Danny O”Brien (Flint, Mi./Powers Catholic) comes from a basketball family. His sisters and cousins all played FBS level basketball and Danny admits that he thought he was going to have a future on the hard-wood.“I’m still playing basketball but football is my path now,” said O’Brien, a 6-foot-3, 287-pound defensive tackle. “My job on the basketball court now is to get rebounds and use my five fouls. Football is my passion now and it has been since my freshman year.
“I played tight end and defensive end as a freshman and was moved to the defensive line my sophomore year. I put up some very good numbers my sophomore year and that’s when colleges started taking notice.
“Last summer I went to Tennessee and they offered me a scholarship and that’s when things really took off for me. I camped at Vanderbilt and Ohio State last summer as well. Michigan has now offered and I’m going to take a closer look at them.”
O’Brien only has two scholarship offers. Why haven’t more schools come to the table with an offer?
“I think most schools think I’m a lock to Tennessee.” He said. “I like Tennessee a lot. I liked the campus when I visited last year. I like the coaches. I liked the game atmosphere when I went to the Alabama game and I’m a hunter and fisherman and there’s plenty of places to do that in Tennessee.
“Having said all that, I’m open and want to check out other schools Besides Michigan and Tennessee, I would like to hear from Alabama, LSU, Auburn, USC, Iowa, Nebraska and Boston College. I plan on going to Wisconsin’s junior day coming up. I’m going to check out Iowa after Wisconsin and I’m going to Tennessee, Michigan and Michigan State for junior days.”
O’Brien finished with 89 tackles and 9 sacks as a junior and received several accolades from state and local media.
MY TAKE: After talking to O'Brien, I feel it's going to be hard for anyone to overtake Tennessee. The coaches there have planted roots with the family and Danny likes everthying about the school.
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Athlete David Perkins (South Bend, Ind./Washington) is going to be a prospect that the college coaches will be checking out this spring. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder excels on both sides of the football. As a running back this past season, Perkins had 85 carries and rushed for 783 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, he had 63 tackles, 21 tackles for loss and 13 sacks.
“I started out my freshman year at Kalamazoo (MI) Central and then transferred to Washington High School in South Bend, Indiana for my junior year.” Perkins said.
“I expected a lot from myself coming off the camp and Combine circuit this past summer. I really wanted to have a big junior season and that’s exactly what I did. I was named junior all-state and made several all-area teams.”
The scholarship offers for Perkins are starting to roll in.
“Syracuse, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Toledo and Ohio University have offered so far.” Perkins said. “I plan on going to Indiana’s junior day coming up and I’m also looking at going down to Mississippi State for an unofficial visit. My high school coaches talk to the coaches at Mississippi State so that’s how that relationship started.
“Most schools are recruiting me as an athlete. I’ve been told that I can project at several different positions on either side of the ball. I’m planning on going to some camps and combines again this spring and summer but nothing is set in stone yet. I do plan on trying everything I can to graduate early so I can participate in spring football with the school I sign with.
“The schools I’m most interested in right now are Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan and Penn State.”
MY TAKE: I first met Perkins last year at a combine. Very good athlete, I see him more as a defensive player either at linebacker or defensive end.
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Wide receiver Dieter Gehrig (South Bend, Ind./Washington) had a very good junior year and also one of the top prospects at his position at the Under-Armour combine that was held in Orlando last month. Gehrig has a MAC offer and he’s planning several unofficial visits in the near future.
“Bowling Green is my only scholarship offer right now,” said the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder. “I’m going to Notre Dame later this month for their junior day and possibly a few more but I’m not sure where I’ll be visiting after that.”
Dieter started his high school career at nearby Adams High School and transferred to Washington after his freshman year. “The coaches at Adams didn’t like playing underclassmen so I made the move to Washington.” He said.
“The conditioning program and the overall program were better fits for me at Washington. I had a break-out sophomore season and this past year I started every game at cornerback and wide receiver. I spent most of the year in double-coverage but still managed 48 catches for 985 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“My favorite schools right now are Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, Michigan State and Minnesota.”
Dieter says he’ll be camping at Ohio State and Notre Dame this summer. He was named to the junior all-state team this past season as well at the junior dream-team but the South Bend Tribune Dream Team.
MY TAKE: Met Gehrig at the Under-Armour combine where he was praised by all the coaches. He held his own and then some against some pretty tough defensive backs. Ran well and tested well.
