Football adds 31 members with class of 2019

For any high school athletes hoping to continue playing at the next level, signing day is known as the time when they solidify their futures as collegiate athletes. On Feb. 4, schools across the country, including top programs like the University of Alabama and The Ohio State University, figured out who will be joining their football teams next year.

At Lehigh, a total of 31 high school student athletes announced they would be joining the program and making up the football class of 2019. This is Lehigh’s second year offering football scholar athlete aid awards to incoming players for reasons other than need-based financial aid support.

“One of the byproducts of the scholarship recruiting is that we are having some smaller classes, but hopefully recruiting top-notch players,” said Andy Coen, the coach of Lehigh football.

Furthermore, Chris Wakely, the assistant director of athletics and recruitment manager, clarified some misconceptions about how the new scholar athlete aid system has impacted recruiting.

“There’s a perception that football is giving ‘scholarships,’ so that must mean everyone is coming to Lehigh for free, which is not at all the case,” he said. “The scholar athlete aid awards that have been awarded to this class have all been very diverse.”

The new scholarship system may limit the amount of resources teams have to recruit players. However, Coen recruited a class that is large in numbers. Compared to the 25 graduating seniors and 22 players from the class of 2014, the 31 players in the new class is a bigger haul.

An overview of the class shows a balance in terms of different positions. There are 16 offensive players, 13 defensive players and two special teams players in the class of 2019.

“We tried to balance it out actually, and I think we did a pretty good job with that,” Coen said.

Going into the offseason, the coaches knew running back would be a key area to improve. Last year’s leading rusher, senior Rich Sodeke, will graduate this spring, and promising University of Miami (Florida) transfer, sophomore Brandon Yosha, decided to leave the team due to injuries.

Newcomers Dom Bragalone and Micco Brisker are seen as players that can be pure tailbacks according to Coen. The third recruit listed as a running back, Nick Thevanayagam, is seen as a versatile player, who Coen could use as a tailback, slot receiver or a safety. Fullback Max Frankel also joins the Hawks.

Bragalone nearly broke the record for rushing yards in a season as a senior. Despite this, there was a risk because he played football at a small program. However, he was seen as a great fit by the Lehigh coaching staff.

One quarterback, Brad Mayes from Berkley Prep in Tampa, Florida, was added to the roster. He is expected to step in and compete with incumbent starter sophomore Nick Shafnisky, and Matt Timochenko, who was second-string for some games last year.

“We did bring (Mayes) to campus and he was very impressive,” Coen said. “He’s just a great fit here. He had a great senior year, and I started getting worried that some of the bigger schools would jump in on him. But he held true to his commitment to Lehigh, and I’m real excited to see all the competition in the summer.”

The team was also able to recruit two tight ends, Dan Scassera and Jimmy Schultz, both from New Jersey. They were short on tight ends, as the team had primarily used Tyler Coyle, a graduating senior. New wide receivers include Conner Bianchini, Dylan Parsons, Cam Richardson and Luke Christiano.

The Hawks added five big offensive linemen to the team: Eric Hawkinson, Liborio Ricottilli, Tim Wagner and Thomas Zuewsky. One of the most interesting of the group is Aidan O’Carroll, who has a special connection to Mayes.

“We got a couple of big offensive linemen that we needed, the biggest who is probably Aiden O’Carroll, who was a teammate of Brad Mayes,” Coen said. “He’s (6 feet 7 inches tall), 280 pounds and he will probably get bigger.”

The defensive line is a diverse group. Coen said that he has high expectations for Julian Lynn from Maryland and Drew Whitley from North Carolina.

Another defensive lineman is Harrison Kauffman from Montana. Despite being multiple plane trips away, Kauffman’s father remotely runs a family business located in Pennsylvania. Kauffman’s college choice takes him back to his Pennsylvania roots.

Coen mentioned the linebackers as being one of the strongest areas of the class. Coen sees local player Jake Buskirk as a guy who can step in quickly, as well as Brian Olshanski, who comes from a very successful New Jersey program. Juwan Morrow, Jake Scott and Mark Walker complete the new linebacker class.

For Coen, secondary was a huge area of concern. The Mountain Hawks added five players in the secondary: Donovan Harris, Sam McCloskey, Matt Butler, Mike Gies and Kareem Montgomery.

“I thought we had some young talent there, but we needed to add more to it,” he said. “We needed to create a lot of competition in certain areas.”

Rounding out the class is punter Joe McCollum and kicker Ed Mish. Mish also played linebacker in high school.

Although New Jersey is heavily represented, the class has players from a wide range of areas.

“Obviously, it is a lot easier for us to recruit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey (and) Ohio,” Coen said. “But we have to have a presence in the West, Upper Midwest and Deep South.”

Even more importantly, Coen said the class has a lot of players who look ready to work. Coen and Wakely agree that the players seem motivated and dedicated.

“It’s my sense that this particular class is still the guys that really think of themselves as students of course, but also as football players,” Wakely said. “They love putting on the pads and going through the grind of practice.”