Q&A: Dwayne Orso

Homewood High School defensive end Dwayne Orso Jr. will sign to play football for the University of Oklahoma on Feb. 5, National Signing Day. The Homewood Star talked to him about switching his original commitment from Western Kentucky and his path to this year.

Tell us a bit about your football career and how you got to where you are now.

In New Orleans, I played defensive end, and when I came to Homewood, I was playing defense. In park league, I was bigger than everybody else, so I played running back also. Then when I got to middle school I had dreams of being a quarterback, but that was short-lived. I just continued to play defensive end up until the point I’m at now. 

Do you like the defensive side better than the offensive side?

I think on defensive I get a chance to be more free and just run around and hit people, rather than having to block someone. 

Tell us about the recruiting process. 

I went up to Western Kentucky and I liked it, and that’s when I committed to them. It was a good place, and I felt like that’s somewhere I’d get to play. And then as the season went by, I started playing better and had more production, and that’s when bigger schools started coming along. I gave [local schools] a look, but then when Oklahoma came, I mean, Boomer Sooner. 

What was it like going out to see the school?

The campus is really nice. I met most of the players. Just talking to them, they were really cool. Bob Stoops is a great guy. When you talk with some other coaches, they want to tell you their stats and how great their school is. But talking to coach Stoops, it’s just like you’re talking to your grandpa. He’s a real good family man. 

Take us through the night that Oklahoma was playing Alabama. You had just committed to this school, and they beat Alabama. What was your reaction that night?

Excitement. Joy. And really a big relief because, you know, living in Birmingham, there’s a lot of “Roll Tide, yeah!” I already know if we’d lost, there would’ve been some headaches. When they won, it was unbelievable. I didn’t get my voice back until two days after the game. I was at my aunt’s house watching the game, and everybody was telling me, “Shut up, be quiet!” I didn’t sit down during the whole game. Even when things weren’t going as well, I still was up yelling and hollering. 

You lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Tell us about how you came here.

I’m originally from the Lower Ninth Ward. All I remember is my mom telling me, “Grab your favorite item.” I grabbed my Scooby Doo teddy bear, and I took it with me and I went to sleep. The next thing you know I was waking up. It was dark outside and raining, and we were in front of [a hotel]. Everything else is just history.

So at that point, your family obviously had to move. Why Birmingham, why Homewood?

I asked my mom that a lot when I first moved here, and she said that one of my aunts put it into her GPS and it took her to Homewood, Ala.