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...]