DAYTON –University of Dayton head football coach Rick Chamberlin has announced his 2016 class of newcomers.  Overall, 38 incoming freshmen will join the Flyers for the 2016 season.

"When you look at our recruiting class one thing that stands out are the different areas of the country they are from" Chamberlin said.  "We have young men from 11 different states. I think that shows that the name recognition of our university and football program keeps growing. The other observation is that the class is made up of outstanding leaders as well as talented players. With a number of captains, class officers and National Honor Society members in this class, I know that leadership will not be a problem over the next four years."
 
The 2016 class includes 15 Business majors, seven who will major in Engineering and two Pre-Med majors.  More than 20 were team captains and another 15 members of the National Honor Society. Three newcomers already have brothers on the team.  Three other new Flyers have a twin.  In addition, members of the 2016 Flyer football freshmen class have the following attributes:

• "Best singing voice at Holy Trinity Catholic Church"
• Pediatric cancer survivor, who has spoken at events that have raised over $156,000 to fight cancer
• "Never lost an argument"
• Ambidextrous
• "Best hair in my family"
• Four older siblings who are college athletes
• "Huge sunflower seed eater"
• Both parents are Dayton grads
• "Owns an impressive Jordan shoe collection"
• Played for USA Baseball in age group events
• Has visited 16 countries
• Plays the piano and guitar
• Has visited Galapagos Island
 

2015 FLYER FOOTBALL FRESHMEN First  Name Last  Name High School Height Weight POS Hometown Notes Major Jon Barker Naperville Central 6'0" 195 $$ Naperville, Ill. Team Captain, All-Conference & All-Area Undecided Christopher Booker John Burroughs 6'0" 180 WR St. Louis, Mo. Two-time First Team All-State; Team Won State Champinship Engineering Brennan Burdo Oswego 6'2" 240 DE Oswego, Ill All-Southern Prairie Conference; Played on Two SPC Champions Finance Kyle Butz Moeller 5'9" 170 WR Cincinnati, Ohio All-Conference Physical Therapy Matt Clifford Lake Forest 6'0" 180 DB Lake Forest, Ill. Team Captain, All-Conference & All-Area Economics Turner Cook Marquette 6'4" 190 WR Chesterfield, Mo. First Team All-Suburban West Conference; Academic All-State Entreprenuership San Costantino Immaculata 6'2" 185 WR Middlesex, N.J.  NJ.com Top 50 Wide Receiver; 36 Rec. for 437 Yards, 5 TD as a Senior Economics and Finance Ryan Culhane Naperville Central 6'4" 285 OL Naperville, Ill. Team Captain, Two-Time All-Conference & All-Area; Academic All-State Engineering Zach Curoe Holy Family 6'4" 290 OL Chaska, Minn. All-District in Football; Team Captain in Baseball Marketing Matt Durkin Notre Dame Prep 6'3" 185 QB Oakland, Mich. Team Captain & All-County; Earned 11 Varsity Letters in Three Sports Marketing Brian Gillen Don Bosco Prep 6'0" 215 FB Goshen, N.Y. Won State Championship at Met Life Stadium: Also Played Basketball Undecided Clay Hamby Priory 6'0" 180 K St. Louis, Mo. Two-Time Team Special Team Player of the Year & All-Conference Undecided Ryan Harkleroad Upper St. Clair 6'4" 245 DT Upper St. Clair. Pa. Team Captain & Quad A All-Southeastern Conference Finance Markus Hurd St. Vincent-St. Mary 5'10" 170 WR Copley, Ohio All-State & National Honor Society; 1,719 career receiving yards Finance Zack Jablonski Montour 6'1" 265 OL Pittsburgh, Pa. Team Captain in Football & Wrestling; All-Conference in Football Business Cole Kaparos Upper Arlington 6'0" 190 RB Upper Arlington, Ohio Team Captain & All-District; Rushed for 1,120 Yards Economics Justin Karem Trinity 6'3" 230 OL Louisville, Ky. Team Won Two State Championships; All-District Undecided Kevin Kurasz Mt. Carmel 6'3" 220 DE Lemont, Ill. Team Captain; 50 Tackles and 15 TFL Engineering Andrew Lutgens Ravenwood 6'2" 185 DB Brentwood, Tenn. Team Captain & Two-Time All-State; Team Won State Championship Sports  Management Andy Maschke Hartland  6'2" 275 OL Howell, Mi. Team Captain & Three-Time All-County Pre-Med Drew Melarango Westminster Christian 6'1" 170 DB Chesterfield, Mo. Team Captain & Two-Time First Team All-State; 13 Career interceptions Psychology Jaxon Mills Lake Forest 6'2" 255 DT Lake Bluff, Ill. All-Conference & All-Area; Team Outstanding Lineman Award Entreprenuership Vince Murdocco Upper Arlington 6'1" 185 QB Columbus, Ohio All-Conference & All-District; Played for UD Football Alum Joel Cutler Pre-Med Michael Newbold Loveland 6'4" 220 DE Loveland, Ohio All-Conference; Team Captain in Lacrosse Chemistry Johnny Noyen Christian Hills Academy 6'1" 190 QB West Chester, Ohio Team Captain & All-State; Passed for 4,284 yards in career with 46 TD's Undecided Zach Pipoly Walsh Jesuit 6'1" 220 LB Medina, Ohio Team MVP & All-District; Played on Two Conference Champions Accounting Sean Prophit St. Xavier 6'0" 190 RB Cincinnati, Ohio Team Captain and All-Conference; National Honor Society Engineering Brennan Quigley Mason 6'3" 275 OL Mason, Ohio All-Conference Business Andrew Rothstein St. Mary's 6'1" 220 FB Leonardtown, Md. Team Captain, All-Conference & Honorable Nention All-State Sports  Management Joey Salowich Saline 5'11" 175 DB Saline, Mich. Team Captain & All-Conference; Played On Two Conference Champions Management Dom Sciaretti St. Vincent-St. Mary's 6'2" 250 OL Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Team Captain & All-District; Reached Regional Finals All Four Years Biology Tim Simon Notre Dame   6'2" 185 DB Morton Grove, Ill. Two-Sport Captain, Team MVP & All-Conference; IHSA Scholar-Athlete Finance Ryan Skibinski Geneva 5'11" 165 WR Geneva, Ill. Two-Sport All-Conference (Football & Track); 54 catches for 698 yards Engineering Jay Vallie Goodrich 6'4" 230 TE Grand Blanc, Mi. All-Conference; Basketball Team Captain; National Honor Society Criminal Justice Tyler Vincent Adlai Stevenson 5'10" 180 RB Vernon Hills, Ill. Team Captain & All-Conference with 1,232 Career Yards, 22 Career TD's Business Charlie  Weidenbach Benet Academy 6'0" 210 LB Naperville, Ill. Team Captain & First Team All-State; ESCC Defenisve Player of the Year Finance Colt  Whitman Dublin Coffman 6'0" 205 LB Dublin, Ohio Team Captain Engineering Drake Yinger St. Francis de Sales 5'10" 165 $$ Columbus, Ohio All-Conference; Played on Three Regional Semifinalist Teams Engineering
Dayton returns 15 starters – eight offense, seven defense and both kicking specialist – from last season's PFL championship team.  Dayton was 10-2 overall in 2015, making the Flyers' first appearance in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.  UD was the Pioneer Football League co-champions with a 7-1 conference record.  It was the Flyers' 12th PFL crown in the 23-year history of the league.  UD opens the season on Saturday, Sept. 3 at home against Central State.  Game time is 7 p.m. ET.