BERLIN, Pa. – Still young at linebacking, Rockwood Area High School senior Cody Kimmel caught the attention of many college football coaches while patrolling sideline to sideline for the Berlin Brothersvalley team as part of a co-op throughout his career.
Armed with 269 career tackles and plenty of accolades, Kimmel has officially committed to Lycoming College, an NCAA Division III program in Williamsport.
“Their coaches are very competitive up there,” he said. “They haven’t had many coaches. They’re not like a lot of shows where coaches show up over and over again. When I was there during my visit, all they talked about was winning a championship. “It would be great to have him in the future.”
“I didn’t want to go somewhere big,” Kimmel said. “I wanted to stay at a small school.”
Kimmel will play for coach and athletic director Mike Clark, the Warriors’ mentor since 2008 with an 85-69 record. He will major in early education and special education and will follow in the footsteps of Berlin Brothersvalley defensive coordinator Dante Paul.
Lycoming went 5-6 overall and 4-2 in the Landmark Conference in 2023. Kimmel will play linebacker in a defense coordinated by Mark DeLucia and Steve Wiser.
“When they showed me their defense, they did a lot of what our defense was this year, which is great,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel chose Lycoming over Seton Hill and Waynesburg. He was named The Tribune-Democrat’s 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, while he was voted Somerset County’s Most Valuable Defensive Player in 2022 and 2023.
“I think every kid’s dream is to grow up and play football in college,” Kimmel said.
As a senior, Kimmel provided 126 tackles, including 18 for loss of yards, and six sacks. He racked up 172 rushing and 394 receiving yards, while scoring 11 total touchdowns.
Kimmel averaged 21.9 yards per catch as a senior and tallied 8 1/2 sacks and three interceptions over his career.
Brothersvalley Berlin football coach Doug Paul believes Kimmel’s rise is just beginning.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever seen a kid transform in our football program from his freshman year to even his junior year like he did,” Doug Paul said. “When he came out of high school, he was a defensive back. He just didn’t fit in as a freshman.
“It was about halfway through his sophomore year, we were running the scout team defense and he jumps in at linebacker. He’s just running around, making tackles. Going into his junior year, we moved him to linebacker, and then he just blossomed from there.”
Kimmel possesses many traits to be an impact linebacker with many upsides.
“Lycoming is going to get a guy who is a phenomenal linebacker, but he’s been playing that position for two years,” Paul said. “He still has a lot of room to grow at that level. He was a coach on the field. He just the complete package as a linebacker for us with speed. When he arrived, he arrived in a bad mood and was quite aggressive. Just a great young man. “We are very happy for him here.”
Kimmel helped the Mountaineers to a combined record of 37-7 over the past four seasons in football.
Also a member of the wrestling team, Future Farmers of America and the Rockwood Volunteer Fire Department, he was grateful for his time as part of the Berlin Brothersvalley cooperative.
“For sports, it’s been great because we’ve had great coaches,” Kimmel said. “We did it very well. Off the field, they are some of my best friends. I’m in Berlin every day. “A lot of my best friends that I hang out with every weekend are from Berlin.”
Kimmel is the son of Irvin and Lisa Kimmel of Somerset.
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