Jake Nulph has had Saturday circled on his calendar from the moment he took over as football coach at Edinboro in 2020.
Chris King isn’t surprised one bit. After all, Robert Morris’ athletic director figures that when you get a chance to return to your alma mater, you’re bound to be excited.
That certainly was the case for King in 2019 when he took over as head of RMU athletics.
“Jake was one of the first RMU alums to reach out when I was hired,” he said. “We hit it off. It’s actually blossomed into a great friendship.”
Five years later, the two men were planning a reunion of sorts Saturday at Joe Walton Stadium when RMU entertains Division II Edinboro in the first gridiron meeting between the schools.
“This is the very first game I scheduled when I got the Edinboro job,” Nulph said.
While they’re likely to be catching up on their current affairs, their story runs so much deeper.
King, 52, and Nulph, 41, are graduates 11 years apart each from Apollo-Ridge High School and Robert Morris. Both men were inducted into the Armstrong County Sports Hall of Fame in 2020 but neither knew much of the other until recently.
“I always felt like I would connect with him, personally,” Nulph said. “We’re such a proud alumni base (at Apollo-Ridge). We’re proud of being a Viking.”
King actually has played in Nulph’s annual golf tournament at The Links at Spring Church in Kiski Township.
“I follow his career and he follows mine,” King said.
While King, who was part of Apollo-Ridge’s three WPIAL section championship basketball teams from 1988-90, lives in Moon, near RMU, with his wife, Alicia, and their two daughters, Nulph still calls Apollo home and commutes two hours one way to Edinboro.
“He’s nuts,” King said. “I don’t know how he does it.”
Nulph played football at Apollo-Ridge and spent three seasons from 2002-04 at Robert Morris — two as a defensive back and one at quarterback — after transferring from Division III Grove City. He also was a special teams captain for RMU during his senior year and later served as an assistant under legendary Joe Walton, the stadium’s namesake who was the Colonials’ first coach.
“He loves Apollo. I love Apollo,” King said. “We grew up at different times, but I’ve followed Jake’s football career and I have a lot of respect for him.”
So, too, does RMU coach Bernard Clark.
Nulph also has served in various assistant’s roles at other FCS schools Duquesne and St. Francis (Pa.), as well as Division II IUP and Division III Allegheny and Westminster.
“Coach Jake is an unbelievable coach and unbelievable person,” Clark said. “We’ll talk to our guys about what this trip means to him and we’ll help them understand it. We want to make sure they know he’s happy about coming here and we’ll see if we can spoil his homecoming.”
Indeed, the excitement has been building for Nulph.
“I’ve been getting texts from some former teammates,” he said. “I hope to be able to see some people I’ve missed. I’m excited. But at 6 (p.m.), it’s go time. After the game, we’ll get back to the relationships.”
Both teams opened the season with losses last week.
Robert Morris returned from Utah State with a bit more hope after playing the FBS Aggies tough in a 36-14 loss that saw Colonials defensive back Rob Carter Jr. make an acrobatic, one-handed interception just before halftime that preserved a 14-10 RMU lead and landed at No. 1 on ESPN SportsCenter’s nightly Top 10 Plays feature.
This week, Edinboro finds itself in a similar role, “playing up” against FCS Robert Morris.
“I like the fact that we play an FBS opponent and then a Division II opponent,” Clark said. “It’s the beginning of the season, so you’re still kind of feeling your way out. We just went up against a top opponent who was matched far ahead of us — 35-point underdogs — and we performed well. We’re going against a team this week that we should perform well against, so what are we going to get out of it?
“The fact that these two games came right before we start our (Northeast) Conference play is huge. For me, this is a game I’m loving playing.”
And it’s a chance for two proud alums from the same schools to rejoice together once more.
Dave Mackall is a TribLive contributing writer.