Dundee-Crown’s Keegan Otte signs with NCAA Division II Indianapolis after injury-shortened senior season

Dundee-Crown running back Keegan Otte had limited game video for college coaches to view from his senior season which was cut short by a broken right fibula in the second game.

What Otte had was highlights of him running for 276 yards in those two games, along with a standout junior season with 1,064 yards. He had impressive workout videos on his Twitter page, one from late November where he cleans and jerks 215 pounds [above his head] twice and another from last April when he bench pressed 225 pounds 17 times.

And, perhaps most importantly, he had Chargers coach Mike Steinhaus, who was friends with the right college coach. Steinhaus called his former Ball State teammate Brad Wilson, who now is the offensive coordinator at NCAA Division II University of Indianapolis.

“Keegan’s film speaks for itself. Keegan’s character and hard work, there’s so much to say about Keegan as a person,” Steinhaus said. “I called my buddy (Wilson), and they knew about him a little bit last year. Keegan only played two games for us, but he was pretty dominant in the two games he played in, and we were able to show that film.

“And I spoke about how no one works harder in the weight room and does the right things in the classroom. Those are the kinds of things those programs are looking for, kids who they can count on and who work hard and are accountable. Keegan’s every one of those things.”

So even with an abbreviated senior year, Otte (5-foot-8, 190 pounds) received a scholarship offer and signed his national letter of intent Wednesday with Indianapolis. Wednesday marked the start of the regular signing period for football.

[ List of Northwest Herald area senior football players and their college choices ]

Indy tight ends coach David Gunter, who coordinates recruitment in the McHenry County area, invited Otte for a visit to the school where he received the offer. Otte’s other prospective school was D-III Augustana College in Rock Island.

“I’m very excited to go play,” Otte said. “I’ve been working a long time for this, and it’s all starting to pay off. It’s awesome.”

Otte and the Chargers had high hopes going into the season with a lot of key offensive players returning. Otte thought he had some tendinitis causing the pain in his right leg, but in Week 2 he took a pitch, took two steps and felt the bone break.

“It wasn’t constant, but when I’d play I’d have this pain in my leg for like three weeks,” Otte said. “It was a pitch and I took two steps, and it just popped, gave out on me. Luckily it’s a nonweight-bearing bone, so I could still walk in a boot. It was terrible.

“(Running back) Jeff (Boerger) just didn’t have the experience I did. I personally think we could have made the playoffs. There were some games when we just couldn’t get our run game going. We relied on that because we could run and then go play-action off of that. It was a good system.”

Steinhaus felt the loss was devastating. The Chargers finished 2-7 after starting 2-1 and were competitive in most of their games. A strong, healthy Otte would have made the Chargers significantly better. He was their leading rusher until Week 9.

“It changed the whole dynamic of our season,” Steinhaus said. “We had some other key guys that were injured too. There was one guy we said we couldn’t have get hurt and it was Keegan, and it was the second game.

“When you lose a kid who was your leader, who you can give him the ball anytime, get 4 yards or break into 60, it’s tough to overcome. The thing about him was I’ve never seen an injured kid who came to everything like he did and supported his guys, he was positive. I know it’s tough to be in the rooms. You couldn’t tell that with him.”

Steinhaus calls Otte a workout warrior. Otte benches 330 pounds and is squatting 460, proving that his injury from a few months earlier is healed. He is a three-year starter, having been D-C’s running back in the COVID-19-shortened 2021 spring season.

“I rely a lot on my vision. We ran a ton of zone, so I would find the hole and put that all to accelerating through that hole,” Otte said. “Power with some finesse. Get to the second level, make a move and finish.”

Steinhaus said Otte was timed at 4.57 in the 40-yard dash, and with his build he can take the pounding required of the position.

“He’s small in stature, but he’s put together,” Steinhaus said. “The perfect college type of back. He’s a zone style, which we run. He is patient through the line of scrimmage until he explodes through it, and he’s kind of a one-cut guy and after a hit he can still get positive yards. One thing I told their coaches is that he’s short and hard to see behind the line.”