Father Fuels 2021 OL Garrett Dellinger With Motivation

ORLANDO – Garrett Dellinger‍ may not know exactly what his father does, but the 2021 Michigan offensive lineman knows enough to be proud.

“He works for the federal government, for the Department of Defense and all I know is that he supports the military,” Dellinger said of his father during check-in for the Future 50 event down here this week.

“That’s all I’m allowed to know, so I can’t say anymore.”

Dellinger doesn’t mind the mystery of it all.

“It makes it hard to tell people what he does,” he laughed. “People are always asking, but I think it’s kind of cool.”

His siblings have followed the military path their father set.

“My brother, he’s a Navy Seal,” Dellinger said. “My sister and my other brother are in the Army, so my whole entire family is military-related.”

Matt Dellinger is currently deployed in Iraq for a six-month stint.

“That’s like the coolest thing ever,” Dellinger said of his father. “That’s sweet that he’s out there doing that to protect our freedom and protect us.

“We FaceTime almost every single day, my mom is always on the phone with him. So, I talk to him about every day and keep him updated on everything. He’s been deployed to Iraq before for six months. He’s been to Afghanistan twice and Africa a few times. He’s been deployed many of times, so I’m kind of used to it by now. It’s pretty sweet because somebody has to be out there saving the world.”

Dellinger isn’t planning to follow the military path of his siblings at this point.

“That was my childhood plan,” he acknowledged. “Now, with football, I’m actually kind of hoping to make the NFL, take football as far as I can.”

He’s also planning to use football to get a Business degree for whenever football ends.

But, he’s still following the example of his father.

“I really look up to him,” he said. “He’s my role model. He’s always been there for me. He just shows me that even when it’s hard, you’ve still got to do it. No one wants to be deployed away from their family for six months, but he has to do it. It’s what his job is.

“Let’s say I don’t want to go to this workout, but I have to go to this workout to make sure I’m the best at what I do and make sure I keep bettering myself for the future.”

Dellinger has several scholarships from schools like Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, LSU and others. His family’s background will make it easier for him to go away from home if he chooses to.

“We move around a lot,” he said. “I was actually born in Maryland. I moved (to Michigan). I moved out to Alabama and then back to Michigan. One of my sisters was born in California. My family has lived in Texas. So, for me, I don’t really have a home to play for. I’ll go anywhere I think I’ll fit best.”

Dellinger has made multiple trips to South Bend.

“Their education is top-notch and plus the football program being so good,” he said. “The combination of both of those is amazing.”

He wants to get back for an official visit, but wants to wait until his father returns to do so.

“He won’t be back until May,” he said. “I’m going to try to wait for him to come back and once he gets back, that’s when I want to try to take my official visits.”

He hopes to get a better feel of the program and the school when he gets back.

“I kind of just want to talk to the coaches, keep updated on them,” Dellinger said. “Then, probably talk more about the academic parts of it; where the classes are, dorms and stuff like that to get around. I’ve already talked about the football part of it so much.”

Dellinger hasn’t locked in any official visits yet, but is also looking at Michigan, Ohio State and LSU as others with Penn State, Alabama and Kentucky also possibilities.

“I’m still kind of working that out right now,” he said.

He does know he wants to have a decision before the end of the summer.

“I want to go into next football season already committed.”