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By JAMES P. GALVIN; Times Leader Sports Writer
Monday, October 11, 1993 Page:
HAZLETON — He is Hazleton Area’s first blue chipper.
He is Dan Drogan.
And at 6-foot-9 and 264 pounds, he’s something else.
“When we got him, he was a 215-pound basketball player,” said Rich Matz,
the Cougars’ football coach, “and he turned out to be a blue-chip recruit.”
That’s not just his coach talking.
Drogan has been honored already by newspapers and national magazines,
including one that says he’s the top offensive tackle in the East.
“I was overwhelmed,” said Drogan of the honors. “But coach Matz has
prepared me for it and how to handle it.”
Now Drogan has to get on the field and deal with the pressure of being such
a highly touted player.
“I was nervous because of it,” said Drogan. “But I am nervous every game.
This is just the way things are, and I have to deal with it.”
Things weren’t always this way for Drogan. He was not always the most
dominating lineman in the Wyoming Valley Conference. He had to work for it.
Even now, Matz doesn’t stop pushing.
“Right now, he is the number one tackle in the East, so naturally I am
never satisfied with his performance,” said Matz. “He has to work on his upper
body strength, and I know he can play better.”
When Drogan was just a sophomore at West Hazleton High School, Matz told
the 215-pounder to hit the weight room and he would improve.
He did.
In a five-month period, Drogan’s weight went from 215 pounds to 235.
Before this year started, he got up to 270 pounds and is now playing at
264.
“You have to give him credit,” said Matz. “That is 50 pounds in less than
two years, but he will get $120,000 in scholarship money for it. You don’t get
something for nothing.”
Because of Drogan’s hard work — and naturally, his size — he and the rest
of the offensive line are the focus of Hazleton Area’s offense.
In Hazleton Area’s win over State College earlier this year, the Cougars
ran the ball 55 times and 46 were behind Drogan.
Nobody knows his value more than the guys who run behind him.
“He has done a good job for us the last couple of weeks,” said Dave
Kaschak, the Cougars’ top running back this year. “Against Wyoming Area he
made a big block that I scored on.”
“Dan has achieved his goal,” said Matz. “When he came in two years ago, we
looked at him and said, `If you stick with football, you will go to school
anywhere you want for free.”‘
One reason, Drogan says, that colleges and publications have so much
interest is the merger of schools that brought him to Hazleton Area from West
Hazleton when it combined with Hazleton and Freeland.
He’s playing for a team that represents one of the largest schools in the
state and that plays against some of the state’s top football competition.
“I don’t think I would be in this position if it didn’t happen,” said
Drogan. “It is a bigger school now, and you get more attention now.”
Has he ever gotten attention.
He’s being hounded by Division I schools from a long list that includes
Penn State, Miami, Virginia, West Virginia, Syracuse, Pitt and countless
others.
Those that interest him most are Boston College, North Carolina and the
University of Maryland.
Matz explained Drogan’s interest in each of them:
Boston College has put 13 linemen in the pros during the last couple of
seasons.
The North Carolina program is on the rise and has been interested in Drogan
for at least two years now.
Maryland’s run-and-shoot offense would give Drogan the chance to pass block
more, something pro scouts like to see.
“I want to take football as far as I can,” Drogan said. “I will go to
college and play the best I can.”
Right now, though, there’s a season to play.
The Cougars are 2-2 with some tough games coming up for the young squad.
And that’s what Drogan’s got to focus on now.
“At the end of the season, we will sit down and talk about (college),” said
Matz.
In the meantime, Drogan will continue to help Hazleton Area get better.
And to make himself better, too.
“The pros like to see you get the hands up with the pass blocking,” said
Matz. “That is something he has to work on for the college level. We just
don’t pass a lot, so he has to learn better technique.”
These days, he’s learning from Tim Samec, the former West Hazleton and
University of Virginia lineman who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I think he is developing pretty well,” said Samec, who was released by the
Steelers after suffering a foot injury. “He needs to build up his upper body a
little bit more, he is a little timid at times, but the scouts like what they
see. He is going to be a player.”
Samec said Drogan needs to work on his foot work and pass blocking, but he
certainly has star potential.
“If he has the drive and the determination and if he works hard in the
off-season,” said Samec, “I don’t see any reason why he can’t play on the NFL
level.”
Matz agrees.
“He is just an outstanding young man,” he said. “Some day he will be at the
next level after major college football, and he will be a 320-pound offensive
lineman.”