Huron's Dylan Hohler picks football and Toledo

HURON — Football or basketball? Huron senior Dylan Hohler is talented enough to play either sport at the collegiate level, but he's decided to keep wearing a helmet and shoulder pads. Hohler, a first team Division V All-Ohio quarterback last season, plans to play for the University of Toledo as a preferred walk-on. The two-sport star celebrated his choice with family and classmates on Wednesday afternoon in a ceremony in Huron's gym. "Toledo has shown me they wanted me from Day 1," Hohler said. "Always texting me, different coaches coming to school and talking to me, giving me tours and all that. "I'm taking a chance on myself. I know I can do it. Don't ever think it's not possible because it is." As a preferred walk-on, Hohler has a spot on the team and will be able to compete for an athletic scholarship. He will start out as a safety for the Rockets with an eye on packing quality weight onto his 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame. NCAA Division II schools Ashland and Findlay were Hohler's other finalists. His father and Huron head coach Sam Hohler played at Ashland. The younger Hohler also heard from several Division III basketball programs. He was a third team All-Ohio basketball selection in Division II last year and led the Tigers to a district title. "After my junior season I kinda knew football was what I wanted to do," Hohler said. "But having a great basketball season last year made me question it again. Then after football this season I knew I wanted to play somewhere. I talked to a ton of schools but Toledo felt right." Hohler visited the Glass Bowl for a game last season and visited campus and football facilities in December. Toledo defensive coordinator Vince Kehres stopped by Huron High School recently and outlined his plans for Hohler. That helped seal the deal. "We spent about an hour diagramming Xs and Os on my classroom board," Sam Hohler said. "They explained to Dylan where they wanted to give him a shot and what they do. They were very personable through the whole process and that probably caught Dylan's eye the most." Dylan, who will play in Ohio's North-South All-Star Game in late April, sought advice from Huron alumnus Cody Thompson, who was a star wide receiver at Toledo and now a member of the Seattle Seahawks. "He said stay true to yourself," Dylan said. "It's a long process, enjoy it. When I did commit (Tuesday) he put a thing on Twitter that said, 'Can't think of a better place.' It was pretty cool seeing that." Dylan was a two-way football star for the Tigers. He threw for 2,162 yards and ran for 784 as a quarterback while totaling 40 touchdowns. As a safety on defense, he made 81 tackles and seven interceptions. Dylan said his best sport growing up was baseball, and he's always been extremely competitive. "I've never had a player who gets so upset if he doesn't win; you can ask his jersey," Huron basketball coach Bobby James said. "No matter what it takes, as long as we come out with a victory he's happy. "He's been a great teammate and leader in this program and is probably the best basketball player I've coached in my tenure here." Hohler is averaging 20.4 points per game this season and will take the court Friday night at home against Port Clinton with 992 career points. Dylan said trying to keep up with his older brother drove him to get better as a youngster. "I was very competitive when I was little," he said. "I have an older brother, Jared, and we would play basketball in the driveway and I could never beat him in anything. Landon (Dylan's freshman brother), he's the same way. Very competitive. Wants to win." Toledo ended up checking off all the boxes for the Huron star. It didn't hurt that his mother, Dawn, is a UT graduate. "We visited a variety of different places, game-day visits, coaches came to the school," said Sam Hohler. "We've met with coaches from all different levels. Toledo was one of the first schools to take a look at him. They were honest and upfront all along." Toledo announced its 29-player signing class on Wednesday, the first day of the traditional signing period, as well as its eight preferred walk-ons. Fourteen of those athletes are from Ohio. The walk-on list included Fremont Ross quarterback Kaden Holmes and wide receiver Bryson Hammer. Hohler, who said he will study business at the Mid-American Conference university, said he made his final college choice earlier this week. A chat with a friend helped hammer home his decision. "One of my good friends asked where I wanted to go when I was little," Dylan said. "Toledo's always where I wanted to be."