The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Chardon’s Colombi setting the bar high
Miami (Ohio) recruit originally thought his future was in baseball
You never know when the path you thought you were going to take would turn into something different.
For Leo Colombi, that moment happened in 2021 when he was a sophomore with the Chardon football team.
Already an established baseball player who at the time had his eyes set on a future in college baseball, Colombi earned a starting position in the Hilltoppers’ defensive backfield in the summer of 2021.
In his first year as a varsity football player, Colombi intercepted seven passes and batted away a plethora of others. Combined those ball-hawking skills with his ability to stick his nose into the action and tackle ball-carriers, and Colombi earned All-Ohio honors.
College looks started coming in, and there you have it — a shift in focus.
While Colombi still plays baseball on a high level, he will head into his senior year of football as a chiseled 6-foot-4, 209-pound safety who recently accepted a full athletic scholarship to Miami (Ohio).
“It’s really good,” Colombi said. “I’m very relieved knowing I don’t have the pressure of finding a school going into my senior year. I am locked in and can focus on winning a state championship.”
Colombi is coming off a junior season in which he had two interceptions and nine pass breakups — not quite the same numbers he had as a sophomore. But a big part of that diminished picks is that teams knew where he was on the field and opted not to throw the ball anywhere near the tall, ultra-athletic defensive back.
Colombi spent most of the offseason honing his skills, lifting and going through his college choices. He also strongly considered Toledo and Ohio University.
“I really just felt Miami was the best fit for me overall,” he said. “I liked everyone
“That sticks with us a lot. If we win that game, we probably end up winning the whole thing. We felt we were so close. A couple plays just changed the game.” — Chardon’s Leo Colombi, on losing to Canfield last season
there. The chemistry at Miami is unbelievable. It felt like the right place as soon as I stepped in there.”
Colombi envisions a major in the business field. He also foresees the potential for a position change. With his frame, he could play some linebacker at the college level.
“I’ll probably be up to like 225 pounds by the time I play there,” he said. “They had a safety named Sterling Weatherford a few years ago —he’s with the Chicago Bears now — and he played safety and linebacker (at Miami) so that’s what they want to model me after.”
Time has flown by for Colombi. It seems like just yesterday he was a freshman celebrating the Hilltoppers’ thrilling 31-28 double overtime win over Columbus DeSales in the 2020 Division III state championship game.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that he was celebrating with his teammates after a 21-14 win over Hamilton Badin in the 2021 Division III state championship game — his first as a starter on the Chardon defense. And he smiles thinking about the raucous celebration after Chardon’s state title in baseball his sophomore year.
He and his teammates are itching to get to work on this year’s schedule after the 2022 season ended prematurely with a 14-7 loss to eventual state champion Canfield in the Region 9 championship game.
“That sticks with us a lot,” Colombi said. “If we win that game, we probably end up winning the whole thing. We felt we were so close. A couple plays just changed the game.”
So with three state championship rings already on his hand, Colombi has a goal before heading off to Miami.
“Two more,” he said. “One more in football, then one more in baseball.”