Football
Favorite athlete: Kyle Long
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: The PW-Downingtown West football game
Funniest/most embarrassing thing that has happened while competing in sports: Tripping running the bases in baseball.
Music on IPod: Country
Future plans: Become a doctor
Words to live by: “Life is not measured by the amount of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
One goal before turning 30: Keep in contact with family and current friends.
One thing people don’t know about me: I like to hunt, play paintball and go bay fishing.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Ryan Bischoff, the Univest Featured Male Athlete of the Week, loves his country music.
“It’s the only kind of music I listen to,” he exclaimed, adding that he is more attracted to individual songs than worshipping at the altar of individual acts.
Fittingly, the Plymouth Whitemarsh senior is much like a character from a country song. He hunts, fishes and plays paintball.
“I love it all,” he said of the outdoors lifestyle. “Only a few of us are hunters -- me and a couple uncles. We all love to fish. We’re big on golf as well. For paintball we usually have an annual day of it. But we’re not serious with it. I just love it because it’s really exciting.”
Rounding out the All-American package – as once portrayed in those old Chevrolet commercials – would be apple pie and baseball.
And the national pastime was the sport of choice for both himself and twin brother, Evan, with the simple rationale that they are “originally from a baseball family.”
But that all changed in seventh grade for the son of Eric and Tabatha Bischoff.
A friend, Brett Highland, approached him about trying some shoulder pads on for size.
“My friend recommended it in seventh grade,” said Bichoff, who added that his twin remained strictly with baseball.
While his height and girth gave him an advantage as a two-way lineman, he was at a clear disadvantage, having not played football since his toddler days like most of his teammates.
“I was still learning it that year,” he recalled. “It was a tough adjusting and playing, but I kept sticking to it.”
He felt increasingly comfortable in eighth grade, making him a can’t-miss – literally and figuratively --among the incoming group of freshmen for head coach Dan Chang and his staff in 2010.
“My high school coaches just did a great job of coaching me up, and I ended up doing well,” said Bischoff, who gave a special nod to offensive line coach Dave Santoro.
Doing Well
For the soft-spoken man of few words, “ended up doing well” on the high school gridiron is an understatement.
Now at 6-5 and tipping the scales at 320 pounds, he was so heavily recruited by Division I schools that he was able to pick his school, Virginia, before his senior year commenced.
It would hard to conceive, considering the late start and initial struggles, but Bischoff always believed in himself.
It took more than just size and ability, but dedication and being coachable.
“I knew that if I kept coming out and playing hard, I could have a chance,” said Bischoff, who still pitches for the PW baseball team. “I listened to my coaches, and I followed through.”
Chang can testify to the example Bischoff set by raising the bar for himself and working to clear it.
“Ryan is a total example of what you want your football program to represent,” said the coach. “He spends more time in the weight room and working on his technique than anyone I can remember.”
Bischoff – with aspirations of being a doctor, possibly an orthopedic surgeon -- knew the weight room would be his ticket to being able to choose a school that best met his athletic and academic needs.
With his grades in order -- with courses like an honors class in microbiology that is “half college-level, even though we don’t get credit for it” -- being the best offensive lineman possible was the final piece to the package that schools wouldn’t be able to resist.
If that meant pumping more than a little iron, so be it.
“It was vital,” he said. “It helped me with both sports, really. It made me better developed and gave me an advantage.”
As for the interest in medicine as a career, Bischoff characterizes it as “kind of recent, but not really.”
He added: “It’s kind of in my family. I have aunts and uncles who are doctors, and they always tried to push me toward it. They have been telling me forever that I should be one.”
The Ground Game
Despite all the success he has enjoyed, Bischoff – a first team All-PA Football News selection - has not let it go to his head.
His feet are firmly planted on the ground.
“As big as he is and as aggressive as he is when he's blocking someone on the field, he is equally as nice of a human being as you can find,” said Chang. “He has come to my house on several occasions to help me with things like yard work and landscaping. He has really become an individual that I know I will stay in contact with and be very good friends with long after he graduates from high school.”
Doing some work around Chang’s yard was the least Bischoff could do to repay him.
“I did it a couple of times,” he said with a bashful laugh. “I love helping people. Plus, he’s a great coach and great guy. He needed some help, so I was there to help.”
He says that the recruiting onslaught came fast and furious late in his sophomore year, catching him somewhat off-guard.
“I wasn’t on top of the recruiting thing,” he said. “Coach Chang helped me through it. It was a tough process for me. He was able to help guide me.”
Deciding on Virginia was not as much about getting it out of the way as it was just going with his gut. Going down the checklist, the Cavaliers had everything he was seeking.
He committed last April.
“It’s a great (football) program,” he said. “There was the (close) distance. They have great academics. It was definitely a no-brainer. That’s why a committed so early. It wasn’t one of those things where I was just trying to get the process out of the way.”
That may not have been the case, but the PW offensive line – under Santoro’s tutelage – was a force last fall, as the team averaged 271 rushing yards while posting a 7-3 overall record (6-1 in league play).
Although they shuffled around, Bischoff usually lined up at left tackle next to Steve Kovacic (Wilkes) at guard. Anthony Casselli (Albright) was the center, while Brett Highland (Ursinus) played right guard and Joe DeSanto (West Chester) played right tackle and junior Luke Mascio at tight end.
It was tight-knit group – one that also included Mike Negley and Alex DeCarlo -- that battled hard in the trenches, playing for each other.
“We created a lot of good memories,” said Bischoff. “It was good.”
Beyond the memories, they created a lot of big holes for Nafeese Nasir (1,262 yards, 8.0 yards per carry, 19 touchdowns) and Jake Winterbottom (767 yards, 7.1 yards per carry, 9 touchdowns).
Ironically, Bischoff will close out his scholastic career on the diamond, as baseball practice began this week.
However, it was America’s game – not pastime – that punched his ticket for a train to Charlottesville.
If that’s not already a country song, somebody should write one.
“I want to thank all my coaches, especially coach Chang,” he said. “I want to thank the University of Virginia for the opportunity. I also have to thank my friends for supporting me, and also my mom and dad. (Baseball coaches) Chris Manero and Phil Kelly.”
“And the offensive line for being a great bunch of guys.”
