He has a max of 610 pounds in the squat and is a two-time Beefmaster Award winner for players weighing between 251-275 pounds. An academic All-MWC honoree last year, his last name is pronounced BRIT-n, like the country.
Brittain has appeared in six games this year and has recorded a career-high nine tackles (through six games). He also has an assisted tackle for loss and has done a nice job of applying pressure up the middle.
Question: How did you end up walking on here at UNM?
Billy Brittain: I had some offers from some Division II (schools), had one offer for wrestling and even the Naval Academy called me, but I chose to be here. This is where I grew up, this is where I’ve been watching football all my life and this is where I wanted to play.
Q: What were your goals when you first came out for the team?
BB: That first year is a wake-up call. I came off having a really good high school career and coming out here my initial goal was the make the travel squad and then just keep working up from there, trying to get some playing time.
Q: How did it feel to finally crack the travel squad and get that scholarship?
BB: Oh man, that was huge. It is such an accomplishment. Those were my goals and meeting them meant the world to me.
Q: What advise would you give a high school player who has similar goals to walk-on and eventually earn a scholarship like you did?
BB: If you really want to continue playing football, just come out here and work as hard as you possibly can every single day. When you make that decision, make sure you’re willing to work for it.
Q: How would you describe the experience of playing nose tackle in a Division I football game?
BB: It’s pretty crazy. Those offensive linemen are pretty big and there’s a lot of times that you’re really taking some hits, but it’s a lot of fun and I wouldn’t want to play any other position.
Q: What do you consider a good day for a nose tackle in this defense on gameday?
BB: Nose tackle gets a lot of opportunities in this defense. We don’t play a normal defense. We could easily walk away with 10 tackles on a great day. We’re out there to make plays. We’re not standing around blocking an offensive lineman for our linebackers. We have every opportunity to make our plays as well as they do.
Q: It seems like every year people are talking about how small and undersized the Lobo defensive line is – how much satisfaction do you guys get as a unit in proving critics wrong?
BB: Every year we hear that, but every year we come out and play as hard as we can. We’re quicker than most of those offensive linemen and in our defense we’re able to really exploit that speed.
Q: It looks like the D-linemen have a pretty good time together out there at practice – are you guys fairly close?
BB: Yeah, D-line is really close. We hang out on the weekends together. We spend a lot of time together on and off the practice field.
Q: Who’s the funniest guy in the group?
BB: There’s so many clowns in our group. I mean, Tyler (Donaldson), (Michael) Tuohy and Hutch (Stephen Hutchison) – everybody has their days.
Q: Who’s got the best nickname?
BB: Probably Tuohy – Slanty.
Q: Who would win a 40-yard dash?
BB: It would be close between Tyler and Hutch.
Q: Who would come in last?
BB: Oh man. Probably (James) Crowder.
Q: You were also a state champion wrestler in high school – do any of those skills come into play on the football field?
BB: Oh yeah. Wrestling is a one-on-one battle and a lot of times you get stuck in a one-on-one situation with an offensive lineman.
Q: Ever seen the 1985 movie Vision Quest?
BB: Yes I have.
Q: Is it a realistic portrayal of wrestling?
BB: It’s pretty close. It comes down to how hard you work to accomplish your goals. It has a lot to do with being a walk-on.
Q: You’ve always been one of the leaders in the weight room – how important is strength training to you?
BB: I love the weight room, so it’s always been a pride of mine to get in there and put up the big numbers.
Q: Have you considered a career in the World’s Strongest Man competitions after your playing days are done?
BB: You know, I’ve thought about it. I’m actually really thinking about being a strength and conditioning coach at the college level.