Sept. 24, 2008
By Matt Bixenstine, Athletics Media Relations Staff
COLLEGE PARK - Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen called defensive lineman Olugbemi Otulaja into his office last month to share news that would induce a big smile befit for the team's congenial six-foot, 285-pound nose tackle.
Three years after taking the biggest calculated risk of his young life by leaving behind a scholarship and his comfort level at Marist College for a chance to play for the Terps, the player affectionately referred to as `Bemi' by his teammates and coaches had realized his goal. The former Maryland walk-on had been awarded a football scholarship for his senior season.
"You have to be willing to take a chance in life if you want something bad enough - that's what life is all about," defensive line coach Dave Sollazzo said. "He took a chance by making the leap from Division III to Division I-A to prove himself. A lot of people probably told them he was crazy, but he proved them wrong."
Following the 2005 college football season, Otulaja was a budding star at Marist, located just 80 miles from his native Brooklyn, N.Y. He was a starter along the Red Foxes' defensive line and on pace to serve as team captain. Off the field, Otulaja was close to his family and friends and performing well academically.
Yet something was missing for Otulaja, who had been conditioned since childhood to never settle for anything less than his best. Although happy having achieved a collegiate football career at Marist, the defensive lineman was not completely satisfied. No matter how hard he tried, Otulaja could not escape nagging thoughts that he would someday regret not having attempted to play at college football's highest level.
After expressing his desire to Dan Hickson, former Maryland assistant recruiting coordinator who later served as director of football operations, Otulaja was offered a spot on the Terps roster one week into the 2006 preseason camp. He consulted his father, Bosede Otulaja, formerly prince of the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria, for advice.
"I asked my dad what to do and he said, `opportunity only knocks once so you'd better take this opportunity,'" Otulaja said. "I left everything behind and came down to Maryland with a book bag and a pillow not knowing where I was going to sleep or anything like that. But everything ended up working out."
Indeed, Otulaja's Terps football career has panned out thus far, as the nose tackle has provided much-needed depth for a defensive line that lost two starters from a year ago in Tampa Bay Buccaneers draftee Dre Moore and Carlos Feliciano.
Otulaja currently sits atop the depth chart at nose tackle after playing in five games last season and recording his first sack Nov. 3, 2007, against North Carolina. He made his first career start Aug. 30 in Maryland's season-opening win over Delaware, recording three tackles. He tallied his first half-sack of the season during the defeat of Eastern Michigan.
His success with the Terrapins has not come by accident, but rather by diligence and determination.
"Every opportunity I was given on the football field, I tried to make the best of it," Otulaja said. "Every time they put me against (Maryland center) Edwin (Williams) in practice, I made the best of it. Every time extra reps were available, I wanted to be in there to get as many reps as possible. I needed to make a name for myself because nobody knew me here."
As nose tackle, Otulaja's primary responsibility involves playing low in order to defeat the block in front of him and enable Maryland's linebackers to roam free and make tackles.
Despite being short for his position, Otulaja compensates by having the highest strength index on the team thanks to his powerful legs.
"He squats around 750 pounds, and that's just phenomenal," Sollazzo said. "Squatting is all about having strong legs, and that's where his strength lies. Even at his size, he's able to take on much bigger offensive lineman because of his strong lower body."
Although Otulaja has developed a newfound comfort zone at Maryland, he never felt alone from the minute he stepped on campus. That is because the first fellow Terp he met was defensive lineman Dean Muhtadi, a transfer from Christopher Newport University who arrived in College Park to walk-on to the football team two weeks prior to Otulaja.
Muhtadi and Otulaja remain close friends through their shared experiences and serve as roommates.
"We know each other's struggles, and we both have the same determination," Otulaja said. "To find somebody else like that was really rare, and I'm glad that I found that in him and he found that in me."
Away from the game he loves, Otulaja is spiritual and family-oriented, spending ample time with his parents and four siblings. He has the utmost respect for his father. In addition to advising his son's football career, Bosede Otulaja passed on an opportunity to serve as king of the Yoruba tribe in order to stay in the United States with his family.
In his spare time Otulaja enjoys playing music and serving as a DJ, though football remains his top passion, and he would like to establish a football-related career in the future.
But for now the Terps nose tackle will continue to plug holes in the defensive line and remain grateful for his status as a scholarship student-athlete at Maryland.
"I'm just happy for him," Sollazzo said. "He's a great football player, but he's an even better person."
