Dayton football announces 2024 recruiting class
University of Dayton head football coach Trevor Andrews has announced his second recruiting class. Andrews and his staff have added 32 incoming freshmen for the 2024 season.
"I am excited to announce our 2024 recruiting class today," Andrews said. "The University of Dayton attracts quality student-athletes and our coaching staff did an outstanding job identifying, recruiting and ultimately signing some really great prospects. We are looking forward to seeing them on the practice field in August.
"This is a very balanced and versatile recruiting class across all areas. We were able to add quality size and explosiveness along the lines, and the perimeter ‘skill’ position players coming in are both talented and multi-faceted.
"The Flyers got better and deeper today for sure. We are still in the processes of finalizing our class with one or two more special players but all in all, I feel really good about the young men we are adding to our program."
2024 University of Dayton Football Recruits
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown / High School
• Ryan Barker OL 6-5 255 Westfield, Indiana / Westfield High School
—Team captain; Two-time All-County; Team Captain 2023; Academic All-State 2023
• Declan Boutross OL 6-4 335 Evanston, Illinois / Evanston Township High School
—Team Captain 2023; Marty Leoni Award Recipient
• Tyler Brown RB/ATH 5-11 180 Lothian, Maryland / Northern High School
—All-State 2023; All-Region 2023; All-County 2023; 1,487 rushing yards as a senior
• AJ Carlson TE 6-2 235 Lemont, Illinois / Lemont High School
—Team captain; Two-year varsity letterwinner; Team reached state semifinals in 2023
• Parker Chaney DB/ATH 5-11 205 Lexington, Kentucky / Lexington Christian Academy
—Four-time varsity letterwinner; Played on two state runner-up teams; First-Team All-District 2023; All-State Honorable Mention
• Austin Cline QB/ATH 6-3 210 East Liverpool, Ohio / Beaver Local High School
—Team captain; 9,140 total offensive yards, 114 TD; Buckeye 8 Champion 2022; First-Team All-Conference 2023; Four-year letterwinner
• Brady Courtney OL 6-4 270 Chicago, Illinois / St. Rita High School
—First Team All-Conference 2023; Conference champion 2022; Only allowed one sack during his senior season
• Bryce Cowgill TE 6-4 225 Centerville, Ohio / Centerville High School
—Team captain; Three-year letterwinner; Two Time All-GWOC; 45 receptions for 449 yards and seven touchdowns
• Gus Dammann DL 6-1 250 Arlington Heights, Illinois / John Hersey High School
—All Conference 2023; All-Area Honorable Mention 2023; Two-time team captain
• Dillion Fitzpatrick RB 5-9 210 Lake, Illinois / Barrington High School
—All Area 2022-2023, All-Conference 2022-2023, Offense MVP 2022-2023, Team Captain 2023; All-State Academic 2022-2023
• Drew Flaherty OT 6-10 320 Saint Louis, Missouri / Saint Louis Priory School
—First Team All-District 2023; First Team All-Metro 2023; Team Captain 2023
• Josh Grambo DE 6-2 230 Chardon, Ohio / Notre Dame Cathedral Latin
—Team captain; Second Team All-Ohio; Three-time All-Crown Conference; 44 tackles, 15 TFL, 8 sacks, one fumble recovery as a senior
• Emmanuel Hardrick DB 6-0 170 Damascus, Maryland / Damascus High School
—First-Team All-Montgomery County; Team Defensive Player of the Year
• Trevor Henkle K/P 5-8 170 Zionsville, Indiana / Zionsville Community High School
—Indiana 6A All-State 2023; First Team All-Conference 2023; All-USA Central Indiana HS Football Super Team Honorable Mention 2023
• Drew Jennings OL/DL 6-3 240 Naperville, Illinois / Naperville North High School
—All DVC First-Team All-Conference 2023; Naperville Sun Football All-Area Team 2023; Team Captain 2023
• Leroy Lewis IV WR 5-9 185 Indianapolis, Indiana / Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School
—Team captain; All-County 2023; All-Conference 2023; Academic All-State 2023; State Championship Runner-Up 2023
• Steven McCalmont DB 6-1 175 Mason, Ohio / Mason High School
—First Team All-Conference; Second Team All-City; 45 tackles, two interceptions; Best DB Award as a senior
• Nolan McCullough QB 6-1 190 Osceola, Indiana / Penn High School
—Team captain; All-Conference 2023; All-State 2023; Four-Time Athlete of the Week; Two-Time Sectional Champion
• Sam Mitchell LB 6-2 200 Dayton, Ohio / Vandalia Butler High School
—Team captain; First Team All-State 2023, First Team All-District 2023, First Team All-League 2023, Second Team All-League 2022 All-District HM 2022
• Charlie Olds OL 6-4 260 Dayton, Ohio / Bellbrook High School
—Team captain; First Team All-Conference 2023, First Team All-District 2023, All-Ohio Honorable Mention 2023
• Vito Paonessa DL 6-5 300 Kent, Ohio / Tallmadge High School
—First Team All-Conference 2023; First Team All-District; All-State Honorable Mention
• Julian Patti QB 6-2 205 Rocky River, Ohio / Rocky River High School
—Team captain; Three-sport athlete (football, basketball, baseball); First Team All-Ohio; GLC Player of the Year
• Kyler Paul LB 6-0 220 Cincinnati, Ohio / Moeller High School
—Team captain; All-Ohio 2023; 117 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 3 fumbles forced; GCL Linebacker of the Year; Moeller Football Man of The Year
• Santiago Perez La Costa P/K 6-0 200 Chantilly, Va. / St. Paul VI High School
—Three-year letterwinner; Named Team's Special Teams Player of the Year as a senior; Second Team All-WCAC as a punter
• Zane Plattner DL 6-5 250 Cincinnati, Ohio / Turpin High School
—2023 First Team All-Eastern Cincinnati Conference; First Team All-Cincinnati; Second Team All-Southwest District; Team Captain
• Filip Rolek DL 6-3 220 Palatine, Illinois / Palatine High School
—Team captain; Two-Time First Team All-Conference; Two-Time First Team All-Area; Conference DPOY; Two-Time Conference Champion
• Thomas Thakady LS 5-11 200 Farmington Hills, Michigan / North Farmington High School
—2023-24 Scholar athlete award and special teams award; Three-year varsity letterwinner
• Grayson Thomas RB 6-0 185 New Palestine, Indiana / New Palestine High School
—Team captain; 4x All-Hancock County, 4x All-Hoosier Heritage Conference; IFCA 4A All-State 2023, IndyStar Super Team 2023
• Dante Varrasso WR 6-0 170 Granville, Ohio / Granville High School
—Team Captain; League Defensive Back of the Year; First Team All-Ohio (senior year), Two-time First Team All-District and All-League
• Alex Walton OL 6-3 300 West Bloomfield, Mich. / West Bloomfield High School
—Team captain; Two-year letterwinner; Second Team All-OAA Red; Second Team All-Area; Was a conference champion in wrestling
• Rob Wierzbicki OL 6-3 275 Novi, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central High School
—Captain; Unsung Hero Award winner; Ranked as a four-star rugby player and ranked seventh on Prep Rugby Watch
• Sean Winton QB 6-2 185 Elmhurst, Ill. / York High School
—WSC Silver All-Conference; Led his team to the Illinois state semifinals; Team captain; Passed for 2,410 yards and 29 TD as a senior.
The newest Flyers hail from eight states. There are 11 from Ohio, eight from Illinois, five from Indiana, three from Michigan, two from Maryland and one each from Kentucky, Missouri and Virginia. Seventeen are strictly offensive players, nine are strictly defensive players, three are athletes who could play on either side of the ball, and three are special teams players.
Twenty-five of the 32 members of this class were team captains.
Dayton was 4-7 in Andrews's first season, closing out the year with a 35-6 win at home over Marist and a 45-14 win at Davidson. The Flyers return 17 starters (nine offense, eight defense), including First Team All-Pioneer Football League center Dylan DeMaison and team MVP Ca'ron Coleman at strong safety.
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