Why Hope College edge rusher Liam Danitz chose Wisconsin to aim for NFL dreams
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Liam Danitz was planning on a week of class at Hope College and some track practice.
Instead, he was all over the country giving his football career new life.
After a week in the transfer portal and receiving calls from nearly 100 schools, the Hope defensive end committed to the University of Wisconsin for his final year of eligibility.
“It has been absolute insanity,” Danitz said. “It is a good problem to have, but I am happy to be done with it and have a school. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
So why Wisconsin?
“The edge coach at Wisconsin, coach (Matt) Mitchell was the coach at Grand Valley State and has the West Michigan ties. Coach (Peter Stuursma) knows him well and had the trust in him,” Dantiz said. “He had great things to say about coach Mitchell. They also had a kid from Bethel who was a starting safety and is now in the NFL. So knowing they can develop D-III talent like that says a lot about their program. So it just made sense to me, and it is a Big Ten school that I am familiar with. My mom and siblings will be able to come to games. It felt like the right fit.”
Danitz was an All-American runner for Hope’s track team last spring, and at 6-feet, 5-inches and 232 pounds, he is just the combination to excel at the next level with a 10.55 100-meter dash time.
“The reason for all of this is my speed. That is what everyone keeps saying,” he said. “So the track part of things has really paid off. They thing I have potential because of my speed and they can bulk me up a little bit. I didn’t expect any of this.”
Danitz, from West Branch, had 15 sacks and 21 tackles for loss this season. That doesn’t account for all of the quarterback hurries and altered passes he created. Or the amount of double- and triple-teams he faced, allowing his teammates to get to the quarterback.
He had offers to UCLA, West Virginia and Ole Miss, among many others. Western Michigan was the first to reach out.
“I had a former teammate that plays at Western Michigan and told me to just join the transfer portal to hear what the Western coach had to say,” he said. “So we entered the portal and that night it just exploded. I thought I might get some interest from the MAC or Ferris State and Grand Valley. But UCLA wanted me on an official visit the next day. It didn’t even seem real.
“It feels like college football is almost semi-pro with the NIL stuff.”
Now, childhood dreams of the NFL are back.
“These schools can develop anybody into a monster. Now that I am going to have access to nutrition and all of the perks of D-I. I think I have the chance to make the NFL if I develop how they want me to,” he said. “I really think the sky is the limit with this. It is incredible. A week ago, I was ready to be done. Now this dream is alive again. I am blessed. It is going to be amazing.”
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope College football player Liam Danitz chose Wisconsin , NFL dream
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