February 6, 2013 – The Hillsdale College football program is pleased to welcome the newest class of players to one of the most successful Division II programs in the Midwest in recent years.
Head coach Keith Otterbein welcomed 24 new players to the Charger football family on today's national signing day. He said he expects to add more players to the program between signing day and the start of fall practice in August.
"A lot of our success in recent years is due to the work our staff does during the recruiting process," Otterbein said. "Our coaches do an outstanding job of identifying players who not only are good players on the field, but they will be great fits in our college community. We're excited to work with this group of young men as they step into our program."
The list of incoming freshman football players for the 2013 season appears at the bottom of this story.
Players from six different states are represented in the signing day group. The initial class brings impressive academic credentials with it. The incoming freshman class has an average overall high school grade point average of 3.74, while the average ACT score of the group is 27.
These players join a Charger program that has either made the NCAA playoffs, or won a GLIAC division title in each of the past four seasons. Otterbein has guided the team to six straight seasons of at least seven wins, the first time that's happened since the 1950s. Hillsdale currently has three players on NFL rosters: Jared Veldheer of the Oakland Raiders, Andre Holmes of the New England Patriots and Nick Hixson of the Carolina Panthers.
The 2013 football season kicks off with a home game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 against California (Pa.).
| NAME | POS. | HT. | WT. | HOMETOWN/HIGH SCHOOL | COACH |
| Austin Adams | TE | 6-6 | 223 | Medina, Ohio/Highland | Tom Lombardo |
| Chuck Ahee | LB | 6-0 | 210 | Macomb, Mich. /Chippewa Valley | Scott Merchant |
| Tom Beley | WR | 6-4 | 170 | Raleigh, NC/St. David's School | Wes Wilder |
| Ron Branch | DB | 5-8 | 169 | Stevensville, Mich./Lake Shore | Denny Dock |
| Alex Buchmann | QB | 6-0 | 170 | Westminster, Col./Faith Christian | Blair Hubbard |
| Jake Bull | TE | 6-6 | 218 | Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville | Dave Ligard |
| Nick Chappell | OL | 6-5 | 279 | Fenton, Mich./Fenton | Jeff Setzke |
| Taylor Cone | WR/P | 6-3 | 195 | Winona Lake, Ind./Warsaw | Jeff Setzke |
| Daniel Drummond | OL | 6-3 | 275 | Pittsford, NY/Rush Henrietta | Joe Montesano |
| Matt Hall | LB | 6-1 | 204 | Saranac, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian | Don Fellows |
| Jordon Harlamert | DL | 6-1 | 247 | Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater | Chip Otten |
| Matthew Hazelton | H-back | 5-9 | 205 | Lakeland, Fla./Geneva Classical Academy | Steve Sloan |
| Zach Hill | DB | 6-0 | 187 | Kalkaska, Mich./Kalkaska | Jeremy Wilkinson |
| Nathan Hollern | DB | 5-8 | 182 | Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central | Trip Gallery |
| Will Jones | DB | 5-9 | 161 | Lafayette, Ind./Central Catholic | Kevin O'Shea |
| Joe Kendzicky | QB | 6-1 | 167 | Ann Arbor, Mich./Gabriel Richard | Brian Lemons |
| Chris Koenigsknecht | LB | 5-8 | 197 | Fenton, Mich./Flint Powers | Bob Buckel |
| Joe Kutil | QB | 6-7 | 174 | Waterford, Mich./Notre Dame Prep | Kyle Zimmerman |
| Kyle Marsh | OL | 6-2 | 225 | Rochester, Mich./Brother Rice | Al Fracassa |
| Timmy Mills | WR | 5-10 | 156 | Lafayette, Ind./Central Catholic | Kevin O'Shea |
| Spencer Nehls | TB | 6-0 | 185 | Ada, Mich./Forest Hills Central | Tim Rogers |
| Alex Okopien | DL | 5-10 | 249 | Fenton, Mich./Fenton | Jeff Setzke |
| Tim Pearce | DB | 5-11 | 175 | Tatum, NM/Tatum | Gary Durham |
| Scotty Penola | LB | 6-3 | 207 | Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville | Larry McWhorter |
| Doug Phillips III | DB | 5-9 | 182 | Armada, Mich./Armada | Don Holston |
| David Ritchie | QB | 6-0 | 176 | Grosse Ile, Mich./Gabriel Richard | Tom Michalsen |
| Matthew Schrzan | OL | 6-1 | 220 | Allen Park, Mich./Melvindale | Jason Carriveau |
| Casey Schukow | DL | 5-11 | 270 | Saline, Mich./Saline | Joe Palka |
| Ryan Simpson | LB | 5-9 | 199 | Williamsburg, Mich./Elk Rapids | Ed Schindler |
| John Terry | DB | 5-10 | 176 | Tecumseh, Mich./Tecumseh | Al Romano |
| Zach Van Orman | OL | 6-5 | 240 | Hillsdale, Mich./Hillsdale | Marc Lemerand |
| Christian VanDeBurg | TB | 5-10 | 190 | Grand Rapids, Mich./Christian | Don Fellows |