Gaining ground on the gridiron
SLIPPERY ROCK — The odds are against him.
Butler graduate and Slippery Rock University football walk-on Ethan Trettel doesn’t care. And his performance during spring practice at Mihalik-Thompson is turning the odds toward his favor.
“He’s turning some heads, let’s put it that way,” SRU head coach Shawn Lutz said.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Trettel does not have a lot of football experience. He was going to play in the Butler Area Midget Football League in fourth grade, but hernia surgery shut down that idea. He didn’t return to the game until his junior year of high school, when he caught one pass for no yards for the Golden Tornado.
Trettel blossomed his senior season, catching 25 pass for 512 yards and four touchdowns for Butler, averaging 20.5 yards per catch.
Any thoughts of playing college football anywhere besides SRU never materialized.
“I was going to Slippery Rock regardless,” Trettel said. “They had the major I wanted (petroleum and natural gas engineering) and I wanted to stay close to home. I just figured I’d try to walk on and see if it would work out.”
Trettel graduated from Butler in 2021. He wanted to try earning a spot on the SRU roster as a walk-on in the spring of 2022 and was denied the opportunity.
“I hated to turn him down, but we didn’t have any room last spring,” Lutz said. “I’m not going to give anybody any false hope when I know we couldn’t possibly keep him.”
The regular season roster limit in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is 95 players. SRU has approximately 105 players in spring camp right now. The annual Green and White spring game is scheduled for April 14 at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
“The odds of a walk-on making our team is around 10%,” Lutz said. “We usually have 10 to 12 walk-ons each spring and we keep maybe one or two. But Ethan has been showing us a lot.
“He’s not very big, but he’s a tough kid. He’s not afraid to block. He can take a hit, he’s fast, has good hands and runs good routes. This kid can play.”
Trettel spent last season in the weight room every day. He’s carrying a 3.4 grade point average, so he’s not an academic casualty risk. And he’s making a name for himself in practice right now.
“Someone in his situation needs to just find a way ... be a gunner on special teams, anything ... to make the team,” Lutz said.
Trettel is fine with that.
“All I want to do is help this program keep winning,” Trettel said. “It helped me, sitting back and watching last year. I was at every home game, but watched from the stands with my parents. I didn’t want to be in the way on game day.
“But I got to know some of the players and saw the way this program does things. This spring, the coaches have given me good tips in terms of diet, off-field preparation, to make me a better player.
“Whether I just play on special teams, do scout team work to help the starters get ready, whatever. I just want to be part of the team,” Trettel added.
SRU wide receivers coach Joe Marella has been impressed with Trettel so far.
“I love his attitude and his football IQ,” Marella said. “This kid knows the game. You tell him something once and he gets it. He’s working his way up the ladder. We can see how much he loves football.”
The Rock has been relatively thin at receiver during spring camp.
“Ethan has been running with the 1’s and 2’s during drills and he’s holding his own there,” Lutz said. “That's what’s been impressive. He didn’t waste last year. He made himself stronger and he’s out to make an impression.
“I don’t see him getting playing time in the fall at this point, but I don’t rule out anybody. He’s probably going to be on our roster coming out of the spring. Believe me, that’s saying something.”
That would be the next step for Trettel.
“I’ve watched how the players act. I know what’s expected from the coaches and I’m working to get there,” he said. “I just want to be part of this family.”
