CEDAR CITY, Utah - When Mike Needham steps on the field at Autzen Stadium on September 2, his senior campaign will officially be underway.
“I’m excited. It’s definitely fun being a senior because you’ve got to give it all you’ve got,” Needham said. “College goes by fast, but we’ve got a lot of seniors on this team so it’s fun that we’re all working together to be leaders and it’s exciting to see what happens next.”
He has some time to get ready for that moment, as the senior linebacker from St. George will have roughly a month of preparation and fall camp to go through, which will also coincide with him and his wife expecting their first child. With a brand new academic year looming on the horizon as well, it’d be fair to say that things will not be easy for the next little bit.
“It’s hard. I definitely need to find a balance,” he said. “I need to learn what I need to balance personally. I’ve lost a few pounds because I’ve been thinking about the baby a lot and what I can do to help my wife, but I’ve realized that and it’s helped to start balancing that out.”
Needham has been a truly dominant force for the Thunderbirds. In 2015 he was part of the Thunderbird defense that helped claim the program’s first Big Sky Championship. He was named 2015 Linebacker of the Year by College Football Performance Awards. He has been named First Team All-Big Sky twice during his career, and just recently was named to the Preseason All-Conference list.
However, with all the accolades and accomplishments Needham has stayed humble, and knows there are things he still needs to improve on.
“Some of my goals this year are to get better at the things I’m still not good at,” he said. “I’m grateful that I’ve been able to have successful seasons in the past, because that’s helping me prepare for my very last season and the season I need to do my best. I need to get better at tackling, just wrapping up and finishing to the ground and stuff like that.”
With just one year left as a Thunderbird, Needham is starting to weigh possibilities of what the future could hold for him. Like several of his teammates before him, he has an eye on the National Football League and a career playing professional football.
“It helps me know that it’s possible for me to do it,” he said. “Growing up in little league you never think you’re going to play in the NFL, but seeing Killebrew, Cowser and Sims make it, and knowing we all started as freshmen together, gives me confidence that I could do it as well, but you never know until it happens.”
But before that next step, Needham is focused on the upcoming season and the challenges that lie ahead. The Thunderbirds have a tough non-conference slate, which starts with Oregon and is followed up by Stephen F. Austin and Northern Iowa. The Thunderbirds will then face a Big Sky schedule that features the top five teams in both the Preseason Coaches’ and Media poll (North Dakota, Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona, Cal Poly and Weber State).
Despite those challenges, Needham said the team is ready for them.
Last season the Thunderbirds played two big road games against the University of Utah and Brigham Young University, which has prepared them for their opening week test.
“It was nice last year having those two big games as a confidence builder,” Needham said. “We believe that we’re the same size as them, it’s just a bigger stage and I feel like we have so many guys on this team that have played in several games like that. I’m excited for Oregon because we have so much experience in that type of setting. I think we’re going to compete a lot better than we did last year at Utah. We had a great game against them, but I think our offense will know what it’ll take to get some points on the board and the defense can step it up.”
Despite having several tough home games this season, Needham said that the confidence the fans allow the team to have will help propel them this season, and gives Thunderbird supporters a lot of credit for the 9-1 record SUU has had at home the past two seasons.
“It shows us that all of our hard work is paying off, and people want to come and enjoy it,” he said. “It’s really going to benefit us this year because a lot of our hardest games are at home, and for us to have a possibility to win the Big Sky and make the Playoffs it’s got to happen at home this year.”
As a senior, Needham will have the opportunity to make an impression on all the incoming freshmen, and looks forward to being able to help them through the early stages. When asked what he would tell them before the first game, he said they’ll just need to embrace the moment.
“This is what we signed up for. This is football,” he said. “There’s going to be cameras and distractions, but enjoy it and have fun. It’s a resume game for those that want to go to the next level, but for freshmen by the time Oregon comes they’ll be ready. During Fall Camp we’ll teach them what college football is about, and then they should approach every game after that like an Oregon game. Just go out and have the game of your life every week.”
Follow Mike Needham and the Thunderbirds all year long by following @SUUFB on Twitter and Instagram and like the Southern Utah Football page on Facebook.
