Gophers football: Coach Nick Monroe’s ‘life-changing’ car crash sparks more gratitude – InForum

Nick Monroe was on a routine work trip to Palm Beach County, Florida, in May 2023 when he had a “life-changing experience.”

The Gophers cornerbacks coach was between stops in fertile recruiting territory when he says a tractor-trailer ran his Nissan Armada off the road and onto a field. Authorities told him his rental SUV rolled about four to six times.

“They thought it was over,” Monroe told the Pioneer Press earlier this month. And by “it,” he means his life. “They thought it was over. I was airlifted to a trauma center.”

But Monroe was wearing his seat belt and was saved, in part, by the deployment of so many airbags that he “felt like he was in a giant pillow factory.” But the 45-year-old was not at all comfortable, as he said he suffered a concussion, a broken collarbone in one shoulder, a torn rotator cuff in the other arm and a damaged eyelid in addition to other injuries.

“My back and spine were pretty messed up for a while,” Monroe continued. “I don’t remember how many stitches I had, but I had some pretty scars on my body.”

Monroe was hospitalized for a time in Florida, with his wife Nicole flying in to be with him. He was unable to feed himself for a time and was unable to drive for six months. He underwent numerous surgeries, including additional treatment in Minnesota.

“But nothing really stopped me from living a normal life,” he said. “Nothing stopped me from being a husband or a father. Nothing stopped me from being a coach.”

Monroe shared his poignant story with the Gophers football team two days before they closed out the game against Rhode Island on Sept. 7. Head coach P.J. Fleck calls on assistant coaches to speak to the team every Thursday during the season; he often asks staff members who have coached against teams from that region of the country or guys who aspire to be head coaches one day.

Monroe, a Mahtomedi native, used his personal experience to convey a message of gratitude to the Gophers players. It struck a chord with Max Brosmer.

Shortly after Brosmer transferred from New Hampshire in January, the Gophers quarterback shared that gratitude was one of the first words he wrote in his locker inside the Larson Football Performance Center.

“It gives me comfort to know that this is definitely our home — and our entire team’s home,” Brosmer said last week. “His message was one of the best I’ve heard in my entire college career. The first thing I said to him afterward was, ‘Thank you. I appreciate it. That really meant a lot to me.’ I still think about it. I have a ton of notes on it.”

The Gophers want to express their gratitude Saturday when they play in one of college football’s richest rivalries: the battle for Floyd of Rosedale against Iowa at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Monroe’s infectious personality shone through during Florida’s recruiting campaign, earning him the nickname “Swag Daddy” before he joined the U in January 2023. His injury came before he coached a game at the U, but after stops at Allegheny College, Colgate, Bowling Green and Syracuse.

But a car accident wasn’t necessary for Monroe to be grateful to coach in Minnesota. His father, Marty, was a graduate assistant with the Gophers in 1994-95. Nick grew up a fan and said he was named “best defensive back” at a youth camp at the university in 1995.

“It was Golden Gophers football, it was the dream,” Monroe said. “Every Saturday we were either watching TV or listening to the radio.”

Monroe decided not to leave Minnesota and took the opportunity to join Division II St. Cloud State, where he was a four-year winning cornerback. He graduated from college in 2001, so it’s been a long road back to his favorite college program, now 23 years later.

Last year, Monroe had to recover from his passing miscues in practice and was teased by his fellow coaches when he could only lift 45 pounds in the U weight room. He now has some passing agility in practice and can lift 225 pounds again. But off campus, he drives nothing but an SUV or truck and is reluctant to pass tractor-trailers on the road.

Two weeks ago, Monroe particularly wished that the team enjoy the journey and not focus on reaching the destination.

“You can never let time pass you by, because time is something you can never slow down, and you never know how much time you have left,” Monroe said. “If you start letting time pass you by, you’re going to lose your appreciation for all the fun things, all the family things and all the beautiful things that are part of this game, including the tough times, including the sacrifices.”

For cornerbacks like Ethan Robinson and Justin Walley, that message resonated throughout their final seasons.

“We have a lot of young players that wish it was their time, they wish, they wish, they wish,” Robinson said. “But now that I’m here, when you get there, you wish you had that time back. Don’t wish for time to pass. Stay in the moment, play every moment that comes to you, live and enjoy your life.”

Robinson, who joined the U from FCS-bound Bucknell, said Monroe can be a determined coach.

“If you don’t match his energy, you’re going to get noticed, so you have to come to practice ready to work every day,” Robinson said. “You have to come, kind of, with your shield over your head because you can make a good play, but he’s going to coach you on what you could have done better and what you could have done wrong. In the same sense, he’ll compliment you and tell you what you did well. He’s always looking to help you. That’s exactly what I was looking for when I came to a school, so I can’t even complain.”

After the game against Floyd of Rosedale, Monroe will likely visit his wife, 8-year-old son Wyatt, his mother, father and friends. They’ll talk about the game, but his Gopher dad won’t worry or focus too much on the X’s and O’s.

“What he cares about is how we play, don’t ever take that away from him,” Nick said. “Coach them really hard, but love them even more.”

Nick is doing this with more determination after his life was turned upside down on a South Florida lot 16 months ago.