Jimmy Mullen bounced between practices, meetings and study sessions so frequently he thought he would document what the true life of a college athlete juggling two sports would like. That, in itself, became another full-time job.
Mullen, NJ.com’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2023, knew he was taking on a challenge playing two Division 1 sports at Virginia Tech while balancing life as a first-year college student. This past year went well enough, but this year, Mullen said several factors played into his decision to focus solely on wrestling while pulling back from football.
The Kearny native, who excelled in both sports at St. Joseph Regional in Montvale, said this is not the end of his football career. Mullen and Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry are leaving the door open for future seasons.
A veteran presence on the defensive line plus the addition of two more defensive tackles via the transfer portal created a crowded room that would have limited playing time, according to Mullen.
“We’re going to see how this year goes, let those kids graduate, see how my freshman wrestling season goes and then it’s all me if I want to come back to football,” Mullen said.
In his first season at Virginia Tech, Mullen used a redshirt in both seasons, meaning he will have four years of eligibility remaining in both sports.
As for juggling both sports, Mullen said “it’s extremely difficult but also extremely fun.”
As a high school wrestler, Mullen won three NJSIAA titles at heavyweight in 2020, 2022 and 2023. Mullen opted to pursue a shot at making Team USA for the Cadet World Championships in 2021 rather than competing in the high school state tournament when it was moved to the spring due to COVID-19. On the football field, Mullen was a disruptive defensive lineman, who had 28 tackles for loss and 7 1/2 sacks for one of New Jersey’s top teams as a senior.
Coming out of high school, Mullen was one of the nation’s top recruits. He will hold a special place in New Jersey wrestling history as the first freshman to win the state heavyweight title and could have been the first heavyweight to win four titles without the COVID interference.
College wrestlers can compete in five events without burning their redshirts, which allowed Mullen the opportunity to compete in several tournaments. He placed third at the Midlands Championships at heavyweight and finished his season with just four losses.
Even still, one of his fondest athletic memories was running out of the tunnel at Virginia Tech’s locker room for its famous football entrance.
Rutgers will take on Virginia Tech in football and wrestling this season. The wrestling match will give Mullen the opportunity to match up with Yaraslau Slavikouski, a graduate student for the Scarlet Knights who earned All-American honors last March.
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Patrick Lanni may be reached at planni@njadvancemedia.com.
