MADISON, Wis. — Nolan Vils had just finished class and arrived at Wisconsin’s football facility to change for practice on the last Monday in September when he answered a phone call from his mom, Neisha, and knew instantly that something was wrong.

He remembers hearing her sobbing in the background, remembers his sister, Kylie, speaking into the phone and saying something about dad. Then, Nolan went numb as a wave of shock and disbelief overtook him. Justin Vils, the man whom Nolan considered to be his Superman, his role model, his everything, had died unexpectedly at age 50.

“That was pretty much my worst nightmare come true,” Nolan said.

Nolan recalled that moment Tuesday after practice while sitting on a bench overlooking the field in Camp Randall Stadium. He wanted to make it clear that the mere idea of him wearing a Badgers uniform, let alone him developing into a dependable rotation player on the defensive line in his fourth season, were products of his dad’s encouragement and the work ethic Nolan said he learned from him along the way. He intends on carrying those lessons with him for the duration of his college career and beyond.

“My dad has definitely been my hero my whole life,” Nolan said. “Just the dad he was, the husband he was, I’ve always wanted to be just like him. Even more so as I’ve gotten older, as I’ve gotten to college, just seeing the way he’s treated my mom and treated us kids, it really stood out to me.

“He was the hardest working man I’ve ever known. He’s the strongest man I’ve ever known.”

Nolan said he began to emulate the traits he admired about his dad at a young age. They spent hours together in the yard at their home in Prairie du Sac, Wis., which backed up to open woods. They chopped fallen trees, hauled brush and stacked firewood. Nolan helped Justin, a longtime plumber, break up concrete and dig a trench from the house through the yard to reach the garden so Justin could lay plumbing pipes underground. The message Justin relayed was simple: Work for what you want.

Justin was an avid hunter who would travel every winter to Colorado to elk hunt. Although Nolan’s time was occupied by school and sports, he still made sure each year to go white-tailed deer hunting with his dad. Nolan recalled that, on their last occasion in a tree stand together, they each came home with their own deer.

They would often quote lines from movies that they watched together, laughing at the ridiculousness of Justin’s favorite Will Ferrell films: Step Brothers, Anchorman, Talladega Nights. Justin loved Westerns, so they would sit and watch Clint Eastwood movies. They owned box sets of the Mission Impossible series because Justin enjoyed action films, and they watched them all.

Nolan said he believed he had a uniquely close relationship with his dad, whose support through Nolan’s pursuits never wavered. Justin would drive Nolan across the state for football camps, as well as baseball and wrestling clinics. He never missed one of Nolan’s wrestling matches, a sport they bonded over through the years.

Nolan Vils says his dad supported him in all of his sporting pursuits. (Photo courtesy of Nolan Vils)

Justin was a standout wrestler at Sauk Prairie High School and had his name on the wall of honor in the wrestling room as a state qualifier. Nolan fulfilled one of his childhood dreams by qualifying for state as a junior and finishing fourth with a 46-6 record. Both of their names are now on the wall of honor.

“Practicing in that room every day, I could just look up and see his name on the wall,” Nolan said. “That was always a motivation for me. I wanted to get my name on the same board as him just so that’s kind of immortalized.”

But Nolan possessed a passion for pursuing football in college. He originally committed to Division II Augustana University in South Dakota before his senior season. He played well as a senior, earning Badger Small Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year honors as a nose guard.

Minnesota and Wisconsin invited him on gameday visits in November 2022 after his season and offered him a preferred walk-on opportunity. Nolan, who had a cumulative 3.7 grade-point average and a combined athletic and academic scholarship to Augustana, decided after experiencing the Camp Randall Stadium atmosphere that he wanted to be a Badger and fulfill another dream he had while growing up just 30 miles away.

The following day, Wisconsin announced the hiring of Luke Fickell as its next coach. Nolan said he was unsure if a new coaching staff would honor his walk-on opportunity. When he received a call from new defensive coordinator Mike Tressel around Christmastime, Nolan asked if he would receive a fair shot.

“I didn’t know if they still treated walk-ons like they used to, if they really gave them chances,” Nolan said. “I didn’t want to be just a practice dummy. But I’m really glad that they told me that if I put the work in, I’d have a shot.”

It didn’t come easily. Nolan arrived at Wisconsin as a 6-foot-2 defensive lineman weighing 265 pounds. He did not play at all during his first two seasons in 2023 and 2024, as he increased his weight to 271 pounds and then 285 pounds. He frequented Chipotle and ordered double chicken and double steak burritos to eventually bulk up to 300 pounds. Even after all that work, he was buried on the depth chart last season after Wisconsin brought in transfer portal defensive linemen to play. Nolan appeared in eight games and played a total of 34 snaps. Still, he commanded the respect of his teammates and coaches.

“He never complained,” said Badgers wide receiver Chris Brooks Jr., a fifth-year team captain. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him upset about his situation. I remember he was on scout the first few years as a walk-on. He was getting beat up by the linemen every day and not saying anything. You’ve got other guys who came in with him who’d complain all the time and were upset about things and upset about their role.

“You never saw that quit in him about, ’Things aren’t going great for me and I’m going to look for the way out.’ He continued to grind. It’s been really cool to see how much he’s given. I just hope that we can continue to give him as much back as he’s given to this place because he deserves it.”

Nolan Vils (right) has developed into a respected leader and a dependable player for Wisconsin. (Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics)

Nolan said there were moments when he questioned whether he made the right decision to play at Wisconsin. Should he have stayed with Augustana? Should he have considered a transfer somewhere else in a lower division? It was in those times when he turned to his dad for the reinforcement he needed.

“I definitely owe a lot of my success to him because he was my biggest fan, my biggest supporter my entire life,” Nolan said. “Whenever I was feeling down or I started doubting myself, I always knew that I could give him a call and that he would restore some confidence in myself because he was confident in me. He had confidence that I belonged here and that being a walk-on wouldn’t hold me back.”

Nolan, whom teammates affectionately refer to as “Big Red,” continued to work for an opportunity. He regularly stayed after practice last season to hone technique with his hands against a tackle sled with teammate Darryl Peterson. He put on a few more pounds in the offseason. He was placed on a full scholarship and, despite Wisconsin adding four transfer portal defensive linemen in the offseason, has broken through into the rotation. Fickell described him as a “grown man now” with an ability to continue playing more.  

Nolan has 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, which are tied for the most among Wisconsin’s defensive linemen this season. He recorded a career-high five tackles in Wisconsin’s third game against Eastern Michigan. The next game, Nolan played 14 snaps and recorded a tackle as Wisconsin pulled off a miraculous 24-20 upset victory at Penn State in one of the program’s most improbable wins in decades.

Justin watched the game on television. He congratulated Nolan afterward in a phone conversation. The two had spoken so much in recent weeks about the future. Nolan said that, just last month, Justin finally decided to go into business for himself after years of talking about it. He was proud to call the business Vils Plumbing and offered Nolan a spot to work alongside him whenever he was ready — something Nolan said he had been strongly considering.

In their last phone conversation, Nolan said he was looking forward to attending a Metallica concert next June at Camp Randall Stadium and wanted his dad to go with him. Justin agreed. They hung up. Two days later, Justin passed away.

Nolan posted a tribute on his Instagram account with the caption: “You were my hero. I’ll miss you forever. Rest in peace, Dad.” There were a series of photos through the years of them on hunting trips, at wrestling meets, at graduation and posing alongside Neisha on the field with Nolan a member of the Badgers team.

Nolan Vils poses with his parents on Wisconsin’s football practice field. (Photo courtesy of Nolan Vils)

Nolan said that, after learning about his dad’s passing from his mom and sister, he dialed defensive line coach E.J. Whitlow, who immediately left his office and came down to give Nolan a hug. Nolan broke down in tears. He drove home to be with his family that day and didn’t know when he would return to the team.

But the pull of football, of being around his teammates and finding a sense of normalcy, brought him back to Madison on Wednesday night for team meetings. Nolan then played a season-high 23 snaps during Wisconsin’s 31-3 victory against Michigan State and recorded two tackles.

Nolan’s Wisconsin teammates have tried to rally around him. Outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks, whose dad, Darryl, died in 2022 two weeks before Cheeks left for college, immediately texted Nolan after learning of his dad’s death. He made sure to find Nolan in the locker room upon his return, give him a hug and tell him that he would be there for him.

“I just have so much love for that guy, his work ethic,” Cheeks said. “He showed up a week later and was already back with the team saying this is what makes him happy. This is what is going to bring him light.”

Added Brooks Jr.: “We all made sure that we gave him encouraging words of just like saying, ’We’re here.’ We just want to have his back during this time.”

A visitation was held for Justin this past Saturday at a Prairie du Sac elementary school, followed by a brief service and a celebration of life ceremony. Wisconsin did not play a game during its lone bye week, and Nolan joined his older sister and younger brother, Marshall, in sharing stories about their dad. Nolan said he told a story at the ceremony about how, when he was a kid, he really believed his dad was Superman. Afterward, Nolan returned to campus to begin preparations for Wisconsin’s game against No. 12 UCLA on Saturday at Rose Bowl Stadium.

Nolan said he believes his dad would have wanted him to continue playing. Although Justin wrestled, he wasn’t allowed to play football and baseball growing up because his parents needed him to work and help around the house. That experience left an impression on Justin and is why he often told Nolan: “You’re going to have to work the rest of your life, so you might as well play sports while you can. Take advantage of the time you have.”

Nolan said Whitlow talks with players in his room about their “why” for playing football. Nolan used to say it was because his dad wasn’t able to play growing up. Nolan also wanted to see how far he could go himself.

But as Nolan stared across Camp Randall Stadium into a future without his dad physically by his side, he knew his answer had changed to take on a more significant meaning.

“Now my why is definitely just to keep making him proud,” Nolan said. “I know he’d want me to keep going. It’s a little more real now, that I really want to do it for him because he’s gone.”

(Top photo of Nolan Vils courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics)