OWINGS MILLS, Md. — He loped along his track and field lane, towering over his running mates, looking as if he couldn’t possibly fit in.
What was Penn State’s prestigious defensive lineman, it’s next great pass rusher, doing here?
Dani Dennis-Sutton was working through a recent after-school practice, studying his new sport, so to speak. He was surprisingly smooth warming up on the McDonogh School track, considering that he doesn’t appear built for such things.
He is, after all, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound sprinter.
Which may be the best example of how Penn State’s highest-rated gem of its 2022 football recruiting class is dedicated to becoming the very best version of himself — especially as prepares to arrive in State College next month.
He’s easy with a laugh and low-key conversation but is driven by an ultra-serious attention to football, his academics, to most everything in his life path. He’s always looking for an edge to improve, according to those who know him best.
That’s why he believes that investing as an oversized track and field sprinter will elevate his goals at Penn State. Doesn’t matter that he didn’t win a high school race, didn’t even own the proper running shoes when he started last winter.
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His analysis of the situation, like all of his interactions, are punctuated with polite, ‘yes-sirs’ and ‘no-sirs.’ He explains how the quick burst from the track and field starting blocks mirrors his pass-rushing movements on the football field. Track and field, he says, was a low-risk, calculated move to improve his speed while still allowing him to compete in the winter and spring. That speed factor, he points out, will be paramount for him in the NFL Draft in three or four years.
He feels quite comfortable as a 250-pound sprinter.
“Don’t see many guys that size even willing to put themselves out there. Most of those guys are throwing the shot put,” said McDonogh football coach Hakeem Sule. “For a guy’s whose mindset is, ‘I want to be a sprinter’ and ‘I want to run with the skinny guys’ … I think that’s going to translate very well to Penn State.
“You always want speed off the edge” of the defensive line.
Dennis-Sutton’s father, Dana, explained it this way:
“My son is wired very differently from the average teenage athlete we normally see. Coaches from Georgia and Alabama see and say the same thing. (Dani) knows what he wants out of life, he knows what he wants his future to look like, what path he wants to travel.
“He wants to become a great player, a household name, and he wants to be known.”
Star of Penn State’s 2022 recruiting class
Dani (pronounced “Deny”) Dennis-Sutton could be the most critical, early-impact piece of what is arguably James Franklin’s best recruiting class at Penn State. Fellow freshman star Nick Singleton, for example, must still navigate a crowded, nationally-talented running back room. Five-star quarterback Drew Allar may be no better than third-string early on.
However, Dennis-Sutton’s skill set at defensive end could be needed more quickly. And he also may be more prepared to deliver, considering how he’s already flourished at a four-year boarding school with a high-powered football program, and will be buoyed by a few close friends at Penn State.
Fellow McDonogh alums PJ Mustipher, Curtis Jacobs and Dvon Ellies all expect to be starters on defense this season. Dennis-Sutton should join them on the field at the same time, sooner than later.
“I think immediate impact and the next edge rusher,” said Mike Farrell, a longtime national recruiting analyst. “There’s no bad weight there.
“(Penn State’s staff) is going to make him faster and more explosive. I think he’s going to be, in a couple of years, a 280-pound Tamba Hali-sized guy. … I see him as bigger guy down the road.”
Small-town Delaware to big-time Penn State
Dennis-Sutton could have gotten lost athletically among the low-country farm fields and woods in Sussex County, Delaware. He grew up about 20 minutes from the rush of the tourist beaches along the Eastern Shore. It is not prime college football recruiting territory.
Basketball, which he gave up last year, saved him, in a sense. The supersized kid just happened to catch the eye of coaches of Kevin Durant’s AAU basketball team while playing in a Washington, D.C.-area tournament. At 13, Dennis-Suttong already was 6-4, 240 pounds with size 13 shoes.
He joined Durant’s team soon after, which is where McDonogh coaches took notice. Sule eyed him playing hoops, and “I just saw Division I football player right away. I thought he might grow into an offensive lineman, but then I saw how agile he was and nimble on his feet. You could see the potential.”
Dennis-Sutton seemed well prepared to leave home for the private school on the hill near the beltway, a few minutes from Baltimore Ravens preseason camp. His mother, Tishon, teaches high school science and anatomy in Delaware, and established strict academic protocols at home; his father, Dana, is a bus driver for mentally and physically disabled adults, and shepherded much of his son’s early sports career.
Dennis-Sutton flourished almost immediately at suit-and-tie McDonogh. While the nation’s most powerful college football programs courted him, Penn State worked its unique advantage early, even relentlessly. Coach Sule has known Franklin well for years, since he was a walk-on linebacker at the University of Maryland and Franklin was the team’s offensive coordinator.
The McDonogh door didn’t truly open for Penn State, though, until Franklin convinced Mustipher to sign on four years ago.
Mustipher played big minutes as a true freshman and quickly developed into a team leader. Ellies, another promising defensive tackle, joined a year later. Jacobs, one of the nation’s top athletic talents on both sides of the ball, came a year after that.
Each was a big brother to Dennis-Sutton, who watched them thrive in college just two hours away.
“This whole process, when you talk about recruiting, it’s all about trust,” Sule said. “You trust they’re going to take care of your kid, take care of your teammate, your son. And there’s a lot of trust right now between McDonogh and Penn State.”
Dennis-Sutton plans to study business in college and seems like an early bet to leave for the NFL with his degree in just three years.
He doesn’t seem concerned about the over-hyped fan anticipation and media attention. Rather, he said he uses that as motivation to improve, always.
“There’s really no reason why I shouldn’t be able to play with those guys right away,” he said without hesitation or bravado. “I have the physical abilities, the speed, the mobility, the strength, the size. It’s just me getting the playbook down and taking on the challenge of playing Big Ten football.
“I think we can win as much at Penn State as Alabama and Georgia. Some people might call me delusional, but I think we can, especially with the (recruiting) class we’ve got coming in.”
Dennis-Sutton certainly is a headliner of the group. The one who pushed football weightlifting to the early mornings, and who fits in defensive line drills whenever possible, just to make room for his new-found sprinting.
He smiled when talking about breaking 11 seconds in the 100 meters this spring. Anything to help him live up to his grand recruiting rankings and expectations.
“He’s on a mission,” his mother said. “Dani knows what he’s going (to Penn State) for and knows where he’s been. I encourage him all the time to just relax some now. Dani’s ahead of the game.”
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him atfbodani@ydr.com and follow him on Twitter @YDRPennState.
