Dom DeLuca is a special guy. In a good way. And a special teams guy. In a great way. His jersey may be No. 0 — which is special, in its own right — but in so many ways Dom is a one-of-a-kind player. And person.
How so? Cue the Penn State Fight Song, call the Hallmark Channel and let Penn State head coach James Franklin explain:
“His story — being the player of the year in the state, torn ACL, grayshirt, walk-on, earned a scholarship, captain,” Franklin said the other day when I asked him what made DeLuca special. “I mean, they could make a movie about Dom, right? He is that type of kid…
“Parents are awesome. Starts out as a special teams guy, dominates in that role, then an expanded role on defense, does really well there.
“He’s an unbelievable representative of Penn State and what we’re all about. Blue collar, hard-nosed, Coal Region kid. I can’t say enough good things about him. I really can’t. I’m a big fan of Dom, and I think he’s going to have a really good year for us. Obviously, we know as a special teams player, but also on defense.”
TRANSLATION, EXPANDED VERSION
Here is the annotated version of CJF’s shorthand, with testimonials and numbers:
Player of the year in the state, as a quarterback for Wyoming (Pa.) Area High School, scoring 34 touchdowns (21 pass, 13 rush) with only five interceptions — Says Dom: “I tell Coach K (Kotelnicki) and Coach (Danny) O’Brien that if they need me to play quarterback, I’m still here. I was offensive player of the year in the state of Pennsylvania in 2019 — and I’ve still got it in me. Run a little speed option or something.”
Torn ACL —As I wrote back in 2022, when I first met Dom: “A quarterback on offense and a safety on defense, DeLuca led Wyoming Area to the Class 3A championship in December 2019. And he did so with a torn ACL. The injury came in the middle of the third quarter of the title game at Hersheypark Stadium. He missed one play, then went back in. By the start of the fourth quarter, Central Valley led Wyoming Area 14-0. DeLuca responded by throwing two touchdown passes and running for the winning score in the final seconds to lead Wyoming Area to a come-from-behind 21-14 victory.”
Talk about heart. Linebacker Tony Rojas wants to: “What people don’t know about Dom is his heart. He comes in every day and goes to every meeting with such energy. He has great pride and positive energy. He is someone always on us to get better every day.”
Grayshirt — In March 2020, Dom announced he was going to walk on at Penn State. But first, he had to rehab his left knee, which had suffered an 80% tear in that championship game. He finally enrolled as a preferred walk-on at Penn State in January 2021, picking the Nittany Lions over opportunities at West Virginia and Pitt.
Walk-on — Listen to his pal Landon Tengwall, who has known DeLuca as a teammate, friend and housemate: “Dom came into Penn State in 2021 as a walk-on and made everyone respect him. They had no choice — because of the way he came into the facility every day like he had something to prove.”
Earned a scholarship — He proved it, all right. The night before the Rose Bowl, Franklin surprised DeLuca by putting him on scholarship.
Captain — If he is named captain again in 2024 (it’s a lock), DeLuca will be the only returning PSU captain from the six that led the 2023 squad. Fellow linebacker Kobe King says Dom is really the king: “Dom’s the piece that holds us together. Without Dom, I don’t think LBU would be LBU for me. He came in here with me. Since I’ve been here, he’s been my guy. I love the way he works. I love the way he carries himself. I love how he handles his business. Dom is a great player. He’s a smart player — he’s one of the smartest players I have ever played with. He’s fast, he’s strong. He’s resilient too. He’s going to do what he has to do to get the job done.”
Special Teams — DeLuca wears No. 0 as a tribute to his special teams prowess and leadership, a tradition started with four-time Nittany Lion captain Jonathan Sutherland. “I’m on all the special teams,” Dom says proudly, then lowers his voice, “…except field goal.”
Defense — DeLuca was seventh on the Nittany Lion defense in tackles in 2023, and is the fifth-leading returning tackler. He truly does it all. In 2023, he tied for the team lead in interceptions, with a 31-yard pick six against Delaware and a 26-yarder at Maryland. He forced two fumbles (tied for team-high) and blocked the team’s only punt last year, against UMass.
He is excited about what 2024 holds for the defense under its new coordinator, Tom Allen: “Coach Allen has been really great. I love learning from him. He has introduced a lot of new things for us to learn — different ways to go about reading pre-snap keys and post-snap keys. It’s helping me a lot. It’s helping me play faster. I’m loving him.
Make a movie — Let’s finish with two great scenes, in Dom’s words, from “The Dom DeLuca Story”:
The Guatemala Giant Heart Story — “A bunch of guys on the team went to Guatemala two summers ago. We were handing out shoes at schools and orphanages. We were looking for a pair of shoes for this kid and we couldn’t find a pair of shoes that fit him. He had huge feet. He was a big kid, in elementary school, too. He just happened to be the same size as me. Size 12. So, I took the shoes off of my feet and gave him those. Just being able to put a smile on his face was awesome. They were Nikes, but not from Penn State. We raised money and also donated some shoes as well. It was a great experience. I was amazed by it.”
The Giant Romantic Heart Story (I saw Dom at the North Atherton Giant checkout counter last spring, and I convinced him at media day last week to share this story) — “My mom always told me that flowers is the way to a girl’s heart. You caught me in the act getting flowers for my girlfriend and having a little wine night. We made some dinner and watched a Marvel movie. It was a Josh chardonnay and she cooked this pasta and chicken dish. I always ask for it. It was really good.
“It was a good night, just seeing her. She was living in Pittsburgh at the time. She came back to State College to see me. She just graduated from Pitt with a degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in chemistry. She’s now getting her master’s here at Penn State in tissue engineering. Someone had to be the brains.”
He chuckled. That’s Dom being Dom. He’s an agribusiness management major, and obviously has learned that you reap what you sow — on and off the field.
