Sunshine State Recruits Have Plenty Of Suitors To Choose From

An excellent article from the Mobile Press Register's Mike Herndon on several recruiting aspects in the State of Florida.

Florida remains fertile recruiting ground (Super Southeast 120)

MOBILE, Alabama -- Trent Richardson grew up being compared to Emmitt Smith. He played at Smith's alma mater, Escambia High in Pensacola, and earned the same kind of accolades, honored as one of the top prospects in the country during his senior year.
But while Smith went on to star at Florida before going on to become the NFL's all-time leading rusher, Richardson chose another path. He signed with Alabama, where he is expected to be among the top backs in the SEC and the country this season.
To continue reading go to:  http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/07/florida_remains_fertile_recrui.html

Gulf Coast Region Has 4 In The Top 10 Of The Super Southeast 120

Led by Florida State Commit DE Dante Fowler of St. Petersburg, the Gulf Coast Region is well represented in the Mobile Press Register's Super Southeast 120, including 4 in the Top 10.  Fowler is ranked #2, and he is soon followed by Alabama Commit FS Eddie Williams from Panama City.

2. Dante Fowler Jr., DE, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Lakewood (6-3, 232): Elite edge-rusher racked up 20 sacks and 33 tackles for loss among his 107 tackles as a junior. He was named DL MVP of Tallahassee NIKE camp this summer. Committed to Florida State.

4. Eddie Williams, S/ATH, Panama City (Fla.) Arnold (6-4, 200): Super-sized safety is a head-hunter with excellent speed and ball skills. Committed to Alabama.

For full list by Mike Herndon of the Press Register go to:  http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/07/the_super_southeast_120_list.html

Linebacker Richie Brown Becomes Second Long Beach Bearcat On Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen

Is Long Beach becoming the South Panola of the Coast?  It's beginning to look that way as Linebacker Richie Brown joins teammate DT Nick James in becoming the second Bearcat to be named a Dandy Dozen selection by the Clarion Ledger.  The Bearcats are finding themselves in elite company as they join mega powerhouse South Panola in being the only teams with two players being named to the Dandy Dozen.

Here is a portion of the article by Rod Walker from the Clarion Ledger on Brown's selection:

 

Long Beach's Brown a hit machine

 "Richie plays with just a high motor," said Browder. "In my 35 years of coaching, I have never had a a player that tries to make every tackle. Even if it looks like it's impossible to make, he's still going to chase it until the very end. He's like that every single down."
For the full story go to:  http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20110723/SPORTS06/107230312/Long-Beach-s-Brown-hit-machine?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Sports|s

Long Beach LB Richie Brown Gets Offer From LSU

TigerBait.com has just announced that Long Beach, MS LB Richie Brown has just received an offer from LSU:

By Mike Scarborough
The LSU coaching staff is still in high gear for the 2012 recruiting class despite already having 15 commitments. Late Tuesday afternoon, Les Miles extended an offer to another top prospect.

Brown will talk over the LSU offer with his parents

Linebacker Richie Brown of Long Beach, Miss. was extended a scholarship offer from Miles following his camp visit Tuesday.

"Yes, I just got out of the room with Les Miles," Brown said in confirming his scholarship offer.
For full article go to:  http://lsu.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1241935

Long Beach Mammoth DT Nick James #5 On Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen List

Big man James' star shines bright

Zoom

By Rod Walker
Long Beach defensive tackle Nick James didn't take long to make a lasting first impression on his coach Tommy Browder two seasons ago.
The Bearcats were playing in a jamboree when James - all 6-foot-4, 345 pounds of him at the time - stripped a Biloxi ball-carrier, scooped the ball off the ground and sprinted 99 yards for a touchdown.
"None of their skill guys could catch him," recalled Browder. "I just knew someone would, but they couldn't. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen."

For full article go to:  http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20110718/SPORTS060301/107180319/Big-man-James-star-shines-bright?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s

Nation's Top Recruit Can Trace Ties Back to Mississippi Gulf Coast

In my internet research of the top high school football players in the Class of 2011 (Yeah, so what do you do for fun on a Hot July Saturday Night?), I often wondered what led one of the top players in the nation, a defensive end out of Denton, Texas, to make an early commitment to Florida State.  It wasn't anything against Florida State, which definitely seems on the road back to football glory under new Coach Jimbo Fisher.  But, still I found it surprising that Florida State, with so much talent in their own backyard, was able to  get an early commitment fromsuch a top notch talent right in the middle of the fertile recruiting grounds of Texas and Oklahoma.  Well, the answer was revealed to me in a recent ESPN.com article I came across, and it provided a direct link from the not so distant pass, when Sunshine State dominance in college football was greatly aided by a group of skill players from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Throughout the 90's as the programs at Florida and Florida State were peaking, it was always surprising to me that despite the amount of high school talent that the Sunshine State produces, a handful of their key players came from the eastern edge of Mississippi's Gulf Coast in the towns of Moss Point and Pascagoula.  Shane Matthews of Pascagoula was the first quarterback to sling the football in Steve Spurrier's fun n gun offense at Florida.  In Matthews's senior season he was joined by fellow Mississippian and and future All American WR Jack Jackson of Moss Point, Pascagoula's neighbor to the North and chief high school football rival.

Ironically, Matthews's high school teammate was CB Terrell Buckley, who became an All American at Florida State and is the Seminoles career interception leader.  Two other Pascagoula alums who had standout careers at Florida State in the 90's before playing in the NFL were Wide Receiver Kez McCorvey (Detroit Lions) and Defensive Back Mario Edwards (Dallas Cowboys).

Edwards became a father at the young age of 16 before he ever made it to Tallahassee. Today, the son he had while still in high school is 6-4, 270 lbs Mario Edwards, Jr., and he is ranked as the nation's number one player by ESPN..  And while the younger Edwards may have inherited his father's athletic ability, with that size he won't be playing cornerback.  However, you can expect the relentess pass rushing defensive end from Ryan High School in Denton, Texas to help force many interceptions.

Here is the link to the story by Mitch Sherman of ESPN about Father, Son and Seminoles:   http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=6639378

To watch YouTube video footage of Mario Edwards, Jr. go to:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXH5fW9AUKQ

    

Robert Royal's Youth Football Camp Begins In Algiers

NFL Free Agent Robert Royal, a New Orleans and former star TE for LSU, came back to his hometown to host his 5th annual youth football camp, and brought along with him a handful of fellow pros to serve as instructors, including a few with local ties to NOLA.

Robert Royal uses NFL lockout down time to give back to community

By Hunter Paniagua, The Times Picayune

On Friday, the tight end hosted the fifth annual Together Each Achieves More football camp at the Cut Off Center, where he and other NFL players, including San Diego Chargers wide receiver Buster Davis, Oakland Raiders running back Rock Cartwright and Buffalo Bills safety George Wilson, served as coaches.
"To come back and be able to give a hand back and provide an opportunity for some kids, and to be able to make a difference in their lives, is a wonderful opportunity," Royal said.

For full article from the Times Picayune go to:  http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2011/07/new_orleans_native_robert_roya.html

Pebble Doesn't Break Off Far From The Stone With New Hire On The Mississippi Coast

The coaching carousel on the MS Gulf Coast continues as the sixth new head coach for the 2011 season was just announced with Stone's hiring of one of their own in former Tomcat QB Adam Stone, who had been serving as the school's Assistant Principal.  Yes, I think it is highly ironic that Stone County's new coach is also named Stone.  Here is the article from James Jones of the Sun Herald:

Stone hired as SHS football coach

By JAMES JONES -

Stone High recently hired its new football coach.
The Tomcats named Adam Stone to succeed Brian Oakes, who resigned to become an assistant coach at Hinds Community College.
Stone is a former Tomcats quarterback and was the assistant Principal at Stone High. He also helped coached at Stone Middle School.

Stone

“I’m excited about being coach here because this is where I am from,” Stone said. “It’s a dream come true for me.”

Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2011/07/01/3242641/stone-hired-as-shs-football-coach.html#ixzz1QyCXtE9Z

Manning Passing Academy Inspired By Ineffective Ground Game

The Manning Passing Academy was started all because Peyton got tired of seem teams run the ball and lose.

"During his high school days at Newman," father Archie Manning said, "Peyton could not understand why a team would lose 28-3 and maybe throw six passes. It bugged him. By the time he was in college, and proved you could win throwing the ball, he told me we should have a camp during the offseason devoted to passing. Never forgot it."
For full article by Peter Finney of The Times Picayune go to:  http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2011/07/manning_passing_academy_grows.html