Cole Hodge is sort of an athletic prodigy in Kentucky, who has been making headlines for almost a decade even though he hasn't even started his senior year in high school yet. Hodge starred as a point guard on the AAU basketball circuit in his early teens and was so talented he made the varsity squad at Christian Academy of Louisville as an eighth grader. On the football … [Read more...]

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...]