There may be some who were surprised Devin Church chose Northern Illinois over offers from Boston College, Toledo and others, but the 5'8, 175-lb back says there was a lot to like about the school, especially the men running the program.
"It was just a relationship I had with the coaches mainly. I talked to the running backs coach dang near every day and we had a close relationship. He was just like thinking what I was thinking. We were on the same page. It wasn't really about the level of play. I mean, college football is college football, whether or not you're ACC, MAC, college football is college football and they said they're going to get me the ball."
Church is slated to play running back and slot, and he says the success of past running backs like LeShon Johnson, Michael Turner, Garrett Wolfe and others, played a role in his decision.
"That was another thing I took into consideration. They just sent another guy to the league the next year. He got picked up by the Colts (Chad Spann). That's everybody's goal when you get to college is to get to the league."
First thing's first though, Church is ready to lead Brother Rice this season, including a week one showdown with Detroit King and their highly touted tailback Dennis Norfleet, a Cincinnati commit.
"Got to show out. I'm hoping to play to my full potential. I know what I can do, now just go out there and do it. There's nothing left to say now."