Jon Daniels first arrived at Wittenberg University in 2004. In May 2013, he will reach the end of his collegiate journey, but not before making a difference on his campus, in his community and even halfway across the globe.
A native of Springfield, Daniels spent the 2004-05 school year at Wittenberg before leaving school due to financial difficulties. Over the next five years, he coached middle school football before serving in the Ohio National Guard while working to help support his mother and brother. He even spent a year in service to his country in Kuwait.
On Saturday, Nov. 3, Daniels is one of 15 football student-athletes who will be honored before the Tigers’ Senior Recognition Day game against the Hiram Terriers at Edwards-Maurer Field. A starter at defensive end throughout the 2011 and 2012 seasons, Daniels is set to complete his amazing journey – at least the football leg of it.
What follows is Daniels’ story, in his own words:
Please discuss your freshman season back in 2004, and provide some insights into your decision to leave school and serve in the military.
When I first attended a football game at Wittenberg my senior year and saw the enthusiasm and excitement that surrounded the football program, I knew it was the right place for me to play. My high school defensive coordinator and a man who had an immense impact on me throughout my high school football career, Tim Dellapina, was a graduate of Wittenberg. He pushed me to continue my football career and continue my education. He pushed me to apply myself more in the classroom and improve my grades so I would have a chance to do just that. Once I was able to attend a Wittenberg football game, it was apparent the coaches and players really appreciated the game and had carried on a very rich tradition of winning. I desperately wanted to be part of something special and that’s what I felt I was joining when I decided to come here.
"I desperately wanted to be part of something special and that’s what I felt I was joining when I decided to come here." |
Throughout my freshman year I had a decent amount of success. Like many freshmen that came in, I showed up in less than spectacular shape and that limited my ability to compete at a high level at the beginning of the season. By the end of the season I began to grab the attention of my defensive coaches. At season’s end, (former defensive coordinator) Kelly Cummings acknowledged how well I had competed throughout the season and let me know he was excited about my future at Wittenberg. I was faced with a very difficult decision at this time. I could tell I had a good shot at developing into a decent football player.
My mother, who had raised my brother and me – by herself – had struggled for a long time to make ends meet. When I needed money for tuition and books, I couldn’t bring myself to put that burden on her. She worked very hard for a long time just to keep bills paid and food on the table (most of the time successfully, but sometimes not so successfully). My mother struggled with health issues for many years and continued working to provide for her family – any toughness and work ethic I may have displayed is because I had her as an example. I began to look at my decision to continue playing football at Wittenberg as a selfish thing to do. I chose to leave Wittenberg and help my family improve their situation.
Growing up, my brother and I had little stability. We lived in seven different residences from the time I was eight until the time I graduated high school (since then five of those have been torn down and the other two sit condemned today). When I left Wittenberg I made it my goal to help my family find stability and to gain a college degree. I had thought about joining the Army when I first left Wittenberg but I felt it was important that I stayed around as my mother had long had health issues. I left and began working two – and at one point, even three jobs – to help my brother and mother move into an apartment complex where they stayed until I helped her purchase her first home in 2009.
One night while attending a Springfield South High School football game an Ohio Army National Guard Recruiter approached me and began explaining the guard and its benefits to me. The guard offered me the opportunity to serve my country, gain money for college while staying close to my family and this was very appealing to me. I went to the recruiter’s office the following Monday and decided the Guard was the perfect opportunity for me to continue my education while serving my country. I joined the National Guard in November 2005.
Please discuss some highs and lows about your experience in the military.
I was very successful at military life right from the beginning. This was in large part due to the discipline I gained as a player for South High School under Tim Dellapina and while at Wittenberg in 2004. I finished my Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training in 2005 and returned home where I began my traditional guard enlistment.
Shortly thereafter, we learned that my unit would be deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I remember going through many different emotions when I found out this news. I was excited and scared all at the same time. I decided that if I was to face a battle zone situation I was going to be the most prepared soldier I could be (preparation is another attribute I gained while playing football). I showed up to our pre-mobilization training at Fort Hood, Texas, in the best shape of my life. When we were given the Army Physical Fitness Test, I joined two other soldiers in the battalion as the only soldiers to complete a perfect score of 300 (I actually scored a 346 on the extended scale and received a medallion from the Battalion Commander) on it.
I spent all of 2008 on the border of Kuwait and Iraq where I worked a few different jobs and had many different responsibilities throughout the year. We had a relatively quiet deployment without much incident. The hardest part for me while deployed was being away from my family. My son Julian was just barely three months old when I left, and my daughter Madison was born in the last few months of my deployment. Missing many of their “firsts” was something that weighed on me the whole time and something I still reflect on from time to time today. While deployed I saved every dime I could. Upon returning home I was able to purchase my first home and I was able to help my mother purchase her first home as well (she had been working to improve her credit and was able to get approved for financing, and I paid the down payment for her).
Was it always part of the plan to return to Wittenberg?
No, I always thought Wittenberg was out of reach. Upon returning home from my deployment, I knew it was time for me to continue my education. I began taking classes at Wright State University using the GI Bill and Ohio Army National Guard Scholarship. I chose Wright State because the Ohio Army National Guard Scholarship paid the full amount of tuition for public state universities.
One day, I saw a sign for Wittenberg adult education classes with a soldier on it. The adult education classes were offered at a reduced rate and therefore would have been paid for in full by the Ohio Army National Guard Scholarship. I had stayed close to the game by coaching middle school football before and after my deployment (I served as an assistant coach in 2007 and the head coach in 2009 of the Springfield Middle School seventh grade team) so football was something I was far from giving up.
Upon seeing the sign I knew I had to find out if it was possible for me to return to Wittenberg and finish what I had started in 2004. After an e-mail to Coach (Joe) Fincham, we set up a face-to-face meeting in which we discussed the possibility of me returning. He informed me he would welcome me back as long as I followed through with the commitment. I was thrilled to accept this challenge.
A couple fun facts:
I wanted to assure Coach Fincham that I was very serious about returning to school here, so I showed up to this meeting in a suit and tie. After Coach (Andy) Waddle, who greeted me as I entered the coach’s office, looked at me like I was crazy, I thought this may have been overkill. LOL
After encountering the possibility of returning to Wittenberg I had read a book titled The Senior by Mike Flynt. The book chronicles Mike’s story of being a 59-year-old college football player who returned for one more season at Sul Ross State University in Texas in 2008, where he had been kicked off the team prior to his senior season in 1971. This book certainly had an impact on my attitude toward this opportunity.
Please describe the experience of re-enrolling in Wittenberg. Interested in how your experience has been different now as compared to 2004, and also how being a member of the football team has helped with the transition.
Re-enrolling in Wittenberg required me to prove I was a better student than before. I had military personnel and professors at Wright State write me letters of recommendation to assure the board that was reviewing my re-enrollment that I was a much improved student and a person with good character.
In the end it all worked out. Being a 24- to 26-year-old college student with a family left me with little in common as my classmates. I often have students look at me confused when I describe my situation, as it is much different than theirs. Football players on the team, however, treated me with much respect right from my first meeting. Players like Eddie Vallery, Keenan Freeman, Zach Hurtt, Ben Maxwell and many more befriended me from the very beginning. They were very curious about my experiences, and I would often share stories with them. They also liked hearing stories from guys they knew that played with me in 2004.
Being on the football team and receiving this respect from my teammates helped me acclimate to the school. I would rarely be in a class where I didn’t know at least a couple of guys. Of course it hasn’t been all easy, though. Being a college student-athlete who also has a family and a home to worry about has created a whole other set of complications to my college experience. Thankfully, I’ve had the support of my family and my fiancé Paige Cromwell without whom my journey back would not have been possible.
Please discuss your plans for after graduation.
After graduation, I plan to make an impact on the lives of young people by being a social studies teacher and a football coach. The people who had the greatest impact on me when I was growing up were school teachers and football coaches. I had decided while attending South High School that I would try to impact the lives of young men and women in the same ways that Coach Dellapina and many others had impacted me.
I hope to someday get a job coaching and teaching in an inner-city setting. I think I have a special way of connecting with students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Their struggle is something I’m familiar with and something I embrace as a learning experience.
Click here to read the d3football.com feature story on Daniels (published 10/23/12).
Click here to read the Springfield News-Sun feature story on Daniels (published 9/12/10).
Compiled By: Ryan Maurer
Photos by: David Rich and Erin Pence
