Several area players among Dayton football’s 32-man 2024 recruiting class

“It was good because we knew most of these guys for a longer period of time and got to really develop relationships with them,” Andrews said Friday. “I’m still amazed what we’re able to get here last year in such a short time. We identified the right guys. I’m excited about what those guys can do.”

A change in Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms added a new wrinkle for 2024.

“We had a lot of guys that were interested,” Andrews said, “and we just didn’t have the financial details that we could present to them until January, so that made it tough. But we were able to work through it. Our admissions and financial aid departments helped out. Once we started rolling, we got rolling pretty good there.”

Dayton finished 4-7 overall and 2-6 in the Pioneer Football League in Andrews’ first season. It ended the season on a high note with a 45-14 victory at Davidson.

Dayton had a 30-man class in 2022, the last season for head coach Rick Chamberlin. The 2021 class had 26 players. Dayton had 45 recruits in 2020, 35 recruits in 2019, 26 in 2018, 35 in 2017 and 38, 36, 38 and 28 players in the previous seasons.

The Dayton coaches didn’t focus on any one position group this year.

“We looked at taking a little bit of everything,” Andrews said. “You try to focus on areas where you may be a little bit thinner. Linemen are always going to be at a premium at any level. So you’ve got to really commit to recruiting those guys on both sides of the ball. We’re really focused on recruiting length and speed and athleticism at every position. I think we were able to hit on that. Then I also like to take guys that were athletes in high school. A lot of times, coaches will put their best players at quarterback, and they might not be a college quarterback, but then those guys kind of get overlooked in the recruiting process. We signed four quarterbacks, but two of those guys can play other positions right away. That’s one of the things that we talked to them about during the recruiting process. You can maybe steal a good athlete that way.”

Among the recruits are several local seniors.

• Charlie Olds is an offensive lineman from Bellbrook.

“Great kid,” Andrews said. “Going to be an engineering student here.”

• Tight end Bryce Cowgill was a team captain at Centerville High School as a senior and caught seven touchdown passes.

“You recruit these guys, and you watch all this film,” Andrews said. “You like guys that stand out on their film. He’s fun to watch.”

• Sam Mitchell, a linebacker from Vandalia Butler, is the brother of Luke Mitchell, who appeared in all 11 games last season as a redshirt freshman safety for the Flyers.

“Sam’s a little bit bigger version of his brother Luke,” Andrews said.

Dayton starts spring practices March 1. Andrews expects to add two more 2024 recruits soon.

The program also picked up one player from the transfer portal: Jadyn Nirschl, a 6-foot-1, 207-pound quarterback from DeLand, Fla. He’s a graduate transfer from Northwest Missouri State and has two years of eligibility remaining.

Dayton lost quarterback Dante Casciola, who shared the job at the beginning of the season with Cole Dow, to the transfer portal. He’ll play for Randolph-Macon College next year.

Andrews prefers to focus on adding freshman instead of building the roster through the portal.

“I prefer to do it the old-school way and bring in young men who are 18 and develop them,” he said. “I think this is one of the last true places where you can actually do that. You bring them in. They work hard. They earn their playing time. You develop them, and they move through your program. They graduate ,and they go off into the world and you follow them all the way through. I want to hang on to that philosophy as long as I can.

“We’ll add a transfer if we feel there’s a spot where we need to solidify something, add some depth or bring in somebody to compete for a starting job. But I don’t want to live in the portal because we’ve got a really good thing going here with a culture on our team, and sometimes if you start adding stuff, you can mess with that. I’m a loyal guy. I want to be loyal to our guys as much as possible.”

Dayton football 2024 recruiting class

• Ryan Barker, OL, 6-5, 255, Westfield High School (Ind.): Team captain; two-time all-county; team captain 2023; and academic all-state 2023.

• Declan Boutross, OL, 6-4, 335, Evanston Township High School (Ill.): Team captain 2023; and Marty Leoni Award Recipient.

• Tyler Brown, RB/ATH, 5-11, 180, Lothian, Md. 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, Ill., Lemont High School: team captain; Two-year varsity letterwinner; Team reached state semifinals in 2023

• Parker Chaney, DB/ATH 5-11, 205, Lexington Christian Academy (Ky.): Four-time varsity letterwinner; played on two state runner-up teams; first-team all-district 2023; and all-State honorable mention.

• Austin Cline, QB/ATH, 6-3, 210, East Liverpool, Beaver Local High School: team captain; 9,140 total offensive yards, 114 touchdowns; Buckeye 8 Champion 2022; first-team all-conference 2023; and four-year letterwinner.

• Brady Courtney, OL, 6-4, 270, Chicago, Ill., St. Rita High School: first team all-conference 2023; conference champion 2022; and only allowed one sack during his senior season.

• Bryce Cowgill, TE , 6-4, 225, Centerville High School: team captain; three-year letterwinner; two-time all-Greater Western Ohio Conference; and 45 receptions for 449 yards and seven touchdowns.

• Gus Dammann, DL, 6-1, 250, Arlington Heights, Ill., John Hersey High School: All-conference 2023; all-area honorable mention 2023; and two-time team captain.

• Dillion Fitzpatrick, RB, 5-9, 210, Lake, Ill., 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 Priory School (Mo.): First team all-dfistrict 2023; first team all-metro 2023; and team captain 2023.

• Josh Grambo, DE, 6-2, 230, Chardon, Notre Dame Cathedral Latin: Team captain; second team all-Ohio; three-time All-Crown Conference; and 44 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, eight sacks, one fumble recovery as a senior.

• Emmanuel Hardrick, DB, 6-0, 170, Damascus, Md., Damascus High School: First-Team all-Montgomery County; Team Defensive Player of the Year.

• Trevor Henkle, K/P, 5-8, 170, Zionsville Community High School (Ind.) 6A all-state 2023; first team all-conference 2023; and All-USA Central Indiana HS Football Super Team honorable mention 2023.

• Drew Jennings, OL/DL, 6-3, 240, Naperville North High School (Ill.): First-team all-conference 2023; Naperville Sun Football all-Area team 2023; and team captain 2023.

• Leroy Lewis IV, WR, 5-9, 185, Indianapolis, Ind., Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School: Team captain; all-county 2023; all-conference 2023; academic all-state 2023; and state championship runner-up 2023.

• Steven McCalmont, DB, 6-1, 175, Mason High School: First team all-conference; second team all-city; 45 tackles, two interceptions; and Best DB Award as a senior.

• Nolan McCullough, QB, 6-1, 190, Osceola, Ind., Penn High School: team captain; all-conference 2023; all-State 2023; four-time Athlete of the Week; and two-time sectional champion.

• Sam Mitchell, LB, 6-2, 200, 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; and all-District honorable mention 2022.

• Charlie Olds, OL, 6-4, 260, Bellbrook High School: Team captain; first team all-Conference 2023; first team all-District 2023; and all-Ohio honorable mention 2023.

• Vito Paonessa, DL, 6-5, 300, Kent, Tallmadge High School: first team all-conference; first team all-district; and all-state honorable mention.

• Julian Patti, QB, 6-2, 205, Rocky River High School: team captain; three-sport athlete (football, basketball, baseball); first team all-Ohio; and GLC Player of the Year.

• Kyler Paul, LB , 6-0, 220, Cincinnati Moeller High School: Team captain; All-Ohio 2023; 117 tackles, 4.5 sacks, three fumbles forced; Greater Catholic League Linebacker of the Year; and 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; special teams player of the year as a senior; and second team all-WCAC as a punter.

• Zane Plattner, DL, 6-5, 250, Cincinnati, Turpin High School: 2023 first team All-Eastern Cincinnati Conference; first team All-Cincinnati; second team All-Southwest District; and team captain.

• Filip Rolek, DL, 6-3, 220, Palatine High School (Ill.): team captain; two-time first team all-conference and all-area; conference defensive player of year; and two-time conference champion.

• Thomas Thakady, LS , 5-11, 200, Farmington Hills, Mich., North Farmington High School: scholar athlete award and special teams award; and three-year varsity letterwinner.

• Grayson Thomas, RB, 6-0, 185, New Palestine High School (Ind.): team captain; four-time All-Hancock County, 4x All-Hoosier Heritage Conference; all-state 2023, and Indy Star Super Team 2023.

• Dante Varrasso, WR, 6-0, 170, Granville High School: team captain; league defensive back of the year; first-aeam all-Ohio (senior year), and two-time first team all-district and all-league.

• Alex Walton, OL, 6-3, 300, West Bloomfield High School (Mich.): team captain; two-year letterwinner; second team conference; second team all-area; and conference champion in wrestling.

• Rob Wierzbicki, OL, 6-3, 275, Novi, Mich., Detroit Catholic Central High School: Captain; Unsung Hero Award winner; and 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: all-conference; led his team to the Illinois state semifinals; team captain; and passed for 2,410 yards and 29 TDs as a senior.