Football, Wrestling
Favorite athlete: Saquon Barkley
Favorite team: Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Beating Wissahickon for our homecoming game.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When I was five, I played my cousin in soccer we ended up fighting and our parents had to calm everyone and tell them it was okay since we were cousins.
Music on playlist: Hype Songs
Future plans: Go to college for engineering
Words to live by: “Obsession beats talent.”
One goal before turning 30: Learn how to solve a Rubik’s cube
One thing people don’t know about me: I went to the college football game with the most overtimes ever.
By Craig Ostroff
In preparation for his senior season on the gridiron at William Tennent, Dan Ellis was presented with a challenge from his coaches.
Get louder.
“One of Dan’s best traits on the defensive side of the ball is his ability to get us into our checks, but you have to be loud to do that,” said second-year coach Colin Leach. “In the offseason, we messed around with Dan, and we jokingly told him, ‘If you’re not going to be vocal, you’re not going to be that guy.’
“But he took it to heart. He took that feedback from us, and if there’s a check we have to get into, he’s the loudest and he’s the guy getting people lined up and knowing what they’re doing.”
Ellis, however, is a firm believer that actions speak louder than words. And as important as he is in getting the defense set before the play starts, his efforts after the ball is snapped are just as important to the Panthers.
Ellis lines up as linebacker and offensive lineman – though he has played all over the field both on offense and defense during his high school football career – while also playing special teams for the Panthers. To prepare for his very busy senior year on the football field, Ellis focused on getting stronger and tougher.
“The biggest change I saw from Dan from junior to senior years was his physicality,” Leach said. “He does wrestling, which I think helps, but Dan took the offseason and preseason weight training very seriously, and it shows not just in his build, but in his play. He put in the work not only the offseason but the summer to get himself in position to be out there 60, 70 snaps a game and able to give us 100 percent at all times.
“Dan stands out in every aspect of his game,” Leach said. “People don’t realize how tough it is to play both ways. But Dan’s never complaining, he never wants to come off. The only time he comes off is when we need him to get a break.”
For Ellis, it all comes down to one simple notion – team above self.
“I feel like I can always help the team,” Ellis said. “I feel like if I’m not on the field, I’m not helping as much as I can. I always want to be out there.”
And if being more vocal on the field and getting stronger was the best way to help the Panthers, then Ellis was ready to do whatever was asked of him. That meant never skipping the weight room, and even adding some outside work, to get to where he needed to be physically.
“This offseason I really made it a focus to never miss a lift,” Ellis said. “It’s always important to me, to never miss a lift or a practice or anything like that. And I went to this powerlifting club – the Bacon Barbell Club – they do a lot of sports-oriented lifting programs. That was really helpful with getting stronger.”
As an offensive line, Ellis, according to his coach, is giving up 30-some pounds to some of the players he’s going up against.
“He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he’s moving, making contact, forcing the line of scrimmage to be changed because of his physicality and aggression,” Leach said. “He’s one of those guys pushing people around, making an impact despite having a smaller stature than a lot of other guys on the O-line.”
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The leadership and examples that Ellis and his senior classmates are providing to the Tennent squad have been critical for the future. Second-year coach Leach is determined to turn around the fortunes of the Panther program, which has not posted a winning record since 2006. Having the then-juniors buy into Leach’s vision and coaching style immediately was key, and their continued leadership this season could signal the beginnings of a new era for Tennent football.
“This senior class has bought into the change of culture we’re trying to instill at William Tennent,” Leach said. “It’s not easy getting everyone to buy in, but that class, they were the first group I saw with the willingness to go, ‘OK, we trust in him,’ and I appreciate that from them. These guys saw the things they wanted to change, and they’ve done a really good job communicating that to the underclassmen. And the younger guys will follow.
“This is a group of seniors who lead by example, and having guys like that is huge, especially for a younger team. We’ll have a lot of guys coming back, and this senior class wants to leave their legacy with those guys. Dan is a prime example of that.”
For Ellis, buying into Leach’s coaching and culture philosophies was easy when the results began to show early. After one-win seasons in 2021 and 2022, last year’s squad picked up three victories. This year’s team has already matched that, with one more regular season game to go. Included in this year’s total was a memorable and thrilling 21-14 win over then–4-1 Wissahickon in a game in which the Panthers trailed 7-0 after the first quarter.
“Last year we had more wins than my first two years combined,” Ellis said. “I think it was pretty easy buying into the new coaching style. We knew what we had to do last year and as seniors this year to help get the program to where we want it to be.
“We had a game this year we were down at the half and we didn’t give up. We kept playing and ended up winning. I’ve seen that this year. I didn’t see that my first two years. I think we’ve bought into the thought that anything can happen if you work for it. We went into that Wissahickon game, I think we were something like 21-point underdogs and we ended up winning. We’re believing in ourselves.”
Once the football season ends, Ellis has little time to rest as he trades helmets for singlets in taking to the wrestling mat for the Panthers. While both sports complement each other, Ellis admits it can take time to shift from football to wrestling.
“Getting into wrestling shape is so demanding and it’s so much more about conditioning,” Ellis said. “But all the work I did in the offseason, and playing football, I think that will help me with wrestling.”
Last season, Ellis wrestled at 172 and 189, though he expects he’ll likely slot in at 189 this winter.
And while wrestling may be a far more individualized sport than football, one thing remains the same for Ellis.
“When I wrestle, I’m focused on winning to help the team,” he said. “I want to win, for sure, but I want to win because I know that will help the team. We have a lot of expectations this year. We really think this team could compete for a league championship.”
•••
Outside the athletic arenas, Ellis remains busy with his schoolwork and extracurriculars. He carries a 3.8 GPA, and his courseload is loaded with AP classes including Calculus, Physics, and Government.
Ellis is a member of student government and is a member of the William Tennent chapters of the National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, and National Math Honor Society (and is waiting to hear back from an application to the National Science Honor Society as well).
A big Penn State fan, Ellis has an eye on possibly spending the next four years in Happy Valley. But he’s leaving his options open as he looks to pursue a degree in engineering. While he said he’d consider playing football in college if the right opportunity came along, he has accepted that his time on the field is likely coming to an end.
“I think this is probably going to be my last year playing football,” he said. “It’s been harder to balance football, especially with all the AP classes I’m taking, and I know the work is going to increase in college. I think I’m probably going to need to focus on the academics in college.”
Whether Ellis ends up in central Pennsylvania or elsewhere, there is no doubt what that school is getting, just as there is no doubt about the size of the hole he will leave at William Tennent.
“Wherever Dan goes, that school gets one of the hardest workers that I coach,” Leach said. “If he’s not great at something, he’s willing to put in the work to become great at it, and that’s invaluable to any program he ends up in. He’s willing to do that work, and Dan’s the guy who’s putting in the work when the eyes aren’t on you. It’s easy to put in the work in practice, but it’s the things he does on his own that make him so special.
“What we’re losing here … we’re losing a Swiss Army Knife. He’s been there for us through my two years, he’s played every position known to man with a smile on his face and to the best of his ability. Our guys are losing a guy you can go to with any question and he’ll be a mentor.”
For Ellis’ part, he hopes the returning players have taken the lessons he and his classmates have taught and will both use them as well as continue to pass them on to those who will follow.
“I want them to remember to go to all the practices, go to everything in the offseason and go to all the lifts, don’t skip anything,” Ellis said. “You have to put in the work if you want it to show when you’re in a game. Do what the coach says, and do whatever you can to help the team, that’s the most important thing.”
And while Ellis and his classmates will not get to experience a winning season during their tenure at William Tennent, knowing they helped lay the foundation for winning seasons to come is satisfaction enough.
“To come back in the next couple years and see the team doing well would be great,” he said. “It would definitely bring a smile to my face to see my team winning again.”