Villanova Football Recruiting: WR/DB Dan Cirino commits

Mark Ferrante and his staff welcomed a local product last week, after Pope John Paul II’s (Pa.) Dan Cirino announced his commitment to the Wildcats on Twitter.

He is another 2018 recruit, one that can make an impact on both sides of the ball.

This past season, Cirino received awards that included First Team All-League wide receiver, Second Team All-Area Athlete, Norristown Chapter Sportsmanship Award, Team Offensive Player of the Year, in addition to the Team Academic Award.

A 6-foot-1 athlete, Cirino has been a four-year starter for Pope John Paul II, providing himself as a crucial contributor each season for the known Pennsylvania High School.

Offensively, Cirino has the ability to play wide receiver or in the backfield as a running back. As a wide receiver at Pope John Paul II, he led the team in receptions the past two seasons and led the team in receiving touchdowns as a senior.

Defensively, he has mainly played at the free safety position for the past four seasons, with the ability to play corner extremely well in high pressure situations. He started on defense beginning his sophomore year and was one of the team’s top tacklers for two seasons.

Adding to his impressive resume, he is also a key special teams contributor, as he’s been returning punts for the past two years.

According to his high school coach, Cirino commits himself to the weight room during off-season and is driven to constantly improve his overall strength and speed. What makes him special is that he is never satisfied with his abilities, not taking anything for granite.

He is a three-sport athlete participating in football, basketball and baseball—further proving his versatility—while academically ranking in the top 20% of his class of over 225 students.

By the time Cirino arrives to Villanova’s campus, looking at the crowded wide receiver position, Andrew Smith, Adeyemi DaSilva, Sam Shaud, Alex Padovoni, and Jarrett McClenton will be seniors. Hayden Sernyak, Brandon Chadbourn, Changa Hodge, and Zac Kerxton will be juniors. Tahj Powell, Robert Brady, and Julian Liaci will be sophomores. Josh McGrigg will be a redshirt sophomore, while Taurus Phillips and Will Harris will have graduated.

As far as the defensive secondary, it’s less crowded, as Trey Johnson, Malik Reaves, and Rasaan Stewart will have graduated—taking a lot of experience and playing time between the three of them.

Isaiah Alicea and Chucky Smith will be seniors. Jaquan Amos, Jevon Jones, Darryl McDaniel, and Drew Ehrlich will be sophomores, Julian Williams and Dage Davis juniors. Nowooola Awopetu and Terrell Vassel will be freshmen as they redshirted this year. And lastly, Rob Rolle, will be a redshirt senior.