For Gov. Mifflin’s Nick Singleton, ‘the NFL dream has come true’

Long, long before the Tennessee Titans or anyone else in the NFL knew Nick Singleton was special on a football field, Jeff Lang saw it.

The former Governor Mifflin coach has watched every game Singleton has ever played. He saw him during his flag football days in the Mifflin Broncos system and every step of the way after that. Always, Lang said, Singleton was a step ahead of everyone else.

“All the way through, Nicholas was always a man amongst boys,” Lang said Saturday afternoon, breaking away from a draft watch party at FirstEnergy Stadium after Singleton was selected by the Titans in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.

Singleton dominated with the Broncos, and then with the Mustangs, topping 1,000 yards as a freshman. He maintained that edge at Penn State, where over four seasons he scored more touchdowns and produced more all-purpose yards than anyone in program history.

“I was always wondering when this kid was going to hit his ceiling,” Lang said, “and he hasn’t. I still think he hasn’t. I still think he’s got so much more to give and get better. I just think he’s going to do well (with the Titans). It’s a young club. I think Tennessee’s going to be good for him.”

Singleton was the fifth player taken by the Titans, and the first running back. He’ll join a backfield that includes 29-year-old veteran Tony Pollard, who is entering the final year of his control after topping 1,000 yards last season, and Tyjae Spears, who has had injury issues.

If the Titans choose to release Pollard to free up salary cap space, as some have speculated, the door would open for Singleton to step in as a rookie starter. That’s for later. For now, it’s a time for reflection and celebration

“The dream has come true,” an elated Lang said.

Singleton was projected to go in the third or fourth rounds. His name wasn’t called on the second night of the draft, and it stayed on the board for several agonizing hours Saturday as few teams selected running backs.

Six running backs were taken ahead of him, including one – Nebraska’s Emmett Johnson – earlier in the fifth round. Through it all, Singleton displayed his patented calm.

“He took it all in, was patient, never grumbled about anything,” Lang said. “He didn’t even flinch (when other running backs were selected ahead of him). He just took everything in stride.

“He knows he’s going to get his chance.  I see him going in there with an edge to show people what he can do. I know this year did not go the way he wanted to (at Penn State) and he feels in his mind he’s still got something to prove.”

Lang, Mifflin’s head coach in 2018 when Singleton was a freshman, knew right away he had a unique player on his hands. Even though the Mustangs were beaten 42-28 by Wilson in Week 2, Singleton rushed for a team-high 97 yards and caught three passes; he accounted for 120 of the team’s 164 total yards.

“He was the only kid who could do anything against them,” Lang said. “That’s when I realized: This kid’s pretty special. I said: ‘OK: we’ve got to build our team around this guy.’

“We were using him as a bruising fullback, in that Mid-Line Veer Option. I realized we were using a Ferrari in a demolition derby. We’ve got to get him some action on the edge.”

Lang opened up the Mustangs’ traditional Mid-Line Option in order to get Singleton more touches and running room to the outside, and the rest is history.

He went on to smash nearly every Berks scoring and rushing record on the books, finishing with 6,326 career yards – nearly 1,600 more than the previous record – and 116 career touchdowns – 37 more than anyone else.

In 2021, his senior season, he had a shot at the county single-season rushing mark of 2,403, set by Central Catholic’s David Gilmore, but was limited by COVID-19, which trimmed Mifflin’s regular season to just eight games. He finished with a Mifflin record 2,059.

Singleton became the first Berks player in more than 80 years to score seven touchdowns in a game, in 2021 vs. Warwick. His 44 TDs that season topped the county mark of 39, set by Jason Reinhart 23 years earlier.

Lang said he “saw glimmers” of Singleton’s pro potential in high school, then became convinced of it once he had a breakout freshman season at Penn State.

“In college he kept getting better and better, and I was like: ‘OK, we’re going to be seeing this kid in the draft, for sure.’ ”