It could all be over.
But sometimes things work out in a weird way.
Ryan DiVergilis, a 2020 graduate of Archbishop Wood High School, continued his football career at Ursinus.
And like all high school seniors in the class of 2000, his freshman year in college was definitely different.
The pandemic was still in its early stages when those students started college, and that wiped out DiVergilis’ freshman year.
It looked like a disaster for everyone. But for DiVergilis, it actually worked well.
The all-everything defensive back became a player right away for Ursinus, and this year, his senior year in school, he suffered an elbow injury that ended his season mid-season.
If he played in 2020, it would all be over. Instead, he’s got another year, so his college football career won’t end on a sour note.
“So I actually got hurt this year in mid-October against Johns Hopkins,” the Somerton native said. “I had a fairly successful junior year, that would be the best year statistically. When I got hurt, I was having a good year. As a team we’ve had a great year for the past three years. Getting hurt was tough.
“I’m lucky because I still have another year of eligibility left, so I’ll be able to play next year.”
It will be a little less hectic than most seasons, though.
DiVergilis, who plays defensive back and is the long snapper, has one class left, his capstone course. After that, he’ll be a graduate of Ursinus, where he is majoring in media and communications, and minoring in coaching and management.
“It’s kind of really cool because one of my roommates did the same thing,” DiVergilis said. “He’d come back, pretty much all football. Watch film, go lift. Only worry about one class. It’ll be cool to embrace.
“It’ll be my major capstone, it’s like a big reflection on a certain topic. So it’ll be media communication driven. Usually you try to relate it to something you care about. People wrote about the NFL salary cap and why positions were undervalued. So you do a project like that before you graduate.”
While DiVergilis’ major is in media, he doesn’t think that’s where he’ll end up. And Ursinus, just like Archbishop Wood, put him on the same path.
Obviously as a football player, DiVergilis spends a lot of time around the team, which means he’s always surrounded by coaches.
He didn’t look at these men as guys who were making him run wind sprints or do up-downs. They were making him better.
Not only is he thankful for all they did for him, he wants to follow in their footsteps.
“I want to be in athletic administration and get into coaching football,” DiVergilis said. “How that track is going to be, I don’t know. Athletic director and football coach, hopefully. I have to take one more class, but we don’t have a graduate program, so I’ll take one class next fall, maybe go to grad school. I haven’t figured that out. Still looking at options for after next fall.”
While he’s not sure how he gets there, he’s sure it’s something he wants to do.
“I definitely want to do that because of the coaches I’ve had,” DiVergilis said. “I love what coach (Ryan graduate Steve) Devlin from Wood has shown me. (Ursinus head coach Peter) Gallagher and (Kyle) Adkins and (Chris) Lampart, all of those guys, and coach (Jacob) Minard. Adkins, Lampart, Gallagher and Minard have all helped me so much.
“It’s the best, it’s pretty cool having coach Dev and Adkins, major influences throughout high school and now college. Both have been tremendous, can’t thank them enough. I knew Devlin would be there, he recruited me. I committed there in January of 2020. In March Adkins called me in and told me he was going to Ursinus. And Lampart came up after coaching at Ryan. All of them have done so much for me, and I want to do the same.”
That, along with the school itself, made Ursinus very special.
“Ursinus, I can’t say enough about it,” he said. “Awesome experience. I tell people that it’s not just a four-year decision, it was a four-year decision of wanting to learn and love the school and atmosphere. It’s an awesome experience. I didn’t have an expectation when I came in. I knew I wanted to play football, I wanted to get a great education, but it’s way more than I expected. I’ve grown to love it, so it’s really rewarding to be here.”
DiVergilis, who is bound for Prague to study abroad for three weeks just after Christmas, is thankful for his school and coaches. He’s also thankful to his other great influences, his parents.
“I’m an only child, so I see my parents a lot. They go to every game, support me unconditionally and they sacrificed a lot for me,” he said. “Bring me food on game days, they are at everything. They’re helping me pay for a trip to Prague. They give me that support and it’s awesome. I love them for everything they do.
“My dad played soccer at North Catholic, my mom was a cheerleader at Little Flower. You can say mom knows more (about football), she was actually joking the last few days she can look and see there’s something wrong with Jalen Hurts. They’ve done everything for me.”
Now he’s excited to pay it forward while soaking up his final year of experience at Ursinus.
“I’m very thankful,” DiVergilis said. “I’ve been very lucky. I’m at a place I love with people who have really helped me. Ursinus has been great.”
