Athlete Profile

Thomas Lesniewski ’18

Photo by Kent Kriegshauser

SULTAN OF SACK

Strength, Speed and Smarts Made Thomas Lesniewski a Quarterback's Nightmare

By Barry McNamara

Whenever Monmouth College head football coach Chad Braun needed to find Thomas Lesniewski, he knew there were two places to look—the library or the weight room.

During Fighting Scots’ games, Braun also had a reliable spot to search—the opponents’ backfield.

Lesniewski completed his stellar Monmouth career with 34.5 sacks, setting a program record that had stood for nearly 30 years. Overall, he was credited for 53.5 tackles for loss, from a total of 157 tackles.

“Thomas is the most disruptive guy I’ve evercoached,” said Braun after a season that saw Lesniewski earn his fourth consecutive first team All-Midwest Conference honor and second MWC defensive lineman of the year selection. “A lot of people talk about the sacks, but it’s not just getting to the quarterback. We were also one of the top defenses in the nation in yards rushing (68.0), and a big reason for that is Thomas.

He’s just a dominant football player.” The AFCA All-American and threetime All-West Region selection wreaked havoc as a defensive end, but not by having the prototypical features of the position. Standing only 6-foot-1, his speed and football instincts are what set him apart.

“He runs like a defensive back,” said Braun of Lesniewski, who also wore a DB’s jersey number—2. “His speed is just incredible, and he’s very, very instinctive. He has a knack for finding the football, and that’s something you just can’t coach.”

Lesniewski said speed has always been part of his game.

“I first tried out for football in eighth grade,” he said. “I’d never played sports. I just played video games. I tried out, and I was the fastest player on the team.”

The inexperienced Lesniewski didn’t get

to see much of the field that season, but his talent began to show while playing for Marian Central Catholic High School, a perennial power in Chicago’s northwest suburbs. Many of his teammates, such as current Canadian Football League quarterback Chris Streveler, were pursued by college football programs, but Lesniewski’s lack of size led to a lack of recruiting attention.

“I wished I’d looked at D3 colleges when I was in high school,” said Lesniewski, who eventually tried to play at an NAIA school, Missouri Valley College. While redshirting there, he said he lost his passion for the sport.

That passion rekindled as he decided to transfer and had regular contact with Monmouth’s coaching staff.

“Coach (Mitch) Russell called me every day,” said Lesniewski. “I wouldn’t be here without Coach Russell. It’s definitely the best decision I’ve ever made.”

“He’s the most explosive player I’ve ever seen,” said Russell, who had also shown interest in Lesniewski coming out of high school. “His get-off is just tremendous. He’s at full speed after his first step.”

Lesniewski draws a bead on Grinnell quarterback Jake Kaplinski during the Homecoming game in October.

Kent Kriegshauser photo

“We were very senior-dominated that season,” said Russell. “But I remember seeing some of our kids’ faces after Thomas did some of those first individual drills.”

“The first couple days, I don’t remember doing too much, but then Coach Russell came up to me and said, ‘I need you to get some reps,’” said Lesniewski. “I started blowing up some offensive linemen.”

With Russell giving him glowing reports about how preseason drills were going, Braun began to realize what was already clear to Russell—his newest defensive linemen was on another level.

“I remember Coach Russell coming up to me and saying ‘I’m telling you, this kid is going be special,’” said Braun. “But we didn’t start him right away. I remember that first game against Hope, though—he made some big-time plays. We even had him running down the field on kickoffs against Hope. You knew then that he had a chance to be really special.”

Lesniewski had a half-sack in the Hope game, and his arrival was fully complete two games later against Carroll, as he helped the Scots ensure a 22-16 come-from-behind win against the Pioneers. With Carroll driving late in the game near midfield, Lesniewski dealt a blow to the Pioneers’ rally with his second sack of the game. Teammate Ben Ketchum then sealed the win with a sack of his own.

The Scots would go on to post an 8-2 record that fall, reaching the Midwest Conference championship game, the same level of success they had during Lesniewski’s senior season. In between were back-to-back MWC titles and NCAA playoff appearances. In all, the Scots went 35-7 during Lesniewski’s four years.

“My favorite move is the bull rush,” he said. “I have an advantage against taller players. I can bull rush and get under them. I love taking away the will of an offensive lineman. I sleep better at night when that happens.”

Entering his senior season, Lesniewski was 11.5 sacks shy of Greg Bennett’s mark of 34, set in 1990. Without knowing about the record, he steadily added to his total. Around the midway point of the season, Russell told him the sack record was within reach.

“I thought, ‘Are you kidding me?’” said Lesniewski. “But then I put a lot of pressure on myself to get it.”

The pursuit came down to Monmouth’s last two guaranteed games of the season—the Bronze Turkey battle at Knox and the MWC title game at St. Norbert. Knowing he was unlikely to post sacks against the Green Knights’ triple-option attack, Lesniewski was determined to reach the record against the Prairie Fire.

“But they either passed too fast, or they ran,” he said of his sackfree first half. “At halftime, Coach Russell told me, ‘You’re going to get it.’ On their first series, I did, and I was the happiest man alive. Myteammates knew, too, and they were all congratulating me.”

Lesniewski can picture that specific sack, but when asked to name other plays from his career, his mind instead goes to personal opportunities missed. Three of his four seasons ended with Monmouth losing a “win or go home” game by single digits.

“I think about crucial plays I could’ve made—like reading a play better—that could’ve made those games go the other way,” he said.

“He’s an incredibly loyal player,” said Russell. “He’d do anything for me. After (this year’s) St. Norbert loss, he came up to me and said, ‘I wanted to win this one for you.’ ... Thomas comes off extremely goofy at times, but he has a huge heart. I was extremely blessed to be his coach for the last four years.”

Braun knows Lesniewski didn’t miss many plays on the gridiron, and he missed even fewer opportunities to make himself the best student he could be.

“People talk about Thomas’s football accomplishments, but what they don’t see is that I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a student who works harder in the classroom,” said Braun of the political science major. “His work ethic is tremendous. That’s something I’m really proud of for Thomas—what he’s done in the classroom. He got the most out of his abilities. He works when other people aren’t watching.”

Lesniewski plans to take that work ethic into law enforcement, becoming a police officer. Having already attended college before enrolling at Monmouth, he graduated in December.