Our Honor Defend

In the 13th installment of the Better Know A Buckeye feature that appears to be rather rapidly finishing up, I decided to start taking a look at the true prospects (in that sense of the word) in the 2008 class that most Buckeye fans probably know nothing about (in alphabetical order: DiLillo, Domicone, Johnson, Martin) before turning my attention to Garrett Goebel (who kind of stands out so far because I probably should’ve done him earlier and that he doesn’t really fit into the typology of the “what’s left to do in these features” question) before finishing up with the three commitments who were instrumental in making the Block O class one of the best in the country (DeVier Posey, Michael Brewster and Terrelle Pryor). Consistent with the Latin alphabet, and neatly coinciding with the most recent commitment in the 2009 class, I start with the lone tight end in the 2008 class. Nic DiLillo — of Madison HS in Madison, Ohio — had his own odyssey that brought him to Columbus, involving previous commitments to Clemson and Pittsburgh, before an offer from the Buckeyes brought him to his dream school.

Height: 6’5
Weight: 245lbs
Forty: 4.85
GPA: 3.4

His Recruitment: It’s only appropriate that one of the more peculiar recruiting stories in the Ohio State class this year got off to a rather inauspicious start. DiLillo was looking to be one of the top tight end prospects in Ohio in 2008, but it wasn’t enough to get the lifelong Buckeye an early offer. The Buckeyes were clearly looking at the position, but he happened to fall in the same class as Kevin Koger (Toledo Whitmer HS) and Kyle Rudolph (Elder HS), with the latter being one of the top tight end prospects in the country. Rudolph received an offer in early October 2006, eventually committing to Notre Dame in March 26, 2007. With Rudolph turning down the Bucks, the staff went after Koger as the second option Ohio TE target, offering a scholarship to him sometime around the turn of March into April. Koger turned down the Buckeyes offer, committing to the Wolvereenies in July 18, 2007. Though not about DiLillo, it’s worth noting Koger wanted to be in an offense that was going to better utilize the tight end. Given the changes in that program, I can’t help but find it a humorous anecdote.

Though the aforementioned tidbits on Koger and Rudolph jump a bit ahead in the timeline, it does serve as background information on why DiLillo, a pretty good tight end prospect, was not an early offer. The Buckeyes were in contact with DiLillo as early as December 2006, but with no offer coming for the meantime, DiLillo started looking around. Pitt was his first BCS offer, coming in December 2006. Syracuse was the next BCS offer, offering in February 2007. Offers followed through March, where DiLillo added universities like Kansas, Wisconsin, Clemson, Purdue and Maryland to his list for consideration. DiLillo had no early favourite and expressed interest in taking visits to all of them. Unofficial visits were tentatively planned at Clemson for Pittsburgh at the end of March and Clemson for the weekend of April 7.

His Commitment: From the “oh wait… … what?” department of recruiting news, Nic DiLillo issued his verbal to Clemson on the weekend of his unofficial. So what about Clemson prompted the verbal? In his words:

“I don’t know what it was about Clemson, but ever since I was a kid I wanted to play there … It was like a dream. When I was at Clemson, I said I have to commit right now. I wanted to do it face to face with coach Napier. My dad wasn’t there so that made it tougher, but we talked a few hours before. I’m from a small town and it will be an easy transition. Everything about it hit me and I liked it. I walked on the field (at Death Valley) and my blood started running, my adrenalin was rushing. It was just something about it.”

He would add in an interview with Scout:

“I gave Clemson my verbal commitment. I went down there on a visit and I felt comfortable and I felt at home. I felt a good vibe at Clemson.

“I liked the academics that Clemson has to offer¹. I liked the coaches and everyone made me feel like part of the family. Recruiting is a long haul. I’d say I’m 99.9 percent locked up with Clemson.

“Is there a scholarship offer out there that could make me change my mind? I don’t think so.”

The Buckeyes were looking to take at least one tight end in the 2008 class. With Rudolph having committed to the Irish a week and a half earlier and Koger leaning towards the Wolvereenies, the Buckeyes had been dealt a setback in terms of 2008 recruiting… at least at the position.

His Recruitment, Part Deux: Before there were any real warning signs, DiLillo decommitted from Clemson on June 18th. He told the Tigers’ staff that the decision to decommit was motivated by distance concerns. The long 12hr drive back to Ohio on his second trip to campus let DiLillo know just how far away South Carolina really is. Nic loved the campus and loved everything else, but felt he had to decommit. DiLillo expressed new interest in going to a school that was no more than 3 or 4 hours from his Madison home, so his parents would have an easier opportunity to watch him play.

What he noted later, after he became a Buckeye, was some of the coercive recruiting tactics used by Clemson.

“Obviously, I committed to Clemson way too early and on the spur of the moment … They told me they had six tight end offers out there and the first one to commit would get it. They really pressured me on my visit, and I went ahead and told them I would commit. On my second trip back to Clemson I knew I had made a mistake, and I realized it was too far away and the wrong place for me.

With Clemson out of the picture, Pittsburgh began to look like the clear leader for DiLillo. Pittsburgh was his first big offer, was within an easy drive for the DiLillo family, and presented a once in a lifetime opportunity to play for the Wannstache.

His Commitment, Part Deux: A week later after publicly decommitting from Clemson, DiLillo issued his new verbal to the Fightin’ Wannies. Distance was the prevailing issue in this commitment, with DiLillo citing friends, family and his mentors as a significant source of strength for him and people that he wants to be close to him and have the easy opportunity to see him play. DiLillo offered more kind words about Pitt:

Another big factor was the Panthers coaching staff especially Dave Wannstedt, Paul Rhoads, Mike Antonoplos and Brian Angelichio.

“They have the best staff of any school I have been to,” DiLillo explained. “They show you respect on a personal level and they really care about you. Their whole staff would send me hand written letters. They never gave up on me and that meant a lot to me. My heart told me I should be a Panther and I feel I made the right choice.”

DiLillo vowed to help the Panthers build a stellar class.

His Recruitment, Part Trois: …and then along came Ohio State with an offer on July 26. The story behind the offer is kind of amusing. DiLillo was with some friends of his at a Tribe game when his cellphone lit up with a text message from a person claiming to be Jim Tressel and offering a scholarship to Ohio State. The message advised DiLillo to call back. DiLillo, thinking it was a hoax from one of his friends, did not call him back immediately. Tressel sent more text messages advising DiLillo to call him back to talk about the offer. A curious DiLillo called his mom during the game to ask where the 614 area code is from because he didn’t recognize it. When DiLillo’s mom informed him that it’s Columbus’ area code, DiLillo knew it was legit and called Tressel immediately after the game. A visit was set up immediately.

But why would Ohio State enter the fray for a guy twice committed and having just issued another verbal a month ago? Two things.

First, the Buckeyes had just struck out with tight end options no. 2 and 3 (I don’t know the exact order) within the state. Kyle Rudolph committed to the Irish on March 26, coinciding with renewed interest in DiLillo, but ultimately no spring time offer. Koger was given a late March/early April offer, but committed to the Wolverines on July 18. Blake Ayles, heretofore unmentioned tight end prospect from Orange County, California, was extended an offer in May, and even visited the Buckeyes in early July, but committed to the Trojans on July 24. So, as we go down the pecking order, it appears that Nic DiLillo was the fourth in line for a tight end offer². With all three targets committed elsewhere, the Buckeyes set out their offer on July 26.

Yet, that leaves open the question of why offer a player with a verbal elsewhere. Apparently DiLillo told the coaching staff that he would decommit from anywhere to go to Ohio State if they offered, doing so just after the Buckeyes checked in following his Clemson verbal to see how solid it was.

“The funny thing is that at that time I was talking with Coach [Taver] Johnson at Ohio State. I told him I would do anything to be a Buckeye, and I would de-commit from anywhere to go to Ohio State. That was in April and I never heard from Ohio State again, so I figured they had ruled me out completely.”

For what it’s worth, DiLillo wasn’t hurt at all to be told to be the coaching staff’s third (or fourth, depending on how you look at it) option. He was just excited to have the offer.

His Commitment, Part Trois: DiLillo took a trip to Columbus to meet with Coach Tressel shortly after the offer came through via text message. While in Columbus, he chatted with Jim Tressel, only tangentially discussing football. The context of their conversation dealt with building a relationship, and talking about issues of family. It was there that DiLillo knew he was going to be a Buckeye.

However, DiLillo knew he had two significant hurdles to overcome in committing to Ohio State: the backlash he would receive for being a 3-time commit as well as the injustice he feared he would be doing to Pitt’s staff in the process. He decided to deal with the latter in an upfront manner. Recognizing that the real duplicity in decommiting from Pitt would be Pitt’s staff finding out about it via a link to a commitment to Ohio State on a site like Rivals, DiLillo called Pitt’s staff first to let them know he wasn’t coming. Afterwards, he called Jim Tressel to commit.

It took a while for DiLillo to get over the prospect of public humiliation from recruitniks for looking wishy-washy or like a jerk for de-committing and committing again. In his words, whatever public scorn that follows from another decommitment would only be ephemeral. After a month or so, recruitniks would get over it or forget who he is and move on with their lives. However, if he let the prospects of such scorn stop him from going to his dream school, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

With such qualms allayed, Nic DiLillo called Jim Tressel on his way back home from the visit and committed to the Buckeyes, giving the Bucks their only tight end in the class. The difference was ultimately Ohio State being the dream school with the “closer to home” part being a corollary factor. DiLillo definitely exemplifies the jingoistic term I would love to propagate around Ohio: Ohio kids aspire to play for Ohio State.

A subsidiary anxiety emerged after committing, though: How would his future teammates welcome him? After all, they might look at him with some kind of disdain. Unlike recruiting fans, however, these are people that he would have to work with for the next four or five years and whose relationships may profoundly impact the rest of his life. This anxiety was pacified almost immediately after his commitment. Michael Brewster called him shortly after he committed to let him know he was part of the family.

Where He Excels: There’s nothing flashy about Nic DiLillo and it would be fair to say that he is a prototypical Ohio State tight end. He might very well be the best blocking tight end out of all the Buckeye targets, which is definitely fine by me. I long for that gamechanging receiving threat of a tight end to work down the middle, but blocking always comes first. Nic Drives his opponents back and down, working especially well in goal line rushing situations. Ohio State tight ends are expected to block, and he does that just as well.

He’s certainly no slouch in the passing game, though, and has Scout comparing him to Heath Miller. Better teammates around him than he appeared to have at Madison might leave the middle wide open for a guy like DiLillo to run free. DiLillo doesn’t get jammed easy, and while he can probably expect more jams at the college level than he got at Madison, it was clear that jams don’t throw him off his route.

Must Work On: Stop me if Buckeye fans have heard this one before, but DiLillo lacks any real top-end speed. He gets open just fine, he catches very well and can break a tackle or two, but Nic appears to be the classic case of Slowhio Speed.

The 2008 class is unique for all the intriguing ceilings that the players have for their development. DiLillo is the one recruit in the class that I’m not in any way anticipating to break the mold³, nor should he have to. Given the talent elsewhere, I’d be just as happy with DiLillo fitting the mold. If he does the dirty work in the trenches, gives all his effort, keeps his nose clean, studies hard in the classroom and the film room, I’d be just as happy. He’s still definitely worth the offer.

Redshirt? If he had stuck with his Clemson or Pitt verbals, I think the answer here is no. With the third commitment to Ohio State being the charm, DiLillo is eager to do whatever it is he needs to and fully anticipates redshirting. The redshirt will afford DiLillo the opportunity to fill out more, work on his Slowhio Speed⁴ and come into his first year of college football better prepared. He’s also said that he’s ready to step in and play immediately if injuries necessitate it. Indeed, he would be 4th on the depth chart if he eschewed his redshirt.

The fun part about DiLillo — and indeed, any recruit who aspires to play at Ohio State as badly as DiLillo — is that he’ll do whatever the staff tells him to do. His is the situation of asking “how high?” when the coaching staff tells him to jump. I love players like that.

Highlights: Scouting Ohio

Miscellany: A few casual, parting thoughts:

• I don’t know much about football in the area, nor do I know much about his high school, but I’m guessing DiLillo was far and away the best player on his team. Any team that flanks him out as wide for screen passes, lines him up in the backfield for a bootleg passes or runs as many tight end screens as Madison appeared to do is giving a rather tacit admission that Nic was easily their best player and that such plays were just quick and easy ways to get the ball in the hands of the best player on the field.
• His high school team nickname is the Blue Streaks. I admit to knowing nothing about the area, but I try to give love to any high school with a cool team nickname, like Keith Wells’ Red Elephants. If there are any Madison locals out there that know the origin of this delightful nickname, let me know.
• With such enthusiasm for the home school, DiLillo wanted to play an active part in the Brew Crew’s recruiting efforts. As such, DiLillo used his official visit for the Northwestern game, whereas he had previously planned a visit for the Wisconsin game. Therein, he was part of the red carpet welcoming committee for Lamaar Thomas and recounted to Scout later how he and the Brew Crew went out to dinner after the pasting of Northwestern and lectured Thomas on what it meant to be a Buckeye. It made a very real difference as I outlined in the Thomas article.
• 13th ranked prospect in the state of Ohio according to Duane Long. 28th ranked TE according to Rivals. 39th ranked TE according to Scout.
• All-State as a senior, tallying 31 passes for 476 yards. As a junior, he caught 46 passes for 580 yards and 4 TDs.
• Jim Tressel recounted his recruitment of DiLillo at the signing day press conference. He notes that each year presents its own unique events that has him telling himself “well that’s new”. In DiLillo’s case, when Jim Tressel arrived at his high school, the marching band lined the hallways performing Hang On Sloopy to give him a hero’s welcome. Apparently DiLillo becoming a Buckeye was a huge event at his high school, which leads me to believe that, like Zach Domicone, Madison HS might not matriculate many players to big schools like Ohio State. Anyone with any helpful commentary on this would be appreciated.

Again, absent any real good way to end these, I guess I just go without the usual routine of: Nic DiLillo, consider yourself better known… I guess. My God, how pretentious I must sound.

1. editorial note, not relating to Charlie Bauman because I could care less about that incident: Huh? Really? Clemson… academics? Really? If he was going into textiles, I guess… [↩]
2. FWIW: the staff told DiLillo, as he recounted in his Making of the Brew Crew article, that he was tight end target no. 3. I think that might mean within the state of Ohio because it wouldn’t account for the offer to Ayles. But when in doubt, don’t listen to me. [↩]
3. I wouldn’t mind being wrong on this, of course. [↩]
4. bah, burn in hell SEC. Tell your idiot fans to stop ruining college football discourse… [↩]