If you have followed high school football for any length of time in south Florida, you already know that it doesn’t matter what grade you are in.
When it comes to football, more and more prospects are playing as freshmen and making a major impact.
Look around at the successful programs and you will see 9th graders who made a huge difference this past season – even for many of the state champions we had.
For years, college coaches have flocked to south Florida to check out the talent in the defensive secondary.
For at least the past four decades, quality secondary performers have found their way to the next level and beyond, from Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
The crazy thing about south Florida, is there are so many talented and gifted athletes that sometimes players – very good players – are way overlooked.
Taking nothing away from the fan websites or those who evaluate talent, but their lack of exposure to actually watching these football players perform in games and not just workouts or combines, is often something that ends up hurting prospects.
Having been fortunate to cover these athletes for a long time, we see them play in games multiple times during the course of a year – and that is why more colleges follow what we say about these prospects than anyone else. It is something that only makes sense.
One of the toughest things – in any walk of life – is to live up to a successful father, mother, brother, sister or family member.
It’s not new. It has been going on for decades – and whether you try and downplay it and shift the spotlight away – it’s human nature that kids are always going to be compared to who came before them.
As the pandemic has dictated what has transpired on high school football fields across the country, south Florida has more than done its part to make things safe and competitive for the athletes who have missed out on the exposure needed.
No matter what class they play in – or what college they have in mind, these athletes in south Florida continue to elevate their standing by competing pretty much year-round.