After a brilliant junior campaign, leading St. Peter’s Prep to the HCIAA National Conference championship, Joe Dailey knew that the college recruiters would come calling. But he never knew just how crazy the recruiting game would get.
Almost immediately after the 2001 season ended, talented quarterback Dailey received as many as 40 scholarship offers from all the big-time NCAA Division I schools.
"It was getting crazy," St. Peter’s Prep head coach Rich Hansen said. "But that’s what happens when you’re highly recruited and it has a lot to do with the position he plays. Schools go after one guy. It’s not like he’s a tackle or a linebacker, where there are three of them. It’s a little different when it’s a quarterback."
So after receiving the host of offers, Dailey narrowed down his choices to five, namely Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse.
"Incredibly, they were always the first five on his list," Hansen said. "He went to Syracuse camp in June, then went to the passing seven-on-seven drills at Rutgers. It came down to those two schools, but Syracuse is best suited for what he does best. He feels comfortable with Syracuse and it’s the school he wants with the education he wants."
So instead of waiting it out and making his decision known later on, Dailey gave the coaching staff at Syracuse a verbal commitment that he will sign a national letter of intent to play with the Orangemen in the fall of 2003.
Dailey, a talented option quarterback who passed for 1,400 yards and 21 touchdowns while rushing for nearly 1,000 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns a year ago for the Marauders, thinks that Syracuse is the school that best fits his style of play.
"I think the offense that they run suits me well," Dailey said. "Plus, there’s a very relaxed surroundings up there and I liked the coaching staff a lot. I think it’s a very good fit."
The 6-2, 205-pound Dailey, whose playing style rivals former Syracuse option quarterbacks Donovan McNabb, the current Philadelphia Eagles star, and Marvin Graves, gave the Syracuse coaching staff the good news last weekend.
Hansen said that Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni "loved Joe from the beginning," and offered Dailey a scholarship right away.
"Syracuse came in early and wanted him," Hansen said. "Joe felt very comfortable with the coaching staff there. I really think Syracuse is best suited for what Joe does best."
With the decision of choosing a college behind him, Dailey can now concentrate on the business of leading his team, which should be one of the best teams in New Jersey this fall.
"I feel terrific that this decision is off my plate," said Dailey, who possesses a strong throwing arm to go with a 4.4 time in the 40-yard dash. "I’m now off the market, so it will make my life a little less crazy. I can hopefully lead my team to compete for a state championship."
Hansen has always had a very good working relationship with Pasqualoni and the Syracuse coaching staff. In fact, Hansen strongly considered an offer to join the Syracuse coaching staff as an assistant coach.
"I don’t think my relationship with the Syracuse people had anything to do with it," Hansen said. "It was a non-factor. I think it was a conscious-clearing decision. He won’t have the pressures of having to choose a school. He can just concentrate on football and schoolwork."
Dailey seems elated to have made the decision.
"I always believed that if I worked hard, I’d get this chance," Dailey said. "If I work hard and keep my mouth shut, good things would happen. Now, I don’t have anything to worry about. I’m going to a great school, but I want to help the school I’m at now to succeed."
Chances are that Joe Dailey will succeed, with the Marauders in the fall, and with the Orangemen in the future. – Jim Hague