Jaohne Duggan's quick rise to Big Ten recruit was years in the making

Class of 2017 defensive lineman Jaohne Duggan of Liberty High School (Bethlehem, Pa.) went from being an under-the-radar prospect to a Rutgers commit in a very short span of time. That was the culmination of a boyhood dream, one that was formed a long time ago in in Allentown, Pa.

“I started playing football when I was four years old. I was able to start so early because I was a bigger kid,” Duggan said. “It was just flag football when I first started, but I always loved playing the game. ”

At the age of eight, Duggan’s family would move to Bethlehem where he has lived ever since. But no matter where he lived, he always stood out on the football field.

“I was always taller than people, but I was not a really big kid," Duggan said. "I played a little bit of everything except quarterback and wide receiver. In middle school, I got a chance to really show how athletic I was. I played fullback and middle linebacker. I was probably like 6-foot, 230 pounds by then.

“A lot of people would take a look at me and not think I was that athletic because I was so big. So that time was really fun for me. I had the chance to run the ball at fullback, I had like 800 yards. I also played middle linebacker.”

Throughout his early years on the gridiron, there was a constant theme with Duggan’s play.

“I was always the most physical player on my team,” he said. “I had a lot of complaints from people who wanted to see my birth certificate. They didn’t believe my age.”

Duggan moved onto the next level at Liberty High School, where it did not take long for him to assert himself as a freshman.

“I made a name for myself during like the second week of double practices,” Duggan explained. “They had me playing linebacker for the scout defense against the first-team offense. One play, I hit the kid real hard and he fumbled, so they started giving me more reps. Finally, they got to see I was a real physical and athletic player.”

That led Duggan to become a part of the varsity defensive line rotation as a freshman and he would eventually go on to start some games before the year’s end.

Things looked promising after his first two years at Liberty as it looked like Duggan’s junior year would reel in some scholarship offers.

“I always wanted to be a division 1 player since I was little,” Duggan said. “My dad pushed me a lot. He never pushed me to the point where I didn’t want to work. I always wanted to work because I just love the sport ever since I was young.”

Duggan’s junior season came and went, yet there was still no offers.

“It was definitely frustrating seeing all these other people get offers. But I never really complained about it,” Duggan said. “It was frustrating, but I knew that eventually one school would find me. My dad kept telling me that things will work out and some coach will find me. He said to just be patient.”

Part of the reason that some college coaches may have overlooked Duggan is because he was not playing completely healthy throughout his junior season.

“I had a hamstring injury during my junior season," Duggan revealed. "I didn’t feel like I was at 100%. It was always nagging. I couldn’t go full speed some plays and I am not the type of guy who likes to sit around and rest. Rest was the only thing that would heal it, but I wanted to keep playing. There was nothing I could really do, I would ice it every day. I always like to get out there and work out too. But this offseason, I wanted to get my hamstring strong so I could dominate my senior year.”

Duggan seems to have left those injury issues behind as his camp performance at Rutgers was strong enough to earn an offer, which led to a commitment on June 27th.

Not long after Duggan announced his decision to accept a scholarship offer from Rutgers, other colleges finally came calling.

“Penn State and Temple tried to get in contact with me the week I committed,” Duggan said. “The Virginia Tech head coach started following me [on Twitter] and I got a couple of letters from Michigan State.”

And how does Duggan feel about receiving that kind of attention following his commitment?

“I feel like every kid wants all the offers, but you can only pick one college when it comes down to it. When you find that college, you should not have to wait. Rutgers is the place for me. I like everything about it. The coaching staff is not just worried about me on the field, but they are worried about me off the field with academics and things like that. I am really sold on that.”