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It doesn’t hurt to have material with which to work when you are trying to uphold the reputation of “Linebacker U.’’ The Penn State football team on Friday landed a player that seems to be a very good fit for that role.
Andrew Dailey, a first-team all-Ohio selection as an outside linebacker in leading Massillon to the state championship game in the state’s largest enrollment classification, made a verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions over Florida yesterday after making a visit to University Park this week.
Dailey, who goes 6-foot-2 and tips the scales at 225 pounds, becomes the 10th recruit in a 2007 class that is expected to wind up with 15-18 players. He is the third linebacker in the class, joining Michigan’s Chris Colasanti and State College’s Nate Stupar.
As a junior, Dailey had 74 tackles, four sacks and an interception. In the state final, he scooped up a fumble that he had forced and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown, although Massillon came out on the short end of a 24-17 decision to Cincinnati St. Xavier to end a 13-2 season. In the semifinals a week earlier, he came up with a big sack on a second-and-short play to help preserve a Tiger victory.
Dailey had a number of other scholarship offers, including those from Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, Nebraska and Pittsburgh. Notre Dame was also considered a frontrunner for his services, but the Irish still hadn’t made an offer when Dailey decided to pull the trigger. Michigan, also, was showing interest.
“I think it’s a great fit,’’ Tiger coach Tom Stacy, who coached nine years at the University of Akron, told the Massillon Independent Friday. “Joe Paterno is such a class act and his son Jay did a great job of recruiting Andrew. I’m really happy for Andrew.”
Stacy said Dailey made “at least three trips, maybe four’’ to Penn State after receiving a scholarship offer from the Lions in the late winter/early spring. Stacy said nearby Ohio State liked Dailey but didn’t have the scholarships available at the linebacker position.
Dailey’s 4.6 speed has actually made some recruiting services project him as a safety at the next level, although it appears the Nittany Lions have him pegged to be a linebacker. Scout.com ranks Dailey as the 16th-best linebacker in the country and as a four-star recruit on a five-star scale, giving him high marks for his lateral movement, pass coverage and overall athleticism.
“He’s very athletic,’’ Stacy said. “He’s a three-sport athlete. He plays center field on our baseball team and was the sixth man on our basketball team. He’ll play wide receiver and H-back for us on offense this year.’’
This will be Dailey’s third year starting for the Tigers.
Canton Rep
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Massillon’s Dailey commits to Penn St.[/FONT]
Saturday, July 29, 2006 [FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By Todd Porter REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER[/FONT]
MASSILLON - One last visit with Joe Paterno did wonders for Andrew Dailey.
The Massillon Washington High School senior verbally committed to Penn State on Friday, two days after visiting the Nittany Lions and staying with starting quarterback Anthony Morelli.
Dailey, a first team All-Ohioan last year, and his parents researched and visited college campuses all spring and summer. He is one of the best linebacker prospects in the state and the 16th-rated prospect in the country, according to scout.com recruiting service.
“He was leaning this way all along,” Massillon head coach Tom Stacy said. “The visit this week solidified it for him. He spent some time with Joe Paterno, and that helped him.”
Dailey played strong safety last year. He was third on the team in tackles and had 7 1/2 tackles for loss, including three quarterback sacks. He broke up three passes and intercepted one.
At 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, he will move to linebacker this season. On offense, Stacy will play Dailey all over the field, including tight end, H-back, running back and wide receiver.
In addition to Penn State, Dailey had offers from Florida, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin, Bowling Green, Akron and Kent State among others.
“They offered me a while ago and said I was their No. 1 linebacker. That made me feel good,” Dailey said.
The Nittany Lions are particularly interested in Dailey and other Stark County seniors. Assistant coach Jay Paterno, son of the legendary Penn State coach, was in the county twice during the last three months. During one of those visits, Jay Paterno had a smile on his face when asked about some of Stark County’s players.
Joe Paterno will begin his 41st season at Penn State this fall. He has produced more than 300 NFL players and 71 first team All-Americans. He has been selected the American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year five times, more than any coach.
“Andrew and his parents really handled it well,” Stacy said. “They did their research. They did an excellent job of finding the right spot for him.
“I know they’re glad it’s out of the way. As the head football coach here, I am certainly. Now he can get down to the business of playing for the Tigers, having a great season and leading us to a great season.”
Dailey will play outside linebacker this season, opposite of Mike Porrini in Massillon’s defense.
A verbal commitment is not binding, though schools usually honor verbal commitments if players get injured their senior seasons. Still, if Dailey has a superb season and an offer from a more prestigious school comes along, he could then sign with that school. He cannot sign a national letter of intent until the first week of February.
Ohio State and Notre Dame did not offer Dailey. The Buckeyes likely will take just one linebacker in its 2007 signing class.
“Even if Ohio State and Notre Dame had offered me, or come in with an offer later, I don’t think it will change my mind,” Dailey said. “It hit me this week that Penn State is where I belong.”
The last Massillon linebacker who committed to Penn State was former All-Ohioan Jarrod Vance.
Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail:
[email protected]
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Dailey gives his word to Penn State
[FONT=verdana,Times New Roman,Times,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By CHRIS EASTERLING
[/FONT] [FONT=verdana,Times New Roman,Times,arial,helvetica,sans-serif][email protected][/FONT]
The Massillon Tigers’ All-Ohio outside linebacker is casting his lot with the school known as “Linebacker U.”
Andrew Dailey ended the speculation regarding his college selection when he committed to Penn State University on Friday afternoon. Dailey, who was flooded with offers, made his choice after spending time this past week visiting the school for the second time this summer.
“The main thing was that I took that visit this week and I just felt real comfortable there,” said Dailey, the son of Ted and Natalie Dailey of Massillon. “I stayed with their quarterback, Anthony Morelli, and I went to lunch with Coach (Jay) Paterno, their recruiting coach (and son of head coach Joe Paterno). It just felt real comfortable there.
“Their linebacker coach, Coach (Ron) Vanderlinden, is one of the best linebacker coaches in the country. They said they had some great plans for me.”
Penn State has been after Dailey for several months, and was one of the first schools to offer him a scholarship. He is the third linebacker to commit to the Nittany Lions, who are coming off a 11-1 season in which they shared the Big Ten championship and finished No. 3 in both major polls.
The Tiger senior joins Detroit Brother Rice High’s Chris Colsanti (an inside linebacker) and Nathan Stupar, an outside linebacker from State College, Pa., in Penn State’s 2007 recruiting class.
“I was the first linebacker they offered,” Dailey said. “They asked me how my decision was going, and I said I wanted to go home and just discuss it with my family. The best thing my family told me was that I was going to be there the next four or five years, so it had to be the right choice. I don’t think I rushed into it.”
All three of Penn State’s linebackers from a year ago – Butkus Award winner Paul Posluszny, Tim Shaw and Dan Connor – return this season. Posluszny and Shaw are seniors, while Connor is a junior.
Penn State emerged the winner in a recruiting battle that included several of the nation’s premier college football programs. Dailey had offers from over a dozen schools, including Florida, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Illinois, Syracuse, Michigan State and Indiana.
In the end, though, it wasn’t a difficult decision for the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Tiger.
“It was Penn State, and then everybody else,” Dailey said.
“Notre Dame and Florida were on the charts, but I just felt the fit was right at Penn State.”
There had been much speculation about Notre Dame and where it figured into Dailey’s decision. He said the Irish coaches were still “a few more weeks of discussion” from making a decision.
“That didn’t force my decision one way or the other,” Dailey said. “Even if I had an offer from Notre Dame, Penn State would have been the school I was going to choose. That’s where I felt the best.”
Dailey is coming off a junior season in which he recorded 74 tackles and four sacks, including a memorable fourth-quarter sack in the state semifinal win over Lakewood St. Edward. He had one interception and an 80-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in the state championship game against Cincinnati St. Xavier.
“I don’t think there’s any question, with the reputation Penn State has, I think it’s going to be a great situation for Andrew,” Massillon coach Tom Stacy said. “I think it’s a great fit. Joe Paterno is a class act. Jay did a great job of recruiting Andrew. I’m happy for Andrew.”
Stacy, himself a former college coach at the University of Akron and Ashland University, knows the pressure the decision could put on Dailey. So it didn’t disappoint him one bit his star linebacker was able to make it prior to the season.
“I think it’s big to get it done,” Stacy said. “His parents realize it and Andrew did too. It’s tough to go through the season without committing. You have all the phone calls coming it. He’s going to be glad he did and is not going to have to think about it.”
Dailey said he tried to take the whole situation in stride.
“I put all the recruiting stuff aside when I was working with my team,” he said. “I didn’t let it put too much pressure on me.”
