The 2018 Great Midwest Athletic Conference champion Hillsdale College Chargers announce the addition of several players as part of its National Signing Day class of 2019 Wednedday afternoon.
The Charger program added 16 players on Signing Day, February 6. More players will get added to the Team 127 roster throughout the spring.
The initial batch of 16 signees features several players with existing connections to Hillsdale College. Mike Harding's older brother Matt will be a sophomore for the Chargers in 2019. Both played at Detroit Catholic Central. Michael Herzog enrolled in Hillsdale at the semester break, and joins his older brother Zach on the team.
A local prospect, quarterback Jake Burger, becomes a Charger two years after his older sister Jaycie signed with the Charger women's basketball program. Jake Burger was a dyanmic quarterback at Pittsford High School, located in Hillsdale County.
Head coach Keith Otterbein, the Super Region 1 Coach of the Year, credited his coaching staff with recruiting a group of players that excelled on their prep football fields as well as in the classroom.
"We take a lot of pride in being able to be a football program that succeeds academically in addition to having success on the field," Otterbein said. "We have a very bright group of young men coming into our program, and we believe we'll get great contributions from them on the football field in the future as well,"
This year's incoming class has an average high school grade point average of 3.95.
Those players join a Charger football team that concluded the 2018 season ranked 15th in NCAA Division II after winning the G-MAC and advancing to the second round of the playoffs. Four All-Americans graduated from last year's team, opening up opportunities for younger players to get playing time in the new year.
"We had outstanding leadership last year and that was a big part of our success," Otterbein said. "The young guys we have back learned a lot, and now they'll take that leadership mantle on themselves as we begin preparing for the 2019 season."
The Chargers begin the 2019 campaign at home on Saturday, September 7 against Michigan Tech University.
2019 Charger Football Recruiting Class
| POS. | NAME | HT. | WT. | HOMETOWN/HIGH SCHOOL | COACH |
| QB | Garrit Aissen | 6-1 | 180 | Luxemburg, WI/Luxemburg-Casco | Dillon Maney |
| QB | Jake Burger | 6-4 | 190 | Pittsford, MI/Pittsford | Mike Burger |
| DE | Brant Carter | 6-3 | 205 | Davenport, IA/North | Brandon Krusey |
| TE | William Conrad | 6-3 | 210 | Onsted, MI/Onsted | Dan Terryberry |
| OL | Ben Geno | 6-5 | 240 | Battle Creek, MI/Pennfield | Mike Clothier |
| TB | Caden Goggins | 5-8 | 160 | Edwardsburg, MI/Edwardsburg | Kevin Bartz |
| TE | Blaine Gorman | 6-4 | 220 | Frankfort, IL/Lincoln-Way | Rob Zvonar |
| S | Julius Graber | 5-10 | 160 | Middlebury, IN/Northridge | Tom Wogomon |
| TE | Michael Harding | 6-5 | 225 | Livonia, MI/Det. Catholic Central | Tom Mach |
| OL | Jonathan Haverdink | 6-4 | 270 | Schoolcraft, MI/Portage Northern | Pete Schermerhorn |
| DB | Quentin Hernandez | 6-0 | 185 | Haslett, MI/Haslett | Charlie Otlewski |
| DB | Michael Herzog | 5-9 | 185 | Windsor, ON/Holy Names | Rob McIntyre |
| OL | Derek Holston | 6-5 | 260 | Westerville, OH/Worthington Christian | Jeff Hartings |
| TB | Evan McGee | 5-10 | 180 | Traverse City, MI/St. Francis | Josh Sellers |
| OL | Carson McNellie | 6-1 | 280 | Concord, OH/Lake Catholic | Marty Gibbons |
| TB | Ramsey Nitzel | 5-10 | 190 | Hastings, NE/Adams Central | |
| WR | George Pettigrew | 5-11 | 165 | Huron, OH/Woodberry Forest | Scott Braswell |
| OL | Garett Redmer | 6-1 | 245 | Hudsonville, MI/Catholic Central | Todd Kolster |
| WR | Branden Robinson | 6-1 | 160 | Lake Orion, MI/Lake Orion | John Blackstock |
| LB | Zach Urda | 6-0 | 205 | Lyndhurst, OH/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin School | Andrew Mooney |