SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University senior quarterback Dante Nania has signed a professional football contract with the North Coast Heat of the National Gridiron League in Australia.
 
"We're very happy for Dante and excited that he is getting this opportunity," said SRU head coach Shawn Lutz. "He had an outstanding year for us and continued to work hard in the offseason to earn himself this chance."
 
The National Gridiron League is set to begin its inaugural season this fall with teams located throughout Australia. Most of the rosters in the league are being filled by players from the United States, including many NCAA Division I players.
 
"It's always been a dream of mine to play professional football," said Nania. "I'm excited for this opportunity and really want to thank everyone that helped support me. I really need to thank my family for their support and Slippery Rock for giving me a chance to come in and be the quarterback at The Rock last fall."
 
Nania played just one season at Slippery Rock after transferring in from Youngstown State University for his senior year.
 
That one season turned out to be one of the best in the history of Slippery Rock football, as Nania helped guide the team to a program best 12-2 record, a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title, a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals and a final national ranking of No. 7.
 
Nania guided the nation's highest scoring offense as The Rock averaged 45.2 points per game. With him at the helm, SRU had the fifth best total offense in the country (490.3 yards per game), recorded the most first downs in the nation (351) and ranked 11th in rushing offense (257.7 yards per game).
 
The Rock broke numerous offensive team records for a single-season under Nania, including rushing yards (3,608), rushing touchdowns (46), total offense (6,864), all-purpose yardage (8,599), total touchdowns (87) and total scoring (633 points).
 
Individually, Nania broke the SRU single-season record for touchdown passes and finished the year with 31, which ranked 10th in the nation. He also ranked 11th in the country in points responsible for with 210.
 
He also set Slippery Rock program records for passing completions (250) and attempts (456) in a single-season and threw for the second most yards in program history at 3,121 yards. His 3,438 yards of total offense also rank second in program history.
 
Nania threw five interceptions over the first two games of the year, but threw just six total over the next 12 games as he settled into the SRU system. He never threw more than one interception in a game during the last 12 weeks of the season and went six games with no picks.
 
His best effort of the year earned him MVP honors at the PSAC Championship game, when he threw for 304 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions in The Rock's 61-12 win over West Chester, which marked the most points and biggest margin of victory in PSAC title game history. A close second best performance included 312 passing yards and three passing TDs to go along with 59 rushing yards and two TDs on the ground in a 56-21 win over California on Homecoming.
 
Nania improved as the season went on and closed the year by throwing for 1,074 yards with 15 touchdowns and just one interception over the last five games, combined.
 
He will report to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland in late August to prepare for the season.