Carlos Ruiz on Cristian Driver: 'Nobody works harder than that young man'
When searching for someone who could help us get a better feel for Cristian Driver as both a player and as a person, we were told that there was one person specifically that we had to contact: Carlos Ruiz.
The former defensive coordinator at Liberty Christian, Ruiz worked with Driver for the past three seasons before the school decided to hire former NFL tight end Jason Witten as its new head coach in February. Ruiz, who is currently sitting the season out to enjoy time with family before he gets back into coaching, is as experienced as they come at the high school level, winning 12 high school state championships at different schools throughout his career.
A native of Everett, Mass., Ruiz actually coached former Penn State target and current Georgia Bulldog safety Lewis Cine earlier in his career. After dominating in New England for more than decade, he decided to move to Texas to coach against the nation's best. He had success there, too, even working in Division I football at North Texas for a year.
Ruiz ultimately landed at Liberty Christian the same year that Driver was a freshman, and the two became close within a matter of months. That's why we caught up with Ruiz to get a better feel for the future Nittany Lion, who could play on either side of the ball at the next level, but would prefer to start his career at wide receiver.
Ryan Snyder: You started coaching Cristian his freshman year. What do you remember from that first season and just how he progressed into the player he is now?
Carlos Ruiz: When he was a freshman, he was actually a backup receiver. He got to go against our first-team defense and I was the defensive coordinator. Right off the bat, I noticed this kid is a freak athlete. We didn't really care about the name. He's not the first kid I've worked with that had a dad play in the league. Also, it's not always that because your dad played in the league, you're gonna be a great player, but as soon as we saw him I thought, "man, this kid can do some really good things for us on our side of the ball." So, I went over and asked the head coach, who was the offensive coordinator, if Cristian was going to start for him because I was watching him against our guys and he ran the best routes. You knew he was going to be really good, even as a freshmen. He said to us that he already had some older guys, and while he would play, he probably wouldn't start. So, I told him that I think he can start at safety for us. I remember them thinking I was crazy, but as soon as we got him over to our side of the ball, sure, he made some mistakes, but the biggest thing is that he always kept his head up and kept going. He did some great things for us our first year and just kept growing and getting better into his sophomore year.
Related: Cristian Driver opens up about commitment to Penn State
Snyder: Any stories you can share from your time with Cristian? Any impact moments or off the field stories you can share? He's told me a few times that you and him are close.
Ruiz: During his freshman year, we were playing in the semifinals, and he's playing against a team that beat us in the regular season. In fact, that team was actually up at halftime against us 42-0 [during the regular season]. That year, they had that tight end, Austin Stogner, who's at Oklahoma now. So, we're playing Prestonwood again in the semifinals and I told Cristian that game that he had to be the one that covered Austin. I told him that nobody else can compete with him the way you compete. So, we're talking about a senior versus a freshman, and he ended up holding Austin to one catch, zero touchdowns and we won the game 24-21 in the semifinals. So, if that doesn't tell you what type of kid he is nothing does.
Snyder: He could play wide receiver or safety at the next level, so what's your opinion there?
Ruiz: So, what I love about Cristian as a safety is that he has great hands and great hips. He's like an offensive player when he's on defense because he reacts downhill at the ball and is a playmaker. He goes up and gets it. He understands how routes are being run, all of that. That advantage that he had from the defensive side of the ball was huge because he's not afraid and is aggressive. Cristian was always the best player on the field. He is the best player on the field all the time. Those traits are also great on offense. He's gonna run a better route than everybody else. He didn't play that much offense for us the first two years, but when we would sub him out [in practice], he'd go take second-team reps at receiver, and oftentimes that's when we just subbed him out, so it would still be against out first-team defense. He wants to master everything. He wanted to be the best at [receiver], too. It's just the type of kid he is. With me being more so on the defensive side of the ball, yeah, I think he's a great safety, but to be honest with you, if he wants to play wide receiver, I have no doubts that he'll be a great receiver, too.
Snyder: Do you remember any testing numbers from your time with Cristian? He hasn't done many camps, so I was wondering if you remembered any of those.
Ruiz: I remember when he was either a freshman or a sophomore, we had a laser timer and he ran a 4.48. I remember coach rounding it up to a 4.5 because he didn't want Cristian to get too hyped up on that run, although he's not really the kind of kid who would do that anyway. His vertical is also very impressive. He's consistently reached 40 and even 41 inches. Both of those have probably improved since, but I remember those numbers when he was a freshman or a sophomore.
Related: 10 things to know following Crisitan Driver's commitment to PSU
Snyder: What can you share about Cristian in the classroom? He seems like a very bright young man when I speak with him.
Ruiz: So, when he was freshman, he struggled a little bit academically. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't failing or anything like that, but he was getting C's and B's more than A's and B's, and he's a very driven person. I remember him coming to us, asking how he can better himself academically. Just that alone is very impressive from a young man his age. But anyway, I ran a study hall in the morning and invited him to that. He started coming everyday and he's done that for the past three years now. I love that he goes out and looks for help, and he's not afraid to tell guys that they're not doing well. He'll tell those guys to come meet him in the morning so we can work hard on academics. I love that about him.
Snyder: So, last thing, what's he like in the weight room? In the locker room? How does he lead?
Ruiz: When it comes to working out, nobody works harder than that young man. Out of all the years and all the guys that I've coached, and I got tons of guys in college, I've never seen a young man work as hard as that kid. He'll get up before everybody else and get in a workout before he gets into our team workouts. Honestly, the only issue we've ever had is our strength coach asking him to slow it down a little bit because he's working too hard. But yeah, he leads by example. On the field, he knows everybody's job. He wants to make sure everybody's doing it the right way. He takes that to heart. Being the safety, I've always told him that, since you're back here, you're calling the shots. You got to make sure we're all lined up correctly because you're our last line of defense. He takes that to heart and makes sure he knows everybody's job. He's always checking up on guys, calling them when they're late, making sure they're watching film. He does all the little things.
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