As former Miami Dolphin, Kansas City Chief and San Diego Charger receiver Chris Chambers stepped up to the microphone on Tuesday afternoon, it was indeed all about vision.
Introduced as the newest head football coach of Fort Lauderdale University, it wasn’t about a player who was taken 52nd overall in the 2001 National Football League Draft by the Miami Dolphins. The day was not about his six seasons with the Dolphins, where he would record 5,688 yards on 405 catches, with 43 touchdowns. It wasn’t even about being named the team Rookie of the Year and the Dolphins Man of the Year.
As spring football was held for the first time since 2019, Monday was indeed something special for players, coaches and fans who simply cannot get enough of high school football.
With the pandemic taking away spring and summer last year, the one thing is for sure – over the next month – student/athletes will give everything possible to grab that spotlight and possibly put themselves in one for a scholarship.
Take a look at any successful public high school football program in the state of Florida and you will find that the root of all that winning comes back to the area youth programs.
Venice, Lakeland, Booker T. Washington, Madison County, Baker, Vero Beach and the list goes on and on of public high school programs that stock their shelves each season come from the local youth program.
Talk to veteran Miami Norland head football coach Darryl Heidelberg and he will tell you how crazy 2020 was.
Because of the pandemic and Covid concerns, the season never really worked out the way that anyone wanted, but for the Vikings, a 4-3 record – which included four straight wins to end the season, gave this program plenty of optimism for the future.
As we are now fully into the off-season – with camps and combines filling the calendar – spring is about to arrive.
Perhaps the most important part of the recruiting process, spring practice was taken away last season because of Covid, and while we are still battling this pandemic, the show will finally go on.