To take the measure of defensive tackle John Sullivan as a leader for North Central College, there’s no need to consider his junior season, as good as it has been.
Instead, look back at last season, when Sullivan was set to take a medical redshirt for a leg injury. When All-America defensive lineman Dan Lester suffered an injury, too, Sullivan let the coaching staff know he was willing to come back early for the perennial national championship contender.
“JP said, ‘I think in a few weeks I could maybe come back,’ and he did,” NCC coach Brad Spencer said. “Even on one leg, he was extremely disruptive. Now, we’re a year later, he’s had a whole year of rehab and work, and now he’s the defensive player of the year.”
Indeed, Sullivan is the co-recipient of the Don Larson Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year award in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin this season. The 6-foot-2, 280-pound Lakes graduate has 46 tackles, including 12.5 for loss and five sacks, as the No. 1 Cardinals (11-0) prepare for their home game against No. 14 Hope (11-0) in the third round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
The no-nonsense Sullivan takes a lead-by-example approach, which was clear when he returned to the field last season at what defensive coordinator Shane Dierking called 70% to help NCC reach the national championship game for the fourth straight year.
“That’s just the way I was raised,” Sullivan said. “I can’t really do anything else but that. I was always raised to lead by example and work hard.”
Sullivan used the end of last season as fuel for this one.
“It helped me this year because it added external motivation to get better and a desire to get better for my team and everyone that believes in me,” he said. “The way I look at it is if I’m not giving my 100% best, I’m not doing it right.”
Dierking enjoys having a player with that attitude anchoring the defensive line and appreciates the sacrifices Sullivan has made to get to this point.
“As a defensive tackle, he impacts the game in the run and the pass and manipulates protections in the pass game and has to be doubled all the time,” Dierking said. “His impact is way greater than his stats. Now everybody is seeing it.”
How Sullivan got to NCC is notable too. The Cardinals have mined Lakes for considerable talent over the years, including record-setting wide receiver DeAngelo Hardy and record-setting running back Ethan Greenfield, the 2022 Gagliardi Trophy winner.
“(Greenfield) had a big influence in helping recruit me to come here,” Sullivan said. “I had several conversations with him about how to be a better player and a better man. It meant a lot to me. It shows that he actually believes in me and wants what’s best for me. I didn’t want to let him down.”
That’s a recruiting win for the Cardinals. Spencer was the program’s recruiting coordinator before he became the head coach, so when he can get players from the same high school for the right reasons, that’s a plus in his view.
“It shows that something is going on in their program that fits the characteristics of your program,” Spencer said. “That shows that you’re doing something right as a program. These are phenomenal student-athletes on and off the field. That’s a great win for the program.”
Sullivan wants to get another great win for the team on Saturday as the Cardinals pursue their third national title in five seasons.
“It’s really fun being a part of such big games,” he said. “That’s what college football is all about, just being around the people you love the most and going through those experiences together.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter.
