Fox Chapel lineman Cohen commits to Bryant

By: Alec Italiano
Tuesday, October 31, 2017 | 9:51 PM

Jesse Cohen didn't recognize Bryant's scholarship offer when it originally came in the summer. But when the school's coaches reaffirmed it last week, he readily accepted.

Cohen, a Fox Chapel senior lineman, verbally committed to Bryant on Tuesday, picking the Football Championship Subdivision school over scholarship offers from Dayton, Edinboro, Lawrence Tech, Saginaw Valley State, Seton Hill, Stetson and West Virginia State, as well as a preferred walk-on offer from Kent State.

“The way the coaches came off, they were really passionate about me, made me feel wanted,” Cohen said. “And definitely the academics played a huge part in it, too.”

Cohen visited Bryant in the spring and attended a football camp there in the summer, after which the coaches made their initial offer. He didn't understand it for what it was at the time, but the coaches “cleared that up last week,” he said.

A 6-foot-3, 250-pound left tackle, Cohen anchors a Fox Chapel line that blocked for a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in quarterback Nick Gizzo and running back Micah Morris. The Foxes (6-4) play Penn-Trafford in the WPIAL Class 5A first round Friday, which was a factor in Cohen's Tuesday decision.

“I just wanted to clear my mind from everything and chose the school that's been the best to me and fits me the best academically and athletically,” said Cohen, who plans to major in business. “(I can) just focus on playoffs now.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer.

Tags: Fox Chapel