For many athletes, tearing their ulnar collateral ligament and requiring Tommy John surgery marks the end of a career.

For Nevada’s Jack Foster, it sparked the start of his.

The Wolf Pack’s starting left tackle was a baseball player growing up in Boise, and a promising one at that. Now standing 6-foot-6, Foster was a high-potential pitcher until tearing that crucial elbow ligament as a sophomore at Bishop Kelly High.

“I was very bummed,” Foster said. “I love to pitch and I love baseball. It’s kind of my first love for sports.”

But that injury paved Foster’s path from the pitching mound to the gridiron. Coaches had been trying to get him to shift to football since he reached high school, drooling over his size and length. But Foster resisted until his baseball injury. Out with the arm ailment, Foster joined his school’s JV football as a junior, doing so at wide receiver. As a senior, he made his varsity debut, initially at defensive line.

“I started the first two games at D-line and I was pretty horrible at it,” Foster said. “They saw something in me on O-line, so I played right tackle for the last seven or so games of my senior year.”

Despite being a three-sport star who also excelled in basketball and was a state champion in baseball, Foster didn’t have much tape to show colleges. His football film was limited to just a handful of games, so he was going to have to take the hard route in college. Foster committed to Carroll College, an NAIA school in Helena, Mont., until getting a late call. It was from Idaho, a rising FCS program that was willing to buy low on Foster’s potential.

“I didn’t get the Idaho offer until signing day,” said Foster, who had been committed to Carroll College for three months before the late flip.

A zero-star recruit out of high school, Foster unsurprisingly needed some develop time, blooming from a 240-pound project into a 300-pound punisher. He redshirted in 2022, playing just two games, before bumping up to six games played in 2023. Last year, he was a full-time starter for Idaho as the Vandals reached the FCS quarterfinals for the second straight season under coach Jason Eck, who accepted the New Mexico job this offseason.

But instead of following Eck to that wolf-themed Mountain West school, Foster picked the Wolf Pack of Nevada rather than the Lobos of New Mexico after entering the transfer portal last offseason. Foster’s high school coach, Tim Brennan, was his connection point to Nevada with Brennan having a relationship with Wolf Pack coach Jeff Choate.

“That was a crazy process,” said Foster, adding a spot at New Mexico was on the table. “But I actually had a connection with Coach Choate from a high school coach who helped him get his start at Boise State back in the day. Coach Choate and Coach (Mike) Lynch, they really had a great vision for me and I felt like they really believed in me and saw something in me here, so that’s ultimately why I decided to come here.”

Foster has wasted no time making an impact with the Wolf Pack, earning the team’s starting left tackle job, one of the most important roles on the team. He’s helped pave the way for back-to-back 200-yard rushing games for Nevada and has set the standard for the kind of work ethic the Wolf Pack is looking for in its players.

“The immediate things that come to mind about Jack is phenomenal teammate, one of the hardest workers in the program and has authentic leadership ability,” Choate said. “I think those three things make him a guy that we can lean on as the year goes on and as his career goes on. He loves ball, he’s inquisitive, soaks up information. He’s in here all the time watching extra tape, works his tail off in the weight room. He builds relationships and then leans into those relationships to lead, which I think is very mature on his part. He has been a phenomenal asset for us.”

Added defensive end Dylan LaBarbera: “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met.”

And fellow defensive end Jonathan Maldonado: “He’s a dog.”

Running back Ky Woods recalled seeing Foster work out by himself at Mackay Stadium this summer to improve his footwork, with the big offensive lineman in the running for most hours logged at Cashell Fieldhouse this season.

“He’s always at the facility,” Woods said. “If you come to the facility early or if you’re leaving late, you’re going to see Jack in the training room stretching, doing some extra work. You can see that he’s been working on his game this season. He’s been killing people.”

Defensive tackle Thomas Witte said his favorite thing about Foster is the fact he calls out Nevada’s top defensive players for one-on-one drills, taking on the toughest challenge possible so he can get better. Foster doesn’t cut corners as he’s angled for any edge that will make him better. Choate has been pleased with the Wolf Pack offensive line’s physicality this season, and much of that starts with Foster.

“He’s got the ability to be an all-conference type of player,” Choate said. “He’s a better athlete than you think. He knows what his deficiencies are and he works on them constantly in terms of hip and ankle flexion and mobility. High football IQ. He’s got that leadership ability, which if your best leaders and your toughest guys are on your O-line, you’re gonna have a chance to win a lot of football games. And if they’re not, you’re probably not going to be very good. I’m excited to see the mindset that is being developed in that room where it’s, ‘Lean on us and we’ll get it done.'”

Foster’s first college start last year with Idaho was at Oregon with his Wolf Pack debut last month at Penn State. Foster said it was fun to test his skills against future NFL players in those games because playing at that level is his ultimate goal. With this just his sixth season playing football, he can feel himself getting better.

“I feel like I still have a lot to learn and I feel that I’ve learned so much in my time here,” Foster said. “If you talk to my coaches and compare how I looked when I got here versus how I look now, I’ve really improved. I feel the coaching here has been tremendous, teaching me a lot of new things, how to play more physical, how to use my size, athleticism and length. I came in as a pretty fresh slate. I feel like I’ve learned a lot and still have a lot to learn. I feel like I’m nowhere near my potential, so I’m just excited to see where I can take this, honestly.”

Now several years removed from an injury that changed his life, Foster can be thankful he tore his ulnar collateral ligament despite the pain it caused in the moment.

“I was a decent pitcher,” Foster said with a smile. “But I feel like I’m a little bit better football player than I was a pitcher.”

Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.