Manchester (VA) High coach Tom Hall and East Carolina offensive line coach Allen Mogridge have a past in common, and soon will share a future connection. Hall and Mogridge were both coached at the college level by Steve Marshall, a highly respected offensive line mentor who spent nearly 40 years working at the Football Bowl Subdivision and NFL levels. Hall toiled under … [Read more...]

Established relationships can often pay big dividends in the world of college football recruiting. Such was the case for East Carolina in landing a verbal commitment on June 24 from Florida defensive lineman Javon Williams. Max Smith is Williams' head coach at Pinellas Park High School in Largo, a city on Florida's Gulf Coast situated South of Clearwater and across Old Tampa … [Read more...]

Football didn't appear to be part of Da'Mare Williams' future as his ninth-grade year began in the fall of 2020 at Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva, NC. Although older brother Montrell Turner had been the football team's leading rusher in 2016-17, Williams' mother was vehemently opposed to her younger son participating in the physical sport. "I played football in … [Read more...]

Thomas Langley was welcoming students to his health and physical education class to start the new year in 2020 at Metrolina Christian Academy in Indian Trail, NC, when a particular newcomer caught his eye. "I was like, 'Who is that kid?' '' Langley said. "He was probably 6-2, 220 (pounds) as a freshman. He just had these big shoulders and a wide frame. There was another … [Read more...]

Desirrio Riles was five years old the first time David Penland III saw him play football. "He was always the bigger guy on the field,'' Penland said. "I just knew later in his career that he was going to be a really good football player.'' That early assessment has come true as Riles played in his first varsity game as an eighth grader at University Christian, where he'd … [Read more...]