For Jake Molinich, it’s always been football.
Football is in his blood. His older brother Glynn played. His younger brother Wyatt played. His dad coached.
Growing up playing football through elementary school and middle school, that next level was always in his sights because it was sitting at his dinner table. His dad coached at the local high school, Pittsford Sutherland in Pittsford, New York.
From a very young age, he and both brothers had their eye on playing for their father, and this drove them to be their very best. Then, by the time they got to his squad, they were ready to take things to the next level.
“It’s great getting coached by your father. You also get the other side where he’s going to coach you twice as hard,” Molinich said.
“That’s good for you. It’s good for your player development and learning the game – not ever taking the easy road. You’re getting coached to the fullest potential and kind of seeing how it should be done every day.”
That work clearly paid off, as Jake and each of his brothers went on to play at the local D1 University at Buffalo. Jake was lucky enough to get the chance to play with each of them, playing both the big and little brother roles.
“I got to see both sides. I got to be the little brother being showed the ropes and then vice versa, getting to be the older brother and showing the younger brother the ropes,” he said.
“That was a really special experience and something we all kind of cherish and talk about all the time.”
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A Rare Breed
Throughout his playing career, Molinich was always a bit of an odd fit. He was a bit shorter than your average pass catcher at just 6-1. However, his athleticism and work ethic in the weight room always gave him the abilities he needed to compete with anyone.
As a result, he wound up playing fullback in high school, taking more of a blocking role. With that position being used less at the higher levels, Molinich had to adapt his unique skill set to fit.
“You don’t you don’t see a ton of them [fullbacks] nowadays. At Buffalo, I didn’t really use a true fullback that much,” Molinich explained.
“As I progressed and made my way with, I started playing some blocking tight end and all that kind of stuff. I got to do a lot of different things, which is very cool and great to learn. I got to do different things like behind the ball, in a wing, split out as a receiver, you know, being up in the ‘I’ in short yardage.”
At Buffalo, he moved from the backfield to the offensive line. Working as a tight end, he kept his role of primarily blocking but, due to his size and experience, afforded the team lots of options.
Being smaller and faster, he was able to do things the larger, clunkier tight ends would not have been able to do. Then, by his final year, they began using him in other creative offensive ways—including having him participate in both the pass-catching and rushing games.
While his unique size, position, and abilities made him an asset at the college level, they also made it harder for him later on. As he looked forward to football after college, he needed to stand out. With fewer fullbacks being used at the professional level, he needed to make his pro-day numbers truly outstanding.
Thanks to some help from his strength and conditioning coach at Buffalo, James Heiss, his pro day was a big success and his professional career began with a mini-camp invitation with the New York Giants.
Arena Football and Beyond
Although the mini-camp invitation didn’t result in a contract, Molinich learned a lot along the way. He got good reps against high-level competition and gained confidence that he could do this at the next level.
Molinich spent the next calendar year in XFL camp and coaching high school in Buffalo alongside his brother – always staying ready in case the phone rang with another opportunity. The phone did ring, but it was regarding something he didn’t know anything about.
“I got a call from my agent talking about the Arena Football League coming back. And I go, ‘I don’t really know anything about that,” he said with a chuckle.
“I had a teammate from high school that played in the IFL. So I was like, ‘Well, I know he played indoor football, so let me give him a call and see what it’s all about.”
After getting rave reviews about the game, Molinich signed with the Albany Firebirds and the fit was better than he ever imagined. Not only did he jive well with the coaching staff and teammates, but Molinich’s style of play fit perfectly into the indoor game.
“It definitely helps me out. The indoor having a smaller field, you have to be a little bit more contained and have to block more,” he said.
“It definitely helps being a fullback-sized kind of guy – like a bigger running back, but smaller than the o-line.”
It’s a fit that he’s really enjoyed, as have the Firebirds. His work in the backfield has helped to lead them to Saturday’s contest with a ticket to the ArenaBowl on the line.
Although his focus is solely on delivering a championship to the city of Albany, this season’s experience has also given him confidence that he can compete at the professional level and maybe make it to the biggest stage of them all.
“The goal is always to get to the highest level. The goal is always the NFL,” he shared.
“But I’m just kind of taking things day-by-day – growing and trying to get better at the things. I don’t really know where it’ll take me, but I’m going to continue to train, to get better, and see where this journey goes.”
