When senior Austin “AJ” Schuller was choosing a college, he had 15 offers and visited schools across the country. But one question cut through everything: if football were taken away, would he still want to be there?
“Dayton was the only school that I went to that checked that box for me,” Schuller said.
Now a defensive end, marketing major and acting president of UD’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, his conviction has only grown.
“I love UD,” he said. “I am so happy that I chose it. It felt right from the beginning, but every year, my love grows for it in a different way.”
Healing With a Community Behind Him
That question — whether he would still want to be at Dayton if football were taken away — stopped being hypothetical his first year, when Schuller sprained his ulnar collateral ligament and damaged his ulnar nerve. He played through numbness in his pinky and arm for a year before fall camp made clear the true extent of the damage.
“I ended up tearing my UCL,” Schuller said. “That ligament was torn, the ulnar nerve was displaced, and my elbow was partially dislocated.”
He could try to play through it but risked further damage. With the support of his coaches, and with his future beyond football in mind, Schuller chose surgery.
“I would rather get my surgery, get it taken care of and start rehabbing while I'm younger,” he said. “I want to have the ability to play catch with my kids.”
Nearly 10 months of rehab followed, supported by UD’s athletic training staff, including Ron Smith, Nate Seymour and Ryan Loar.
“The UD staff was great,” Schuller said. “I felt supported every step of the way.”
That support, he recalls, went well beyond exercises.
“It wasn’t like, ‘Yeah, come in, we’ll do your exercises,’” he said. “It was, ‘How are you doing? How are you progressing?’ And Ryan, to this day, still asks me how my elbow is when he sees me.”
The broader UD athletics program rallied around him too.
“In terms of someone being at the lowest point you can be at athletically, which is being hurt … non-weight-bearing, I can't lift, the support from coaches, teammates, faculty, staff, everyone involved in the program from the top down, it was special to be a part of,” Schuller said. “It motivated me to get back.”
Ten months later, he returned for spring ball without missing a practice.
Using His Platform to Serve
As UD Student-Athlete Advisory Committee community service co-chair and now president, Schuller helped lead efforts to increase community service participation across UD athletics. During the fall 2025 semester, UD took part in the NCAA community engagement impact challenge for the first time and finished 12th among Division I schools.
Flyer student-athletes logged 2,521 service hours and posted a 98 percent participation rate, with 389 of 398 student-athletes taking part in community service. The football team led UD teams with 621 hours.
Schuller personally contributed about 25 hours — reading to kids at Blairwood Elementary, volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House, supporting the Humane Society and helping with youth sports in the city.
“Leaving a place better than you found it when you graduate, I think is important,” he said. “And SAAC affords me the opportunity to be able to do that.”
Proud to Be a Flyer
With classes, lifting, practice, film, meetings and service, Schuller's schedule is full — and he sees all of it as preparation for a career in sales and a life connected to the Flyer community.
“I’ve met my best friends here at UD, people that will be my friends for life, on the team specifically, but away from the team as well.”
As he looks toward his senior year, what the university has meant to him is clear.
“After I graduate, I hope I can interact with the Dayton community and share the experience,” he said. “I’m proud to be a Flyer.”