Breaking his left leg as a junior at Oceanside High could have cost David Porotesano a shot at playing football in college. Fortunately, UC Davis coach Tim Plough did not write off Porotesano as damaged goods. Plough looked beyond the long scar on the offensive lineman’s lower leg and saw his potential.
That potential is coming to fruition with Porotesano making a strong bid as a redshirt freshman to earn playing time. All that is standing in his way are five returning starters on the line. Tackles Ernesto Nava and Eli Simonson were two of the seven Aggies named to the All-Big Sky Conference preseason team.
This is just the second time that UC Davis had two offensive linemen earned preseason honors since joining the Big Sky in 2012. The first time was 2022 with center Connor Pettek and guard Jake Parks. Neither made the All-Big Sky first team at the end of the season, however, but tackle Nick Amoah did.
Plough expects Porotesano will do much more in his career than make the all-conference team. “This guy’s different and he’ll get paid to play football some day because of that,” Plough said. “You just know when you look at a guy and you’re like, ‘That guy is doing to play football for the next 15 years.’”
No one knew during spring practices if Nava or Simonson would return. Nava regained a season after a rule change subtracted his one junior college season at Golden West from his four years of NCAA eligibility. Simonson sat out the spring quarter at UC Davis as he contemplated his future and whether to go pro.
Porotesano took advantage of their absences to make his case to go from playing in three games last season to earning substantial playing time in 2025. Freshmen can play in as many four games without spending a year of eligibility. Porotesano played against Cal Poly, Northern Colorado and Illinois State.
There was no risk in playing Porotesano in games UC Davis won by 52, 46 and 32 points. Porotesano did not think of it as garbage time. “Any reps at the college level are important,” he said, “especially transitioning from the high school level to where I am now, just the level of focus and intensity. It meant a lot to me.”
And it was not meaningless to Plough in evaluating Porotesano because “we’re not going to play him if we don’t think he’s ready even if it’s like ‘Oh, we can waste four games.’ If we can find the time to get him out there and get him some live reps, that’s going to benefit him a great deal a year from now.”
Porotesano proved that in the spring when he played left tackle with the first-string offense in place of Simonson. Porotesano continues to work with the starters in fall camp as the Aggies mix and match linemen. Plough is not surprised even though he admitted “we didn’t know it would happen this fast.”
The scar on Porotesano’s leg conceals the titanium rod inserted after he fractured his fibula and tibia in Oceanside’s second game in 2022. “It was a rough time being a junior and obviously that being a big year for recruiting,” said Porotesano, who feared college recruiters would look at him in a lesser light.
An invitation to a spring camp at UC Davis in 2023 was worth the nine-hour drive from Oceanside for Porotesano to show his leg had healed and prove he was worthy of a scholarship. The injury did not deter Plough, who said high school athletes who overcome adversity often make for the best recruits.
Plough has nothing against players who “come from a great family, a great situation and they’ve had a charmed life. It doesn’t mean you don’t recruit them. But when you have a guy that has been through adversity, that sticks out to you. I think it makes him more valuable to us. That shapes a young man.”
Adversity has shaped Porotesano’s appreciation for every day he can wear a helmet and shoulder pads. “There’s going to be days when your body’s not feeling it or it’s like, ‘Aw man, another practice,’” he said. “I always think back to that time, my junior year (at Oceanside), and wish I could have practiced.”
