DAYTON – Being a leader takes determination, a vocal presence, and providing a calming influence. As a senior football player at the University of Dayton, Nick Bart has developed into a leader among his teammates. Utilizing his voice and through his actions, Bart has helped build the community among the UD football team, even with a pandemic canceling his senior season.

A native of South Barrington, Ill., Bart has been an athlete his entire life. As a kid, he played football, basketball, baseball, and even hockey. Bart dropped baseball and basketball by his junior year of high school and focused on football as he began to get noticed by college football coaches.
"I started getting a lot of attention from college coaches and they started recruiting me to visit their school, encouraging me to attend camps to see me perform," Bart said. "It all happened pretty quickly but in the span of those few weeks of junior year, I then realized I had the possibility to play in college and especially the Division I level."

Bart chose to attend UD because of the winning tradition of the football program along with the strong education. Since head coach Rick Chamberlin took over the program in 2008, Dayton has had winning records in 11 of his 12 seasons, with at least eight wins in seven of those years. 

"I picked Dayton because when I got on campus, I could just feel the positive atmosphere and knew it was a special place," Bart said. "There is a strong and rich tradition of winning at Dayton which is something that was big for me, as well as the education I was going to receive."

From youth all the way up to college, many coaches have influenced Bart to excel both on and off the field. These coaches include UD offensive coordinator Austin King, who serves as quality control coach for the Las Vegas Raiders after spending five seasons at Dayton (2015-19).

"There have been a lot of amazing influences in my football career starting from my youth experience with Coach [Jeff] Holdsberg who got my passion for the game started and really introduced me to what football can do for someone and how the game is played," Bart said. "Coach King taught me all the tools to become a great player and prepare for the real world. He pushed me hard since he knew what I was capable of with performing on the field."

Even as a student-athlete, Bart was motivated to double-major in finance and entrepreneurship. Bart's entrepreneurial spirit comes from a class he took in high school which simulated building a business in high school and still wants to start his own business one day. Bart decided to pick up finance as a second major after realizing he liked working with numbers and money.

In school, Bart has kept an impressive 3.55 GPA and has been named to the Pioneer Football League's Academic Honor Roll during all three seasons at UD. He has also been a regular on the University of Dayton Dean's List. Being a double major while also being a student-athlete is difficult work, but Bart has always been determined to challenge himself in the classroom, and acknowledges the work of UD's athletic support staff in contributing to his academic success.

"With all the time set out for football and wanting to succeed in my sport, I spent just as much, if not more, time working on my classwork," Bart said. "The academic support staff for athletics really sets you up for success. I have followed their plan every year and it has led to great results. As long as you work hard and give it your all, this football program and school will set you up for success."

While Bart continued to post solid grades in the classroom, he continued to develop on the football field. He was redshirted during his freshman year in 2017 before playing in seven games and making three starts in 2018 and starting all 11 games in 2019. As Coach Chamberlin stated, Bart's improvement as a lineman was thanks to his determination to get better and 'no excuses' mentality.

Bart also developed as a leader both on and off the field. He is one of four seniors in the eight-player football leadership council. The meetings at the council have helped Bart understand how to be a leader and take charge when necessary. He developed as a leader while learning other skills such as time management and patience through his dedication in the classroom and on the football field.

"Coming into UD, I wasn't the guy who would speak up," Bart said. "I wasn't very comfortable addressing a situation coming out of high school. Now I am more comfortable speaking up in meetings."

Despite losing his senior season, Bart has had many great experiences through football at UD. Of these experiences, Bart has enjoyed building a community and friendships among his teammates. Through that community built with his teammates, they have become some of Bart's lifelong friends. He plans to continue to connect with his teammates after school.

"I don't think you can beat the bonds that I have created with my teammates," Bart said. "What we created here is a brotherhood. You can take our season away, but you can't take away that brotherhood, and I am grateful for that."

These friendships and this community-building is encouraged by the coaching staff at UD, even having seniors mentor the freshmen as they transition to college.
"There are no egos. We're all in this together," said coach Chamberlin. "My players never put themselves above the team."

At 6-foot-2, 270 lbs., Bart may seem like a menace on the field, but many of his teammates and peers regard him as a 'gentle giant.' While Bart may intimidate his opponents on Saturdays, his teammates and Chamberlin have always noted his caring personality.

"His personality is one that cares about people," Chamberlin said. "He wants to see others succeed around him, and he's going to invest his time and energy into people to help them achieve their goals and be successful."

Nick's caring personality extends beyond his teammates and classmates. He has been active in building UD athletics' relationship with the greater Dayton community, especially through programs such as Rebuilding Dayton, where the entire UD football team helps repair houses and yards for Dayton residents. Both Bart and Chamberlin talked about involvement with Christmas on Campus, where UD students and student-athletes spend a night on campus with kids from the Greater Dayton area, with many holiday-themed activities for each child. 

"Nick is always one that has stepped forward to be a part of those and has always encouraged other players to be a part of those too, because of the blessing you get out of doing something like that," Chamberlin said.
 
Bart's caring personality may very well come from his parents, Mark and Patti Bart, who have been very influential to him as a person and as an athlete and have not missed a single Flyer football game in Bart's career.

"My family is everything to me," Bart said. "They have done so much for me that I cannot thank them enough. [My parents] have sacrificed more for me than I can ever repay. I strive to be like my parents every single day because I see how hard they work and the standard to which they hold themselves. I want to be exactly like both of them because they are my idols."

The pandemic has been difficult for athletic programs all across the country. Dayton Football was no stranger to this hardship, and UD ultimately opted out of the PFL spring season, thus ending Bart's career along with the rest of the graduating seniors.

As expected, Bart and his fellow seniors were incredibly disappointed over the 2020 season's cancelation. Ultimately, this season would have been a chance for Bart to have one more chance at a PFL title, along with getting a chance to lead the offensive line. He was the only returning starter from the 2019 team which posted an 8-3 record and went 6-2 in the PFL.

"Graduating without playing my senior year is very tough for me." Bart said. "It's what you look forward to in your whole college experience. You get to soak it in with all the teammates you have worked with during the offseason along with preparing for and playing games. We were the leaders of the team, so [cancelation] was a tough pill to swallow."

However the pandemic has not stopped Bart from being a leader, as he has shown leadership in many capacities. He helped organize virtual training sessions for his fellow offensive linemen. When the team practiced in the fall, Bart was at every practice, despite injury keeping him out of participating, his mere presence showing the leadership and commitment Chamberlin looks for in a player.

"He was there giving instruction and encouragement to the offensive line and offense as a whole," Chamberlin said. "That was a good influence upon our team that Nick was there every practice."

Bart admitted this season would finish up his football career. Through his time at UD, he has built many personal and professional qualities which he plans to utilize in his career. He hopes that any incoming freshman coming into the program will learn time management skills and will stay patient and determined as they try to adjust to college life while earning playing time.

Maybe one day he will go on to start his own business. But through his career at UD, Nick Bart has shown determination and leadership on the field, in the classroom, and in connecting UD athletics to the Greater Dayton community.