Size and speed make Belleville East lineman one to watch this fall
Schools with bigger names might have come calling. After all, what college football program couldn’t use a 6-foot-2, 305-pound lineman who can run the 40-yard dash in a flat five seconds – and sometimes a hair under that?
But before any of the other top-name football schools got a chance to knock on the door of Jonathan Rulo’s home, one visit to the campus of the University of Cincinnati was all it took for the Belleville East senior to commit to being a Bearcat.
“It felt like the place to be,” said Rulo, who committed to Cincinnati in late June. “Just being around the players and the coaches, it felt like home. And, my parents loved it. It felt like a family atmosphere. There might have been other schools getting ready to make an offer, but I committed right after my visit there.”
Rulo is a three-star prospect ranked as the 17th best recruit in the state entering his senior season with the Lancers. He plays on the offensive and defensive lines for Lancers coach Michael Harrison, but is projected to be a defensive player for the Bearcats. His quickness for a big man is why Rulo moved up in the scouts’ rankings, along with his agility.
Rulo learned some of those agility tricks during his career as a wrestler, his first love as a sport, and which he plans to also compete in next spring for the Lancers. He won the IHSA Class 3A State Heavyweight championship in the spring.
Rulo, 17, wanted only to be a wrestler, but a youth football coach made a deal with him: Come out for a week’s worth of football practice and he’d buy him a week’s worth of food at McDonald’s. Rulo took the offer and also came to realize he liked knocking other guys around with pads on.
He just kept getting bigger and taller, to the point now where he’s one of the biggest linemen in the state.
“He was a big kid already when he came into high school, but what’s unique about him is he’s quick as a cat, too,” Lancers coach Harrison said. “He’s got the size, strength, and the quickness. He can scoot for a big.”
Money is often a big factor in why recruits select certain schools, and that appears to be no different with Rulo and Cincinnati. The Bearcats made what Rulo said was a generous financial offer, and sometimes a slightly smaller school might have more in the budget than the top-10 program that already is paying high salaries to quarterbacks or other skill positions.
Terms weren’t disclosed, but a top edge pass rusher can often command the most money on a college football team. According to 24/7 Sports, in 2024 the top edge rushers averaged $167,687 per year, even more than quarterbacks. Defensive tackles, which might be where Rulo plays, averaged $65,878.
It’s not like the Bearcats are a small program. They play in the Big 12 Conference and went to the College Football Playoff semifinals in 2021 before losing to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
Rulo still has a full year of high school sports in front of him, and he said he plans to “keep my foot on the gas.”
“I always try to focus on the here and now, and what’s in front of me right now is bettering what I can do for my team this season,” said Rulo, who said his off-season weight right now is 290. “My focus is on Belleville East, and trying to help Belleville East get a championship.”
Harrison, whose teams have made the playoffs the last couple of seasons, has a lot of returning upperclassmen, so a state title isn’t out of the question. Playing in the Southwestern Conference is no picnic, but Harrison likes his Lancers squad moving forward.
“I think we’ll be able to put together another good run,” Harrison said. “Our conference is tough, week in and week out, and all of the other teams are trending up. So, we’ve got our work cut out for us. But I think we should be able to put a pretty good squad together this year and hopefully the ball will bounce our way a couple times.”
Rulo knows he’ll have more attention on him now, which can come with pressure. His attitude seems to be: bring it on.
“I know I can handle myself on a football field and am not going to get pushed around,” Rulo said. “God has blessed me with this size, so I need to take advantage of it.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.