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| Daniel Sullivan has gone from backup kicker to starting receiver and starting kicker at Grove City. Grove City athletics photos by Blaise Kilmartin, Doug Nastock |
By Joe Sager
D3sports.com
Daniel Sullivan thought he was going to be a kicker when he got to college.
Once at Grove City, though, he became a starting wide receiver.
Now, he’s playing both positions for the Wolverines.
“He’s just an unbelievably talented young man,” Grove City coach Andrew DiDonato said. “His speed and quickness are undeniable. When you have that natural talent and combine it with the discipline and work ethic he has, it’s special.”
Sullivan grew up with a soccer background. His sister, Rachel, was a four-year starter for Grove City’s women’s team.
However, he didn’t play soccer in high school. Coming from a football family — his father (Allegheny) and uncle (Washington & Jefferson) both played in college — Sullivan opted to hit the gridiron his sophomore year at Simsbury High School in Connecticut. He kicked and played receiver for the Trojans for three seasons.
Coming to Grove City, though, the Wolverines were interested in him as a kicker only. That lasted all of two days once he set foot on the practice field. With a kicker firmly established in Caleb Kuechly, Sullivan wanted to find other ways to contribute to the team.
“I was recruited to be a kicker. I did both receiving and kicking in high school and I asked the coaches if there was any chance I could get some receiving reps, too,” he said. “The first day of practice, I didn’t really ask. After the first day, I asked if I could get some reps in at receiver. The next day, I got some reps. I just did the best I could. Lord willing, it worked out.”
Sullivan blew away the Grove City coaches with his speed and athleticism.
“We recruited him mainly as a kicker. Throughout the recruiting process, though, he mentioned he was a receiver and we said we’d let him try it,” DiDonato said. “He wouldn’t have won the starting kicking job yet as a freshman, so we let him practice at receiver. The first day out there — wow, we could see this guy can move. His quickness and shiftiness were very apparent. It took one practice to realize he’d be special doing both kicking and receiving.”
So, the shift to receiver happened for Sullivan. Yet, he was unsure if he’d be able to handle the jump from high school to college football.
“It was the first day of contact and I was sitting on the bench and I wasn’t kicking. It was a full-contact practice and I remember hearing the contact with the helmets and pads and it was way different than I heard in high school,” he said. “I said to myself that there’s no way I will ever play here.”
Sullivan went from not even being sure he could play to starting at receiver for the Wolverines last fall.
“It all happened so fast. When I came in, the Z receiver was kind of open. They were looking for someone who could fill that spot. I kind of got lucky and came at the perfect time to fill the spot,” he said. “It’s just the way God’s plan worked for me to make the most of my opportunities. It’s crazy how it all worked out.”
Sullivan was a key component of the most successful run in Grove City program history. He finished third on the team with 15 catches for 358 yards as the Wolverines claimed the PAC championship, won their first NCAA playoff game and finished 11-1.
“It was a just a really fascinating year,” he said. “Going 10-0 in the regular season and being part of a team that made a historic run was really cool.”
He credits his teammates for helping him learn the offense and adjust.
“Our quarterback, Logan (Pfeuffer), kind of took me under his wing and taught me the offense. He really helped me out,” Sullivan said. “Here at Grove City, we’re big on team and having a lot of guys being there for freshmen. Having guys to go to for advice is critical for success, not just for me, but the team.”
Heading into the offseason, Sullivan worked strictly at the receiver position and didn’t even think about kicking a football. Then, he a got a phone call just before heading back for fall camp.
“It was a week and a half before camp and I was at home when Coach DiDonato gave me a call. He said our kicker from last year had a wrist injury and wouldn’t be able to play this season. Then, he asked if I would be up to kicking along with playing receiver,” Sullivan said. “I said I would. So, that week before camp, I went to the field a lot. I hadn’t kicked in eight or nine months. I had to get back into the swing of things. That was a week where my legs were pretty sore.”
Sullivan rushed to rediscover his kicking form and feel for the ball.
“Working out in the offseason, getting my legs as strong as I could definitely helped me out. Just the form and the contact of the ball were not as good because I hadn’t done it. That week going into camp and a couple weeks into camp and the season, it was just about getting as many reps as I could. I just needed reps to get that feeling back,” he said. “Once I got enough reps, it came back. Kicking is a lot of a ‘feel’ game. If you feel confident, it’s going to be good. It just took time to get that back.”
In addition, he had to rebuild the strength in his right leg and hips.
“The first couple of weeks of the season, my legs were very sore because I hadn’t kicked in so long,” he said. “Once we got to Week 4 or 5, my legs felt great. Now, I feel a lot better than I have in a long time.”
The additional duties meant a change to Sullivan’s practice routine. Not only would he have to practice with the receivers and the rest of the offense, but he needed to spend time working with the specialists.
“It was a learning curve for me, as a coach,” DiDonato said. “You have to evolve. Right now, we’re best when he’s doing both so I had to learn how to structure our practices to allow it. Last year, we wanted him to focus on one thing, so he really didn’t do a lot of kicking. Early in the year this year with his legs, we really had to limit him on what he was doing. We didn’t want his legs to get sore or tight. It was really in the last couple weeks we got into a good rhythm with him to do both fully and it really helped us get back on track.”
Practice wasn’t the only thing that changed for Sullivan. He had to balance the responsibilities of being a key part in the team’s offense to being the go-to guy in the kicking game. He kicks off and handles extra point and field goal kicking for the Wolverines (7-1). So, Sullivan could go from catching a touchdown to immediately having to kick the extra point.
“It’s a different mindset from having to play wide receiver and being so hyped up, thinking about attacking, attacking, attacking, to having to kick and be super calm,” he said. “It’s something I have been used to, though, since I did it in high school. It hasn’t been a big change for me. It’s definitely different than last year when I was purely a receiver.”
So, with little to no chance to warm up his leg on the sidelines, how is he able to be effective? He’s 39-for-42 on extra points and 6-for-8 on field goal attempts, including making both of his field goal attempts from 40 yards or more.
“With playing receiver, my legs don’t get cold because I am not standing around,” he said. “Going from a catch to a kick, it’s definitely different. I have learned to take some deep breaths so I can focus on the kick. My approach to a kick is the same every time. Even if I haven’t kicked a ball the whole half to having to kick a field goal, I just take my three steps and line up the kick. I imagine seeing the ball go through the uprights and just remain confident enough I can make the kick. I have done it enough where it’s become more of a routine.”
In fact, being so involved keeps his mind occupied on the here and now and not the future.
“There’s not a lot of time to overthink it. It’s just go, go, go. That’s good,” he said. “A lot of times, as a kicker, you can overthink it — the wind, the cold — it allows your brain to overthink.”
However, sometimes he just needs a break between plays, like in the Wolverines’ 41-0 win over Geneva in Week 1. Sullivan booked it down the field for an 81-yard touchdown reception and then had to kick the PAT.
“I had to take about 10 seconds to just breathe,” he said with a laugh. “It was cool, though.”
Sullivan has continued his success at receiver, where his production has increased. He ranks second on the team with 20 catches for 349 yards and three touchdowns. That makes him the first player in NCAA Division III football in the last eight years to kick six or more field goals and score multiple touchdowns and the first player in program history to score a touchdown and kick an extra point since Jerre McCann in 1975.
“Going into this year, I felt more confident within the offense,” Sullivan said. “I think with Logan and me, our timing has gotten better. Logan is a guy who will always put the ball in the right place to give me an opportunity to go up and catch the ball. We’ve had so many reps the past two years; if he needs to throw me or Scott (Fraser) the ball, he can feel comfortable throwing it to us.”
With his unique ability to catch the ball, are there any special fake field goal plays for Sullivan in Grove City’s bag of tricks?
“No, not right now,” he said with a laugh. “Some of the other guys and I have been talking about trying to do something, but nothing is in the making yet — hopefully, sometime soon, though.”
The double duties may not be a one-year thing for Sullivan.
“I love kicking. It’s something that I started to do when I was younger and just fell in love with it,” he said. “I love playing receiver, too. I’d love to do both throughout the rest of my time here. If they had to have me pick one, it’d be tough. I’d love to continue to do if I could.”
Sullivan will be an even bigger part of the Grove City offense next year.
“Next year, we lose three of our top receivers to graduation, so we’ll need him to be a No. 1-type receiver and be a kicker,” DiDonato said. “The jump from last year to this year was big for him because he had to handle both responsibilities. But, the question moving forward will be how do we feature him as a No. 1-type target and still do kicking duty?”
Sullivan will prepare to handle both.
“It’s definitely going to be different from last year,” he said. “I’ll still go up to the field a couple times a week to keep the routes crisp and my legs loose. But, kicking is such a game that, if you take a break, you could majorly impact it. So, I will probably try to get to the field three times a week to kick and do some route running.”
