“We’re a little bit more established,” Andrews said. “We had to recruit a little bit more numbers wise in the first two recruiting classes. I’m hoping this is kind of more normal as we’re now in the third recruiting cycle.”
Dayton improved from 4-6 overall and 2-6 in the Pioneer Football League in Andrews’ first season to 6-5 and 4-4 last season.
The 2025 recruiting class includes 11 players from Ohio, six from Illinois, three from Indiana and Kentucky and one from Tennessee. The player from a high school closest to UD is Springboro High School offensive lineman Wade Shellhause.
The group is the usual mix of team captains (15 in all) and strong students.
“I tell the young men all the time, ‘He’s got to check a lot of boxes for us,’” Andrews said. “‘So we’ve got to check some boxes for you, too, as we go through this.’ We definitely want to put emphasis on academics, and we want to put emphasis on football. We want to put emphasis on the potential for growth. We want to put emphasis on leadership.”
Andrews didn’t have much time to put together his first class. Many of those players were also recruited by the previous coach, Rick Chamberlin. He said there was attrition with that class that they didn’t see with the second class. More players from the 2024 class have stuck with UD.
The class has six offensive lineman, but the coaches didn’t target one position group.
“My classes will be balanced every year,” Andrews said. “We’re going to take pretty much one for every position, offensively and defensively. I think you’ve got to make sure that along both lines you have numbers there. There’s one position on the football field that you have to play with five. You can play with one tight end, no tight ends, three tight ends, two tight ends. You’ve got to have five offensive linemen out there. That also happens to be a position where you’ve got to develop. You want to make sure you’re set there.”
One of the 2025 recruits, linebacker Brayden Allen, of Cumming, Ga., enrolled at UD in January. The others will report to school in the summer.
Dayton also announced the additions of two transfers: Springfield graduate Bryce Schondelmyer, a quarterback who spent the last two seasons at Youngstown State; and Kings High School graduate Michael Mussari, a wide receiver who spent the last two seasons at Cincinnati.
Dayton starts spring practices March 2.
2025 University of Dayton Football Commitments
Brayden Allen, LB, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Cumming, Ga., West Forsyth High School
Lazar Babic, OL, 6-3, 280, Park Ridge, Ill., Maine South High School
Chris Biel, OL, 6-4, 288, Ill., Lincoln-Way Central High School
David Curl III, LB, 6-1, 215, West Lafayette, Ind., West Lafayette High School
Landon Evans, OL, 6-4, 313, Wheelersburg High School
Harrison Forestal, TE, 6-3, 232, Indianapolis, Ind., Bishop Chatard High School
Finn Goodman, DL, 6-4, 225, Lake Forest, Ill., Lake Forest High School
Mikey Hess, RB, 5-10, 190, Newark Catholic High School
Elazar Hood, DB, 5-11, 165, Columbus, St. Francis DeSales High School
Brevin Holubar, WR, 6-1, 187, Greenwood, Ind., Center Grove High School
Tallen Hulvey, SAF, 5-11, 180, Medina High School
Andrew Huber, OL, 6-6, 275, Park Hills, Ky., Covington Catholic High School
Paul Knapke, SAF, 6-3, 175, Hilliard Davidson High School
Pat McLaughlin, QB, 5-11, 170, Cincinnati, Ohio, La Salle High School
Jordan McKie, SAF, 5-10, 188, Mundelein, Ill., Carmel Catholic High School
Sawyer Muchmore, LB, 6-2, 210, Loveland, Ohio, Loveland High School
Albert Murillo, OL, 6-4, 312, Highland Park, Ill., Stevenson High School
Luke Pennington, QB, 6-0, 175, Lexington, Ky., Sayre High School
Wade Shellhause, OL, 6-4, 292, Springboro High School
RJ Shepherd, WR, 6-0, 170, Hamilton High School
Noah Spencer, RB, 6-0, 203, Jackson, Tenn., University School of Jackson
Griffen Suren, DE, 6-5, 215, Lincolnshire, Ill., Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Ben Thompson, DL, 6-2, 240, Pickerington North High School
Andrew Vrbancic, TE, 6-4, 230, Louisville, Ky., Male High School
Maurice Wynn, CB, 6-0, 185, Cleveland, Lutheran West High School
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