During a brief ceremony at River High School Feb. 3, RHS multi-sport standout Dylan Potts signed his name on a national letter of intent to continue both his academic and football careers at the University of Akron.

“It’s a relief to have all of this over with now and I can concentrate on working to get stronger and faster,” Potts said.

“Dylan had set goals for himself at an early age,” said River High Head Football Coach Mike Flannery. “Dylan has worked very hard to get where he is, and I am proud of him. He knows and understands the game well and will learn even more as he moves forward in his career.”

Potts verbally committed to Akron last spring for then head coach J. D. Brookhart. But, after Akron finished the 2009 season with a dismal 3-9 record a coaching change occurred. They would hire former Notre Dame Assistant Coach Rob Ianello as its new head coach in December. Even with all the changes at Akron, neither Potts nor Akron wavered.

While the coaching change didn’t affect Potts’ decision to play for the Division I University, it will affect his position. After being recruited by their former coaching staff as a quarterback for the spread offense with a slight possibility of shifting positions, the new coaching staff informed Potts early on he’ll be shifted to wide receiver and may even get a look as a safety.

“I’ve never played anything but quarterback, but I am looking forward to it and I think I will enjoy it,” Potts admitted. “I just want to get on the field wherever I can.”

Potts believes his quarterbacking history will help him a great deal to shift positions.

“The knowledge of running routes, knowing where guys are supposed to be and reading defenses will be a big help,” Potts said. “I kind of had an idea that they wouldn’t use me as a quarterback, so I accepted and have been working to get ready to play receiver.”

Flannery was quite impressed with the way the Akron coaches have handled Potts. “They were very straight forward with him,” Flannery said. “They told him they were going to bring him on campus as a receiver or a safety. I can’t say enough about the Akron staff. I’ve had three coaches plus a graduate assistant in this school since they took over.”

The six-foot, 195 pounder was a four-year letterman for the Pilots, taking over the starting quarterback duties in the third game of his freshman year. “We threw him into the fire, we won the game and he was our starting quarterback from that point on,” Flannery continued. “He led two very good football teams to the playoffs.”

After brilliant sophomore and junior campaigns in which Potts triggered a Pilots’ attack which qualified for the Division VI playoffs, he was injured early in the 2009 season and the Pilots limped to a 2-8 season. However, he battled back from a shoulder injury and returned to the field for the final five games of the season and completed 91-of-152 passes for 1,100 yards and six touchdowns. He also ran for four scores.

For his career, Potts has thrown for close to 4,000 yards, while, tossing 30 touchdowns and running for 17 more.

Potts is currently a starter for the Pilots’ basketball team and will run track in the spring, where he has also excelled. Potts was the district champ in his junior year in the 400 meter dash and made first team District 12. In basketball, Potts made first team All-Pioneer Valley Conference and third team in the OVAC also during his junior season.

Potts is believed to be the first Division I football signee to ever play for the Pilots. Dylan, the son of Matt and Heather Potts of Sardis, plans to major in sports management.