Mike DiLiello
American football player (born 2000)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mike DiLiello (born April 13, 2000) is an American professional football quarterback for the DC Defenders of the United Football League (UFL). He previously played college football at Florida Tech, Middle Tennessee, and Austin Peay.
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Pembroke Pines, Florida, U.S.
DiLiello with the DC Defenders in 2025 | |
| No. 17 – DC Defenders | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Roster status | Active |
| Personal information | |
| Born | April 13, 2000 Pembroke Pines, Florida, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Listed weight | 211 lb (96 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Cooper City |
| College |
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| NFL draft | 2024: undrafted |
| Career history | |
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| Awards and highlights | |
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Early life and college
DiLiello attended Cooper City High School in Cooper City, Florida. As a senior, he was named second team all-county and lettered in three sports.
Florida Tech
DiLiello began his collegiate career at Florida Tech. He redshirted during the 2018 season and did not appear in a game. In 2019, DiLiello appeared in all 11 games and completed 141-of-232 attempts for 1,773 yards while throwing 12 touchdowns to six interceptions.[1] He was named Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week twice and also earned Offensive Player of the Week as well.[2]
Middle Tennessee
In 2020, DiLiello transferred to Middle Tennessee. He made his NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) debut against Troy where he completed 3-of-4 passes for 35 yards and a touchdown. His first FBS touchdown was thrown to wide receiver Jaylin Lane on a 28-yard pass. In 2021, DiLiello appeared in 12 games as a backup and was used primarily as a dual-threat quarterback. He led the Blue Raiders with six rushing touchdowns on just 49 attempts. In the Bahamas Bowl against Toledo, he ran four 44 yards and a touchdown. On February 8, 2022, DiLiello entered the transfer portal.[3]
Austin Peay
On May 11, 2022, DiLiello announced that he was transferring to Austin Peay of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).[4] In 2022, DiLiello completed 200-of-328 passes for 2,447 yards and 21 touchdowns. On the season, he scored a touchdown in every game except the season finale against Alabama. In 2023, DiLiello completed 242-of-362 passes for 3,164 yards and 28 touchdowns. In a game against FBS Tennessee, DiLiello threw for 260 yards and a touchdown. The following week against East Tennessee State, he threw for a career high 441 yards and five touchdowns.[5] After the season, he was named Offensive Player of the Year and first team all-conference. He was also named FCS third-team All-America twice. In his two year stint with the Governors, he became the leader in passing yards, touchdowns, completion percentage, efficiency, passing yards per game, total touchdowns responsible for and total offense per game. He became the only quarterback in school history to throw for back-to-back 2,000+ yard seasons.[6]
Statistics
| Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2018 | Florida Tech | 0 | 0 | — | Redshirted  | |||||||||||
| 2019 | Florida Tech | 11 | 7 | 3–4 | 141 | 232 | 60.8 | 1,773 | 0.0 | 12 | 6 | 136.9 | 139 | 660 | 4.8 | 11 |
| 2020 | Middle Tennessee | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 4 | 75.0 | 35 | 8.8 | 1 | 0 | 231.0 | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Middle Tennessee | 12 | 0 | — | 29 | 49 | 59.2 | 267 | 5.4 | 1 | 2 | 103.5 | 49 | 264 | 5.4 | 6 |
| 2022 | Austin Peay | 11 | 11 | 7–4 | 200 | 328 | 61.0 | 2,447 | 7.5 | 21 | 11 | 138.1 | 120 | 446 | 3.7 | 8 |
| 2023 | Austin Peay | 12 | 12 | 9–3 | 242 | 362 | 66.9 | 3,164 | 8.7 | 28 | 10 | 160.3 | 123 | 203 | 1.7 | 5 |
| Career | 47 | 30 | 19–11 | 615 | 975 | 63.1 | 7,686 | 0.0 | 63 | 29 | 144.7 | 433 | 1,579 | 3.7 | 30 | |
Professional career
In 2024, DiLiello received an invitation to the Tennessee Titans rookie minicamp.[7]
On May 15, 2024, he signed with the DC Defenders of the United Football League (UFL). On October 16, he re-signed with the Defenders for the 2025 season.[8]