Norwell’s Brody Bolyn will play football during his career at Bowling Green
By RYAN WALKER
On June 28, 2022, Norwell High School football player Brody Bolyn announced his commitment to Division I Bowling Green State University.
The senior leads a talented group of players for the state-ranked Knights, who finished their regular season 8-1. Bolyn has played on both the offensive and defensive line in his four varsity seasons, but for the Falcons, he will make the transition to just offense.
The choice of BGSU wasn’t an easy one, as Bolyn had offers from Illinois State, Indiana State, Butler, Navy St. Francis (Fort Wayne), and Tiffin. About a month after BGSU made its offer, Bolyn got off the phone with the coaching staff and felt comfortable making the choice to become a Falcon.
After the phone call, he to prompt him to asked his parents if they were ready — because he was ready to announce his choice.
“It was a really hard decision for me, but looking at it now, I think it’s a no-brainer now,” Bolyn said. “This is definitely where I want to be. It’s a good feeling not having any regrets as to where I’m going.”
Some of that comfort stems from the feeling of home. About a two-hour trip would get you to the campus of BGSU in Bowling Green, Ohio, and is just south of Toledo. On his visit, Bolyn said that the area reminded him of back home with a country town feel and near a big city like Fort Wayne is to Ossian. The familiarity helped him feel more comfortable spending four years at the school.
“When I got there, I was like, ‘man, this feels like Indiana,’” he said. “Everywhere in Ohio, it looks the dang-near same. The National Tractor Pull was there, as were a lot of different things that I look forward to do out here in the country. I wasn’t really looking for an inner-city-type school. It’s nice. It has both.”
On Senior Night at Norwell, Bolyn was introduced by the public-address announcer with confirmation that he had been a part of the 4-H Fair for 10 years.
“I’m a 4-H kid, growing up around horses, horse pulls, tractor pulls, and those sorts of things,” he added.
Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into an athlete’s college choice, including the coaching staff. Bolyn has had an extra advantage when determining what a good fit should look like. His father, Ryan Bolyn, has been the head man for the St. Francis University’s softball program in Fort Wayne for 18 seasons and is the school’s all-time career wins leader with 279 victories. Throughout the recruiting process, Bolyn’s father was a role model to Brody and an example of what to look for in a coach and a deeper insight at each school.
At BGSU, Bolyn struck gold with offensive line coach Chris Hedden, who was notified by the talent down in Ossian by the coach at East Noble, Luke Amstutz. After a visit to watch Bolyn play, Hedden wanted to make an investment to recruit the 6-3, 270-pound prospect and began to build a relationship that went beyond football.
“We still call once a week,” Bolyn said. “We Facetime, which I think is really cool that I don’t see a lot with other coaches. Facetiming is different because you get to see him, and he’s showing his daughter and his family, and my mom and dad are around, and we’re just talking. It just kind of feels like we know each other pretty well, which is awesome.”
Bolyn is a three-sport athlete, as you would find him on the football field in the fall, the basketball court in the winter, and the baseball diamond in the spring. He also participated in swimming and track until high school.
In fact, baseball was Bolyn’s first love, perhaps, because his father played for St. Francis and even coached at Fort Wayne Wayne High School.
Brody is a Cubs fan and envisioned himself as a Major League Baseball player growing up. He hit for a .314 average with three home runs, and 24 RBI for Norwell last season, according to Maxpreps.
It wasn’t that long ago that he was unsure of which route he wanted to take as a college athlete. St. Francis in Fort Wayne had even tried to persuade Bolyn as a dual-sport athlete, to play football and baseball for the Cougars.
Around the time of 2019, he became stronger by hitting the weight room. In 2020, a shift in heart had Bolyn finding a love for football and going all in with the sport.
“My sophomore year summer, we kind of made a decision where I was going to go with my route in sports,” he said. “Talking to my parents, I really just felt like football was where my heart was, and I felt like that’s where I wanted to be.”
Part of the shift involved Norwell grad Curtis Blackwell, a former Ball State Cardinal who had a recent stint as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The two worked out during the COVID-19 pandemic summer and that inspired Brody to stay in contact even to this day about questions heading into college. Although at different schools, they play the same position in the same conference (the Mid-American), as Blackwell shares information to prepare him for the next level.
Blackwell and Bluffton’s D’Wayne Eskridge, who played in the MAC for Western Michigan and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round, made it to the pros and that showed what was possible for a Wells County athlete.
But the NFL isn’t something Bolyn is ultimately thinking as the goal, as he has a backup plan as an education major.
“It’s not something that I’m going to bank on,” he said. “If that opportunity comes, then I’ll definitely take it. I think it’s the smartest thing to get my degree. But if that (NFL) opportunity comes, I’d definitely take it, but that’s not what I’m going to hang my hat on at the end of the day.”
Brody has considered secondary education, history, and physical education, as long as it isn’t math.
“I definitely don’t think math… I’m not going to be a math major,” he laughed.
Whether football is in the future after school, education, or something else, Bolyn has set a goal that means more than just himself and goes right back to why he choose BGSU in the first place.
“I really like my hometown, being around family, and I really like Norwell. I think it would be really awesome to give students the same educational process that I had in school.”
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