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The University of Detroit Jesuit (Michigan) High School didn’t really game plan for Aidan Hutchinson, the future No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, when it played Divine Child High School. It employed, UDJ’s 6-foot-4, 277-pound swiss army knife lineman against him.

Hutchinson was two inches taller than Vettorello, but Vettorello was stronger, larger and got out of his stance quicker. Former teammate Patrick Schocke said Vettorello liked to engage with the defender before promptly slapping their hands away. He’d then drop back into his pass set quicker than anyone else on the line. 

Vettorello did that all game, shutting down Hutchinson while UDJ got into position for  a game-winning touchdown. 

“Sometimes I got caught up during the game just watching those two battle it out,” UDJ head coach Oscar Olejniczak said. “Just watching him battle and fight … I was in awe.”

Vettorello played left tackle against Hutchinson, but he could always move around the offensive line. By his first full year at Syracuse, the “versatile” redshirt freshman started all 12 games — eight games at left tackle, three at center and one at right tackle. Vettorello has cemented himself as a formidable front man as SU’s center this season.

But Vettorello didn’t begin playing football until his freshman year of high school. He played baseball, trading off between first base, catcher and pitcher. Vettorello usually played up in age because of his size. 

He was always one of the biggest kids. His mother, Diane, had to always carry around his birth certificate to prove he wasn’t too old.

Diane raised Vettorello to be aware of his size. There were times Diane could tell Vettorello wasn’t comfortable with being different, that he didn’t like being seen as a bully or a physical person. He isn’t, his mother said. He tries to cast off those presupposed ideas quietly, pulling underclassmen aside to talk them through perfecting their technique.

“He’s a very big person, so he looks intimidating. But once you get to know him, you knew he wanted to do whatever was helpful for you on the team,” Schocke said.

Vettorello wanted to join the football team while continuing his baseball career in his freshman year at UDJ. But after a JV game during Vettorello’s sophomore year, Olejniczak told Vettorello that he could become a Division I player if he dedicated the majority of his time to the game. “I’m all in,” Vettorello said. 

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For the first time in Vettorello’s life, he wasn’t chastised for being bigger than the majority of the other kids. He could get as strong as he wanted and wasn’t looked upon with age-based skepticism.

“The nice thing about it was he was finally in a sport where his size was celebrated,” Diane said.

He immediately excelled, growing to his status as an offensive lineman that could play all five positions. Olejniczak, who coached at four different colleges, paired a multiple gap and zone scheme rushing attack with a quick pass game. Vettorello became accustomed to blocking schemes in almost every formation.

Vettorello took part in some of Olejniczak’s drills, such as board drills in the chute, where linemen would be forced to stay low as they barreled underneath 8-foot wood boards. While Vettorello became an explosive lineman from wherever Olejniczak placed him, he quickly fit into the starting left tackle.

“He was fast. I think he was the perfect high school tackle. He was fast off the line, he was big, and he was disciplined,” Schocke said.

Former teammate Walter Baughman said Vettorello would “take guys through the whole field” like no one else he’d ever seen. He’d look up after he blocked his defender and see Vettorello “running” with his defender, blocking him about 30 yards down the field. 

Wherever Vettorello lined up is where UDJ ran the ball, former running back Elijah Collins said. If either side wasn’t working well for the offense, Olejniczak would dial up a tackle pull on Tampa (outside toss) or Tide (inside pull) to get extra help from Vettorello on the weak side. 

Santiago Noblin | Design Editor

When Vettorello trotted out as the center, UDJ ran up the middle as much as possible. Olejniczak worked with Vettorello throughout the summers on snapping the ball to ensure that Vettorello was practiced enough to slot in as a center wherever he’d play in college.

There’s no drill that Olejniczak had for Vettorello in order to help his snapping ability. He worked Vettorello on shooting his hands straight back. Vettorello spent the rest of practice repeating his motion of snapping and stepping with his lead foot at the same time.

Olejniczak wasn’t sure if Vettorello would start during his first season at Syracuse, but he knew the athletic lineman could slide in seamlessly if there was an injury — which the Orange have dealt with at key lineman positions throughout the past few years.

“I couldn’t move him to center because I needed my tackle. But I said (to him) ‘I truly believe you will be a center in college,’” Olejniczak said.

Published on October 13, 2022 at 12:12 am

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt