After a historic season on the field, many seniors on the York Football team are hanging up their cleats for good. However, for senior Joseph “Joe” Reiff, this is the beginning of the next chapter in his football career. This season, in addition to conference and county recognitions, Reiff was named First Team All State and received an invite to the US Army Bowl. On Sep. 24, 2023 Reiff announced his verbal commitment to play Division 1 football at Notre Dame, officially signing on Dec. 4, 2024.
Reiff is a defensive lineman on the varsity football team. He has made headlines with his great defensive game and tide changing plays. His football career started on the Elmhurst Eagles and then Bears, the launching points for many young football players. From there he has grown a lot, putting endless hours into the game itself as well as becoming a great leader and role model for the younger players.
“Joe has grown a lot over the past three to four years,” senior quarterback Bruno Masse said. “I knew him from Eagles and bears and now through York high school. It’s been great knowing him all these years. He’s grown a lot with his character, leadership and definitely as a player. He’s going to do great things at Notre Dame.”
Reiff was 6 ‘6 and 245 lbs, with impressive weight room stats going into his junior year. This is when the recruitment process starts to get stressful. For Reiff his size and skill mixed with his great performances at camps and varsity games attracted interest from a number of schools, including Northwestern University, University of Cincinnati and University of Iowa.
“The recruitment process was a very busy time because you want the coaches to know who you are so you can get the recognition,” Reiff said. “Luckily for me I shut it down by committing to Notre Dame pretty early in the class of 2025. I had six offers before committing and I earned three more after.”
While he has accomplished his dream, he hasn’t stopped to take any breaks. He’s always looking to get better. However, he hasn’t been able to do it on his own. His family and team have been supporting him through his whole highschool career
“[My parents] paid for all this training, they’ve paid to take me places, they drive me everywhere,” Reiff said. “It just means a lot. My coaches and teammates have supported me through everything and I couldn’t have done it without them mentally and physically.”
Reiff has made a huge impact at York. He’s able to make big plays on offense and defense, largely contributing to Duke’s success over the past two seasons.
“Joe’s amazing,” Head Football Coach Don Gelsomino said “He’s just such a great kid. Puts in a lot of hard work. He plays both ways for us,so he has to know offense and defense and that’s not an easy thing to do.”
Reiff has accomplished many big things while playing football. Not only has made All Conference every single year on varsity, but he has contributed more than just his skills on the field to the football program.
“Having Joe on the team is a big help,” Massel said. “It’s not only his talent on the field that helps the team; it’s the presence, character and his leadership that helps everybody to be better all around.”
