A Future Terp, McDonogh's Braglio Still Hard at Work

For McDonogh's Roman Braglio, the moment of truth would come during a one-on-one matchup opposite a highly sought-after offensive lineman during a camp at the University of Maryland in June, after the 6-foot-4, 240-pound defensive end already had impressed Terrapins' defensive line coach Greg Gattuso.

"I was going through the drills, and coach Gattuso said that he was impressed and that I had improved from last year. I had gone against some of the top offensive linemen recruits, and I wasn't stopped once," said Braglio, who clocked a 4.65-second 40-yard dash during a summer combine as a rising sophomore.

"Coach Gattuso told me that from watching my film, after having seen me as a sophomore, that he (thought I could) could definitely be a good defensive lineman and that I had put in the work," said Braglio, who will be a McDonogh senior in the fall. "But then I was having all of this success at the camp, and it was with them putting me against their best offensive linemen recruits. They were all big kids."

A former University of Pittsburgh assistant, Gattuso still wanted to see more from Braglio, a player who accepted a full football scholarship offer from the Terrapins in March.

"So there was this one kid who was there who was like 6-5, 6-6, and he weighed around 300 pounds,” Braglio said. “Maryland's heavily recruiting him. During drills, he had been keeping kids right at the line and he wasn't budging. But then they were like, ‘Let's see how you'll do against Roman.’

"So they moved him outside and…coach Gattuso told me to get out kind of wide. I went at him and just slapped his hands away and ran right by him," Braglio said. "Then there was another time when the kid read what I was about to do and he kind of got me with a good back-step or whatever. But I just stepped into him and drove him completely backward."

With that, Braglio validated himself as worthy of all of the attention he had received from the Terps.

"I think that I showed that my hand skills have improved with every workout," Braglio said. "I've improved on my kick steps, and my jump off of the ball, and my ability to get ahead on the linemen and to get to the quarterbacks."

As a McDonogh junior last fall, Braglio earned All-Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference honors after totaling 67 tackles and 10 sacks -- numbers which surpassed those of a sophomore season that had included eight sacks.

But an impressive junior year and a college football future has not diminished Braglio’s interest in his senior season at McDonogh.

"About a week ago, (McDonogh football coach Dom) Damico pulled me into his office and told me that he will probably make me a team captain," Braglio said. "That's part of the reason that I've been working out so hard this summer. I want to make the next step and be a leader on next year's team."

An All-Around Athlete

Braglio followed up the 2010 football season by wrestling for the Eagles, where he won an MIAA tournament title, was a runner-up in the private schools state tournament and finished sixth at states while, then at 225 pounds, wrestling much larger opponents in the 285-pound weight class.

"You can't get any better conditioning than wrestling, and I think that it's definitely helped me with my hand-fighting skills for football,” Braglio said. “When you're doing take downs in wrestling, you're essentially tackling -- stepping into somebody and dropping them.

In February, toward the end of the wrestling season, Braglio made the decision not to play on the Eagles' lacrosse team in the spring, instead choosing to focus on preparing himself for the Division I college recruiting process. Braglio was told by Maryland coaches he needed to beef up to about 240 pounds.

A former defender for the Eagles, Braglio had not only played lacrosse since his youth, but he had been listed on the Inside Lacrosse Rising Sophomore Watchlist in August 2009.

"It was definitely a tough decision. I had been playing lacrosse forever, since I was a 9-year-old. But that was a sacrifice that I needed to make in order to get where I needed to go," said Braglio, who informed Eagles' lacrosse coach Andy Hilgartner of his decision during a one-on-one meeting.

"I needed to gain weight, and I needed to get quicker and to be stronger and faster so that I could succeed at the next level," Braglio said. "Coach Hilgartner understood where I was coming from and he completely agreed with it.

Braglio, instead, spent the spring as an outdoor track competitor for the first time in his life. His shot put toss of 52 feet, six inches earned him the individual title at the MIAA championships.

“I mean, just putting in the work, you could see the difference,” Braglio said. “I'm at a whole new level."

Committing to Maryland

The move to skip lacrosse paid off in March, when Braglio committed to the full football scholarship offer from the Terrapins by delivering the news, face-to-face, to newly-hired Maryland coach Randy Edsall.

Braglio made the decision on a day when he and his father, Scott, had spent about five hours visiting the University of Maryland's campus in College Park.

In choosing the Terps, Braglio turned down an offer from West Virginia and spurned the interest he had drawn from other programs such as Boston College, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee.

"I really like the enthusiasm that coach Edsall brings to the practice, and to the team and just the way that he controls everything," Braglio said. "Coach Edsall's morals combining academics and teamwork are what I look for in a college. I really like the coaches. Coach Edsall is awesome."

It was at a practice that father and son observed where Roman Braglio met Gattuso, who told the recruit he would fit well in the defense’s 4-3 scheme.

"Coach Gattuso was explaining to Roman where he needed to play and how he would fit in," Scott Braglio said. "He told Roman that he would have a very good chance of playing his freshman year if he was ready."

It was after that conversation with Gattuso that Roman Braglio realized the Terps' program was the place for him.

"We were getting ready go, and Roman wasn't sure, and we sort of stepped out to the side and he said, 'Dad, I think I want to commit. But I don't know what to say,'" Scott Braglio said. "I said, 'Well turn around, walk back in there and shake the man's hand and tell him that you want to be a Terp.' And that's what he did."

"They took him into coach Edsall's office and they were very excited to have him commit. Everybody in the whole building that was still there came into coach Edsall's office and congratulated him and welcomed him aboard. They're happy to have him."

Training for Division I

Since then, Braglio has gone to work on his speed and skills as well as his overall power, packing more muscle onto his relatively sinewy, streamlined frame. Braglio, still adding muscle, can now bench press 225 pounds 25 times.

Braglio's summer training regimen has included workouts with teammates such as Jabari Weems and Allen Jackson as well as 6-2, 190-pound Division I wide receiver prospect Ian Thomas of Class 3A state runner-up Franklin High, whose scholarship offers included one from NCAA national champion Auburn University.

"Ian Thomas is definitely faster than I am," said Braglio. "But doing the footwork and stuff, I'm one of the fastest ones in the group right now."

Soon a Terp, But Still an Eagle

Part of Braglio's offseason has also included participating in the Baltimore Ravens' 7-on-7 Passing Jamboree finals at M&T Bank Stadium, where Braglio and his McDonogh teammates won the championship.

The Eagles defeated Washington Catholic Athletic Conference power DeMatha of Hyattsville in the semifinals, followed by WCAC titlist Good Counsel of Olney, in the finals.

Although considered an underdog to make the finals of that event, the Eagles defeated DeMatha and Good Cousel as the result of game-winning receptions by Eagles' receiver Weems from quarterback Joel Jorgensen.

"I really didn't do much. I kind of went there and all that I did was play center. I knew the plays and it was good for me to be there," Braglio said. "Coach Dom Damico says that I'm probably going to be a team captain, so I was sort of there for moral support."

The victory bodes well for the Eagles heading into the fall season, beginning with the start of their first official practice in August.

"It was good to see the secondary, the linebackers, the receivers on our team doing their thing. Last year, there was no way that we would have been able to do that. But we looked really good," Braglio said. "You could definitely tell that everybody had been working in the offseason. This shows that everybody's been doing their part, and I think that we'll be a good team next year."