Iowa DB John Nestor happy to have his parents nearby

CEDAR RAPIDS — You live in the Chicagoland area. You move to West Branch, Iowa.

Expect a culture shock. An absolute culture shock.

“Just a little different in literally every way, going from the south side of Chicago to a town of 2,500 people,” John Nestor Sr said with a laugh. “But it’s been good. For the most part, people have been very welcoming here. Being 15 minutes down the road from Iowa City and my son, you can’t beat that.”

Nestor’s son, John Jr., is an emerging defensive back for the University of Iowa football team. The sophomore was listed as a starting cornerback on the Hawkeyes depth chart released during media day a week and a half ago.

That means nothing, of course. There’s a lot of fall camp left, the season opener is not until Aug. 31 at Kinnick Stadium against Illinois State.

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But the kid has made an impression and definitely should see the field somewhere: corner, the cash position. There are comparisons already (and probably dangerously) being made to guys like Riley Moss of the Denver Broncos, a former Big Ten Conference defensive back of the year.

“There really is no depth chart in place right now,” Nestor Jr. said at media day. “We have competition every single day ... I knew the Riley Moss thing was coming out at some point. Riley, obviously, he’s a great player. He’s a Tatum-Woodson Award winner, unanimous award winner, playing now for the Denver Broncos. He’s such a respected name in our DB room, someone all the guys look up to.

“But I’m just trying to be the person I am. I’m just trying to do the best job I can every single day.”

With mom and dad right there with him.

Nestor Sr. is the new head football coach at West Branch High School. A longtime assistant at Chicago powerhouses like Mount Carmel and Lincoln-Way, this is his first opportunity to lead a program.

He was tipped off about the job opening by Pleasant Valley head coach Rusty VanWetzinga, whose son is a teammate of Nestor Jr.’s at Iowa. Being a head coach was appealing, so was being a head coach at a historical small-school power.

That he and his wife Rachele could be so close to their son as he navigates his college playing career was a tipping point.

“It’s really special, man,” Nestor Sr. said. “I played at Miami of Ohio in the MAC, and that was cool. But just to have your son playing in the Big Ten and doing the things that he is doing is pretty cool, man. I just take my football hat off. I’m a dad. Yes, I’m coaching, but I’m a dad first.

“Taking that football hat off and just watching him, watching the work ethic and the time that he puts in, watching him grow as a player and a person, just seeing the things that he’s doing over there. He’s really turning heads. I’m kind of speechless.”

“It’s awesome to have them here,” Nestor Jr. said. “I love my parents being so close ... Especially my dad getting an opportunity to be a head coach at a very respected and very powerful program in the state of Iowa. West Branch, I’m so excited for him. I know exactly the kind of coach he is because he’s been my coach since day one. He has always been my mental, my physical coach. He’s the best to ever do it, a defensive coach, a great defensive mind. I’m so excited for him, to see kids develop under him.”

Nestor Sr. said he has tried to keep his distance from his son in one respect, letting him come to him if he wants to discuss anything football related. But the door always is open whether son wants to talk football or not.

Rachele’s kitchen always is open, too. The couple have a daughter who attends the University of Alabama and two younger sons who will attend school at West Branch.

“My wife cooks every night,” John Sr. said. “I’m blessed, lucky as far as that goes. Before camp, (John Jr.) was probably home three to four times a week. He loves the fact that we’re here. Those Sunday meals for sure are great. That first Sunday, I think he brought home three buddies.”

“Home-cooked meal, get to talk to my parents, watch a movie on Sunday nights,” John Jr. said. “It’s really great. It’s been so great since they’ve moved here.”

And just like fellow prep head coaches Duane Schulte of Cedar Rapids Xavier and Brian White of Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Nestor Sr. will be attending each one of his son’s games, whether they are in Iowa City or on the road.

“The next two or three years that he’s there, they are going to fly by,” Nestor Sr. said. “But we are going to enjoy it, being this close.”

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com