Daniel Kaelin, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound sophomore quarterback from Bellevue (NE) West, has already landed five scholarship offers, despite not being a fulltime starter last season. He has offers from Florida State, Nebraska, Arizona State, Kansas and Minnesota, the alma mater of his parents and current school of his older brother.
GopherHole recently caught up with Kaelin before his recent Minnesota visit to learn the latest on his college recruitment and upcoming junior year.
Gopher Hole: You are starting to get a lot of looks and are coming up to Minnesota for their Junior Day. What are you expecting to learn about the Gophers?
Daniel Kaelin: I actually won’t be able to be there for the Junior Day, but I’m planning on just getting up there and meeting up with some of the coaches on Saturday. Last December, I was able to visit and I got to meet Coach Fleck, look around the facilities. Learn more about their culture and what they are about. I think I have a pretty good idea what Gopher football is all about, but the biggest thing is getting with Coach Ciarrocca as much as possible and building a relationship with him and just be around the facilities and the coaches as much as possible.
GopherHole: Your mom and dad are both Minnesota alums. What have they told you about the time at Minnesota?
Daniel Kaelin: They told me a lot. They were up there and my brother is up there, so I hear a lot of stories where they are staying on campus. My brother is a swimmer up there right now as well. They have kind of told us how the campus has changed since they have been there, but they definitely enjoyed it while they were there.
GopherHole: How did you end up in Nebraska?
Daniel Kaelin: I was actually born and raised in Missouri. We moved down there right when I was born and when I was seven, is when we moved to Nebraska. I have a little bit of family up here, but I’m not sure what the reason was to move to Nebraska, other than it is a good place to raise kids and really good schools here.
GopherHole: Are your parents from Minnesota originally?
Daniel Kaelin: My mom is. She is from one of the suburbs around Minneapolis. My dad grew up, born and raised in St. Louis.
GopherHole: Do you have a lot of other relatives up in Minnesota?
Daniel Kaelin: Yes. One of my cousin still lives up there. She is married now. I have an uncle and aunt who live up there and another one of my cousins used to live up there, but now lives in Nebraska and goes to college down here.
GopherHole: You also have a cousin who is on the tennis team, right?
Daniel Kaelin: She used to be. She went on to med school and is now a doctor.
GopherHole: What do you see as your strengths as a quarterback?
Daniel Kaelin: I think my biggest strengths are I think that I have a pretty strong arm. It’s really clean, smooth as a passer. Really accurate. Mentally, what I can do. Read defenses, I think I’m really good at that. Pre-snap, post huddle, making quick decisions. Getting the ball where it needs to be. I think those are my biggest strengths as a quarterback.
GopherHole: You started at quarterback as a sophomore. Is that pretty rare at your high school?
Daniel Kaelin: I actually rotated this year with a senior. As far as Bellevue West, as far as to my knowledge, in the last couple of years since (Coach) Huffman has been here, I don’t know if any sophomores have gotten meaningful moments on varsity, so that is definitely an accomplishment for me. Obviously, I wanted to be starting if I could and get on the field as much as possible, but I think it was a decently successful sophomore season and it has pushed me even more to prepare for next season this fall.
GopherHole: What was the ratio that you played compared to the senior?
Daniel Kaelin: For the first five games, most of the games it was 2:2 and two of the games, it was 3:1 for him and then after Week 6 getting close to the playoffs, Coach decided to just go with the senior, especially as far as team dynamics, rotating quarterbacks, especially when you get to the playoffs, isn’t the greatest thing as far as momentum for the team, so he thought it was best to stick with one quarterback and that’s what he decided to do.
GopherHole: I’m sure that you are a competitive kid and wanted to be out there. Did you feel that you learned a lot, though, watching an experienced quarterback?
Daniel Kaelin: Yeah, for sure. Luke (Johannsen, who signed with Morningside and completed 173 of 253 passes for 2700 yards with 29 touchdowns and just four interceptions) did a great job the two years he was there. He’s a good guy. Sit back and watch just motivated me to work harder. Just has me even more motivated for next season. I think that it is definitely a great learning experience.
GopherHole: I know that you had a good season last year, finishing 10-2, losing to Omaha Westside in the playoffs. What are the expectations for you guys this season? Did you lose a lot of players?
Daniel Kaelin: We’re losing a lot, but I think we have a bunch of talent that hasn’t been able to get the opportunity on the field yet. We have a lot of guys who are going to step up. We are going to have a lot, lot of talent coming back this fall and I think that we’ll be competitive with every team in the state and he just have high expectations as we had the last two seasons. We are definitely going for that state championship. That’s the main goal.
GopherHole: Has the school ever won a state championship in football as far as you know?
Daniel Kaelin: We won in 2019 and 2016.
GopherHole: Will the offense change that much with you being the quarterback next season or will it be pretty similar with what you guys did this past year?
Daniel Kaelin: I would say that the biggest thing that is going to change, because we had L.J. Richardson, who is a really good power back and we’ll have a different look at running back. Gio Contreras, there is a good chance that he’ll be the running back. He is not known as a power back, but he is a guy who is a little more juky and can get out and stretch the field as far as catching the ball, so I would say, possibly passing a little bit more, which is obviously something that I would love. As far as the passing game, other than adding more plays maybe, it’s not going to be too different, because last year, we had a pretty similar playing style.
GopherHole: Do you think that you’ll be a little bit more of a pass orientated team with the loss of your star running back? Looking up your team’s offensive stats, Richardson (who is headed to Wyoming) rushed 238 times for 2,180 yards (9.2 yards per carry) and 35 rushing touchdowns.
Daniel Kaelin: He was a beast, for sure. That is going to be one of our biggest losses.
GopherHole: You came close to getting to the state championship game, losing in the state quarterfinals. What would it mean to you to get back there to win a title like you did in 2016 and 2019?
Daniel Kaelin: I just want to get to Memorial Stadium. That means so much to me. The team has had some pretty tough losses the last couple of years. The teams have been favored going into the start of the year and were the number one seed both years. It’s not really about living up to everyone’s expectations. We set high goals for each other for our team and I like it would mean the world to me and the rest of the team to get to Memorial Stadium.
GopherHole: Is that even something you guys have talked about after a tough loss in the playoffs to get to that next step?
Daniel Kaelin: Yes, just some of the leaders and some guys that are going to being stepping up this year. We’ve talked about it pretty quickly after the game. We want to do everything in our power this offseason to make sure that we can put ourselves in a position to get there, because the guys right now that are going to be seniors, only a few got to suit up in 2019, but most of them haven’t been to the state championship and that is definitely something that all of us want to achieve and get to. It is important to us and we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can.
GopherHole: You are up to five offers in Minnesota, Kansas, Arizona State, Nebraska and Florida State. What others schools are you hearing from besides those five?
Daniel Kaelin: A lot of them have shown interest, whether through my coach or just following me. Mizzou, Kansas State, University of Iowa, Iowa State. Notre Dame has shown some interest. Wisconsin. I would say that those are the main ones right now and showing the most interest.
GopherHole: If I had told you a year ago that you’d have five offers from to be honest, five good schools, what would you have thought?
Daniel Kaelin: I don’t know if I would’ve believe you. They kind of happened suddenly. It always something that I had in my mind, I worked for and I knew I could achieve, but I just never knew it was going to happen. It means a lot to me. Those are Power 5 schools. Talented as schools as you are going to get. It means a lot to me that those coaches believe in me to come to their school and play for them. It’s definitely a big goal and hopefully, I can keep getting some more, but those are the schools that I have right now.
GopherHole: Do you sometimes feel that once you get that first offer that, to be honest, other schools that were showing some interest, maybe figure that they have to step up their game a little bit more? Did you feel that once you got that first offer, that other teams were going to be in more contact with you?
Daniel Kaelin: Yes, that’s kind of what happened. After Florida State, Nebraska followed and then Arizona State. I think that is kind of how it works, sometimes if a school is unsure on you, but another school sees something in you, another coach might be like “this just confirms what we have seen with him.” I guess it doesn’t mean that they have to step up their game, but it gets me, not necessarily confidence, but kind of reassures myself that I have the ability to play at that level of school.
GopherHole: How did Florida State find out about you? You don’t normally see them recruiting a lot of Midwest kids.
Daniel Kaelin: Last May, I was at the QB Collective Camp, which is put on for more underclassmen and after that camp, one of the coaches at QB Collective knew Coach Dillingham, who is now at Oregon, but was the QB coach last year at Florida State. He told him about me. He really likes me. He likes my move. I think he sent him about some video of me and he thought that he saw enough and heard enough to be able to pull the trigger on me and that meant a lot to me, especially being my first offer, so I’ll remember that for my life.
GopherHole: You have had some really good receivers at Bellevue West. I know that you had good one in Kegan Johnson, who enrolled early at Iowa in 2021 and lost senior Kaden Helms, who signed with Oklahoma. I know that Dae’Vonn Hall, who is in your class, got a recent Minnesota offer, too and TK Barnett are coming back.
Daniel Kaelin: We have two juniors who basically shared time this year, Barnett and Kyrell Jordan, who are going to be really solid for us this year as well.
GopherHole: Is that kind of nice that you have had some good receivers come out of Bellevue West as well?
Daniel Kaelin: Yeah, for sure. The more talent, whether it’s me or the other guys, it brings more attention to each other. It’s great having, obviously, skill player talent around me. Just brings more attention and kind of shows that Nebraska has talent as much as any Midwest place.
GopherHole: Is that something you have worked on to get even more chemistry with those guys in the offseason?
Daniel Kaelin: Yeah, for sure. We all play seven on seven and then whenever we can, Nebraska has a bunch of indoor places when it get cold and it is hard to find spaces to throw, but whenever we can we get together and throw to build timing and build chemistry, so that we are ready for next season and on the field, it’s just automatic and we are on the same page.
GopherHole: Dae’Vonn is obviously a very talented receiver. Have you talked to him about going to the same place or is that something you’ve even talked about?
Daniel Kaelin: We’ve definitely talked about that, because we both have Kansas, Nebraska and Minnesota. Obviously, I’m sure that there will be some more schools for both of us in the future, but we have definitely talked about it. It would be pretty cool if we got to the same place. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up happening.
GopherHole: You still have two years of high school football, but have you thought about what are going to be the main factors that are going to make you pick School A over School B or C?
Daniel Kaelin: I know a lot of people say don’t recruit based on coaches, because you see how much they leave, but coaches is going to be one of the biggest factors for me, because in my opinion, a coach, especially the head coach, is someone who also factors into the leadership and culture of a program, so those are two big factors for me as well. I just want to have a good connection and relationship with the coach. Comfortable with the coach. A lot of people say that they want to play as soon as they get there, but the coach is the person who is going to have to play you, so I just want to make sure that I’m on a good level with a certain coach. I think that is going to be one of the biggest factors. As far as location, that’s not really a factor for me at all. I really don’t care where I have to go. Hot or cold. That’s not a big factor for me. I would say just overall culture and coaching are probably the biggest things for me.
GopherHole: What is it going to mean to you, when you walk on that field the very first game as a college freshman?
Daniel Kaelin: It’s going to really special, for sure. Just visiting college games, the atmosphere there is insane and to be one of the players on the field is going to mean a lot to me, especially knowing how long I’ve wanted to do that, ever since I was a kid. How long I’ve worked towards that, so I think that it’s just going to be really special and a meaningful moment for me.
GopherHole: Do you play any other sports anymore or are you football-only?
Daniel Kaelin: I played basically every single sport that you could even think of all the way to eighth grade. I didn’t do anything last year, but this spring, I’m planning on doing track just to build a more speed and athleticism for football.
GopherHole: What event are you thinking about running?
Daniel Kaelin: To be honest with you, I don’t even know. I’ve never actually done track. It’s really just to get faster.
GopherHole: Drew does the breaststroke on the University of Minnesota swim team. Is that something that you have ever been involved with swimming or is that more his thing?
Daniel Kaelin: When I was younger, like 6 or 7, I was actually a really good swimmer, but swimming is a lot harder sport than people give it credit for. You have to be committed. You are practicing one to two times a day. I fell in love with it just like I fell in love with football, so I ended that when I was starting middle school. That’s been Drew’s thing pretty much. I also have a stepsister who swims as well.
GopherHole: Did you ever have competitions between you and him growing up when you were swimming?
Daniel Kaelin: He was a good three years older than me, so I don’t know if I was ever able to beat him, but we would swim together. We are on the same club teams.
GopherHole: What are some of the things you like to do away from the football field?
Daniel Kaelin: I just like to hanging out with family. I wouldn’t say that I’m a homebody, but I’m not a big “go-out and do a bunch of stuff, stupid high school stuff,” I guess you could say. I like to chill with family and friends. When it’s nice out, I like just being outside. I would say that those are the biggest things outside of football and school.
GopherHole: Any other plans for any other Junior Days in the next month or two?
Daniel Kaelin: I just want to see if any more come up. Other than Minnesota, I haven’t been officially invited to anymore Junior Days, so I’ll just see what happens as far as more Junior Days. I know a couple of schools have talked to me about coming up unofficially, but we’ll see.
GopherHole: Did you get a chance to go to many college football or college basketball games this year?
Daniel Kaelin: I got to go to a lot of college games. I went to Nebraska twice. I went down to Notre Dame. Ole Miss. Mizzou. Kansas State. North Carolina.
GopherHole: Do you think that is a big advantage for you as only a sophomore that you have gotten to experience some of this already, where with COVID and everything going on in the world, a lot of kids your age or even juniors haven’t had a chance to get as immersed into the recruiting process as you have already?
Daniel Kaelin: Yeah, no doubt. It kind of surprised me. I feel like every place had their own atmosphere and energy to it, so I definitely think it was an advantage for me to get out and see places. Just so I don’t have to do as many traveling, when I cut it down to the end, which schools I’m going to be focusing on. I definitely think it was an advantage, just when you bring up COVID and some of those juniors and seniors lost full years of recruiting, so it definitely helps me in the fact that I’m still a sophomore and I was able to get to all those schools this fall.
GopherHole: Have you thought much about football camps this summer?
Daniel Kaelin: It will depend on what schools are still on the fence and that I am still interested in and want to see me throw in person. Last year, I went to a few mini camps. This year, it will probably be more specific colleges camps, the day camps, whatever colleges really want me to come out. I haven’t really finalized any camos for this summer yet.