For Gonnella, it's all in the family

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By Patrick Stevens

Andrew Gonnella was still 16 years old and wrapping up his senior season in high school when his football career was forever changed.

The offensive lineman had an offer to become a priority walk-on at Stony Brook, and nearly his entire list of potential schools - Cortland, Ithaca, Rochester and Utica among them - was more accessible from the New York State Thruway than via the sport's standard byways.

Yet there was the lightly recruited Gonnella, sitting in his Monroe, N.Y., high school and meeting with Dave Sollazzo. The Maryland recruiting coordinator made a modest but potentially valuable offer: A preferred walk-on spot with the chance to earn more.

"I pretty much said yes about two seconds later," Gonnella said.

It was a wise choice. Less than three years later, Gonnella is on scholarship and likely will start at left guard when the Terrapins open the season Sept. 5 at No. 12 California.

And a strong family tie helped make it happen.

Gonnella is the nephew of J.D. Maarleveld, a former Maryland tackle who was a consensus All-America pick in 1985. Friedgen was his position coach and Sollazzo was a graduate assistant for a season during his career, so Maarleveld made a call to ensure the highlight tape Gonnella submitted to the staff at least received a look.

Gonnella's invitation, though, guaranteed nothing. He arrived at Maryland at just 270 pounds and took a place where most walk-ons begin - at the bottom rung.

He was a self-described "practice dummy," but it hardly mattered. He was in a major program, albeit far from playing.

"I was still kind of in awe with how everything worked here," Gonnella said. "You go to your locker, and you have a new shirt every day. I just kind of kept my mouth shut. I figured it was like high school. You come in as a freshman in high school; you have to work your way up. You come in as a freshman in college; you have to work your way up."