Spring game standout, Dominic DeLuca 'following the process'
Dominic DeLuca already notched an accomplishment before he stepped on the field for the Blue-White Game last month. The true freshman safety was Penn State’s Developmental Squad Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, also logging time in three games on special teams.
Having made the shift from safety to linebacker this spring, though, the linebacker couldn’t have predicted what’d come next. He secured two interceptions, a sack, and two tackles through the course of Penn State’s amended spring game.
“It was a fun experience. Yeah, I had a pretty good game,” DeLuca said this week. “It was awesome just to be in Beaver Stadium in front of all those fans again. It’s been two years since we had that Blue-White with everyone there. It was awesome.”
With the experience under his belt, DeLuca is focused on what’s next.
Dominic DeLuca’s path to Penn State
A walk-on from Wyoming Area High School in West Pittston, Pa., DeLuca helped secure a PIAA Class 3A championship. Now, he’s dialed in on learning linebacker, having played quarterback, in the secondary, and on special teams in high school.
Listed at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, he acknowledged the move has been an adjustment.
“It was a big change moving me from safety to linebacker. I had to learn all that. I was ready for it, though, I knew it was gonna happen sooner or later,” he said. “So I just put my head down and worked, asked a lot of questions. Moving from safety to linebacker, it’s learning reading gaps, reading linemen, just being closer to the box, closer to the big guys up front. So it’s a change.”
It’s also physically demanding, he said.
“They have like 100 pounds on me now. It’s a little much,” DeLuca said. “But, you just gotta use your size to your advantage and try not to get tied up with the big linemen.”
Next steps for Dominic DeLuca
Like his other position-mates, DeLuca added that he’s been taking his cues from Curtis Jacobs this spring. And while Ellis Brooks’ loss has been felt in the room, the third-year linebacker has picked up where the veteran left off.
“Curt’s taking right over just like he did being the captain of the room, making sure everyone’s on their game, and everyone’s doing good,” DeLuca said. “And he’s taking control. He did that even a little bit last year. He just followed Ellis and Jesse really in that linebacker room and learned from them.
“(He’s) making sure they’re not messing up. Make sure they’re not missing class, missing practice, missing anything. And just making sure they’re watching film. He’s always on us about watching film, watching film, watching film. He was pushing it all spring. Everyone was watching film.”
A lifelong Penn State fan said to have come to White Out games since he was a 3-year-old, DeLuca is determined to follow the path laid out by other walk-ons before him.
Calling linebacker Jan Johnson an “inspiration,” DeLuca has a game plan in mind to reach that success and help the program.
“A lot of walk-ons come through Penn State and did well. They make a huge impact. And some even eventually made it to the league,” DeLuca said. “So I’m just gonna follow the process, trust them, do what they tell them what to do, and hopefully that leads to success.”
