Confidence, Skills Drive Tanneyhill’s Success At Chesterfield, Rams Seeking Their Fourth Straight Class A title 

By Billy G. Baker
Publisher

Chesterfield—No doubt confidence and skill are key factors in athletic success.

Steve Tanneyhill has certainly used the aforementioned throughout his athletic experiences. Confidence oozes from his voice with each and every word as he speaks about the subject of football. From his roots in Altoona, Pa., where he passed for over 5,000 yards in high school, to the campus of the University of South Carolina where he established several passing records; or now to the coaching field at Chesterfield, Tanneyhill exurbs confidence in all that he does.

The walls of his office are lined with game balls, coaching awards, team pictures and so many memories of his orbit with the game of football. “If my office caught on fire what is the one thing I would remove?” he said. “I can replace the pictures on the wall but the DVD’s of all our games at Chesterfield. I would have to grab them going out the door for sure.”      

Around town when it is time to eat you will probably find Tanneyhill at Robert’s Rib and when he needs to deposit a check he goes down to the First Citizens Bank and talks football with his Gamecock buddy Michael Caskey. When his car needs a new set of tires he stays local at Funderburk Tire. He has put the party life behind him saying that hunting and football consume most of his life these days.    

Over 17 years after leaving Gamecock fans with a treasured Carquest Bowl win, Tanneyhill, now 37, is using that same confidence and personal skills to coach up kids on the football field at Chesterfield. He has been a head coach at Cambridge Academy in Greenwood for five seasons in eight man-SCISA, and he has now completed five seasons at Class A Chesterfield. He has won five state titles in ten seasons and owns a 101-28 career coaching record. Not too shabby by anyone’s standards.  

He took over a “rock bottom” Chesterfield football program in 2005 that had gone 1-19 in the two previous years. His first team meeting with the players at Chesterfield should have been televised live on ESPN because it would be a Classic for sure. And had it been the confident Tanneyhill would have already moved on down the coaching road.

“Listen up guys,” said Tanneyhill in that meeting with his new squad back in February, 2005. “We start off the season in a few months against Buford and I can tell you right now we’ll be up 14-0 before they run a play.”

(Keep in mind that Tanneyhill is talking to a group of young men who had not averaged 14 points a game in two seasons!)

“If they win the toss we are going to kick an onsides kick, recover it and score, and if we win the toss we are going to run the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, then we are going to do an onsides kick and recover it and score again,” Tanneyhill said with the confidence of a Paris Island drill sergeant.

History reflects that Buford kicked off to Chesterfield and the Rams ran it back for a touchdown. True to his word, the Rams recovered their onsides kick, scored a few plays later, and they were leading 14-0 before Buford had run a play! Are you kidding me!   

During his first season in 2005 the Rams were 3-8 and lost two games by one point each including a 21-20 squeaker to Buford. The program had shown improvement but 3-8 was not what Tanneyhill had in mind when he took the job.  

“Our goal for my second season was to reverse the number and go at least 8-3,” said Coach Tanneyhill. “We worked our tails off in the weight room and got faster, bigger and stronger so I was real pleased when we went 11-3 and played Carvers Bay for the state title.  We lost, 22-21 but we had united the community behind us and I knew we had turned the corner. It was so much fun winning and it made the hard work worth while.”

In 2007, Chesterfield went 11-3 and won the Div. I Class state title with a 13-6 win over Carvers Bay. In 2008, the Rams went 13-1 and defeated Carvers Bay 21-0 for the title. In 2009 the Rams went 14-0 and defeated Lamar 36-6 for their third straight title.  Should they win their fourth title in 2010 they would tie Byrnes as the only other school in state history to win four in a row.

The competition in Chesterfield County is quite keen as the Rams play AA foes Cheraw and Central of Pageland each year. “When you play either school it is 48 minutes of war and it is 48 minutes of physical football,” said Coach Tanneyhill. “There is no love lost when those games begin and there is no love lost when they are over either. When we get in the playoffs and teams come to play us from other parts of the state we have advantages because they don’t play the game like it is played around here.”

Tanneyhill refers to it as the “Highway 9” football power house syndrome  “You get on Highway 9 you better strap it up when you go play,” he said. “We all play each other. We are going to scrimmage Lancaster and we play in jamborees with Dillon and you have Lake View on number 9. All the teams within an hour of us have just made us better.”

Tanneyhill chuckles when he is told that several residents in Pageland have made comments that if Chesterfield every beat them in football they would pack up and leave the county.  Okay those guilty Eagle fans it’s time to call the moving van. To date the Rams are 3-2 against Central and 3-2 against Cheraw.

During the season the town and surrounding community becomes one huge Mecca for “Go Rams! yard signs. They are in businesses, yards and even stapled to phone poles throughout the area. “I know that the majority of the town shuts down on Friday night and we have 800 to 1,000 fans follow us on the road,” said Coach Tanneyhill. “We have had the biggest crowds of any of the teams at the state finals. The fans get me fired up and they get our players fired up. I can’t thank our fans enough. They have helped make our program what it has become. Everybody should come to a game here, especially when we play a Central or a Cheraw.”          

“This year we have a whole new team and we are focused on the future and getting better,” said Coach Tanneyhill. “We stared lifting two weeks after last year’s championship game.”

At the recent HSSR football media day three Ram players look ready to suit it up. Senior offensive tackle Hayden Wilks (6-3, 323) has a 325 pound bench and two way lineman Rodney Evans (6-1, 280) has a 340 bench and he looks like he can hold his own as well. The quarterback Seth Truesdale (6-2, 205) looks like he could throw a football a county mile and he can.

“Coach Tanneyhill has instilled in me a lot of confidence in myself and I was a very poor academic student coming into high school,” said Wilks. “I owe everything to Coach Tanneyhill for pushing me in the class room and in the weight room. I am getting interest from colleges and if it hadn’t been for him I would not have had the grades to get into a college. He’s looked up to in this town.”       

Another unique story that proves Tanneyhill’s insights as a coach comes from Truesdale, who passed for over 3,600 yards as a junior.  “I am in middle school and I asked the coach if I could play quarterback and he looked at me like I was crazy and said that I would be either be a tight end or defensive end and not to ever worry about playing quarterback again,” said Truesdale. “Well, in my final game that year Coach Tanneyhill came to a game and afterwards he asked me why I was not playing quarterback. I told him what the coach had said and the next year when I got on the jayvee he played me at quarterback from day one.”

 On Saturdays and Sundays in the fall Tanneyhill said you can pretty much find him in a deer stand around Chesterfield County. “Otherwise I am focused on football,” he said. “I play a little golf four months out of the year but once the season starts I am all football. I am going to hunt and do football and that is pretty much about it for me.”

One sentimental part of the interview with Tanneyhill evolves around the death of former Clemson star and Cambridge Academy player, Gaines Adams who died of a heart attack a few months ago at the age of 27. “There are about ten people out there that have had a major influence on me and I count my parents in that number,” said Tanneyhill. “You also count a couple of coaches and a couple of kids that I have coached. I am not married and I don’t have children so I have about ten people out there that are my inner circle of friends and Gaines was one of them. When something like that happens it makes you stop and realize that it can happen to anyone on any given day. It makes you want to enjoy life more each day and never take a day for granted.

“Gaines was very supportive of our football program. He bought our team shoes and he took our players to eat on several occasions. We would go deep sea fishing a couple times a year.  Will I ever coach a better player? I doubt it. I mean number four in the draft. How do you top that?

Coach Tanneyhill said that during the 2010 season his players would wear “GA-93” on the back of their helmets in honor of their fallen friend. “He was also a great person, not just a good football player,” said Coach Tanneyhill. “The GA will be in purple and the 93 will be in orange and as a Carolina graduate I just don’t usually wear anything with purple and orange in it. For me to put something on our helmets with purple and orange it is a very big step for me.”

When it is all said and done how does Tanneyhill sum up his life to date? “Well, the first part I was that free spirit quarterback but we did win some games and we got the bowl game win. My second part is helping kids and winning five state championships and then lastly I take a lot of pride in the kids that I have helped. We have had 18 young men leave Chesterfield in the past four years and go on to college football and I am very proud of that. When a kid puts you down for a reference on a resume and you get a call from a potential employer that makes you feel like it was all worthwhile. Coach Brad Scott (former USC coach now at Clemson) is one of my references. Helping kids gives me so much personal satisfaction.”          

What advice does Coach Tanneyhill have for that brand new young head coach somewhere in South Carolina? “I would tell him to find him a great offensive line coach, find you a great defensive coordinator, and start the process of your kids lifting in the weight room and build from there. This is how it has to work.

“It starts way before the first snap. As a high school team we don’t get to pick the kids we have available to coach in our community. The kids are there. Your hand is forced a little bit but by having those three main parts you’ll find success quicker.” 

In the 2009 season the Rams recorded nine shut-out wins. “In as much as I don’t like to say this, because I am an offensive guy, to really be a true championship football team you have to have a good defense,” said Coach Tanneyhill. “If you have a great defense you have a chance to win every night. Coach Grant Caulder and his group do a great job coordinating our defense. I mean 9 shut-outs is crazy out of 14 games. “

At Chesterfield most players only play one way with few exceptions. “I think sometimes people just think it is Tanneyhill throwing the ball. Sometimes your offense is just not going to click and you need your defense to keep you in the game.”

When does he think it will be time to move on?  “I will not coach anywhere where there is not a tradition of community support,” said Coach Tanneyhill. “I love it here on Friday when we shut down the town. Any future job I take is going to have to be in a tradition rich place. I might stay here forever.

“Everybody thinks that I have been leaving Chesterfield every since our first state title. No one has got hat right yet. We’ll just let everybody talk. When something comes across that I feel is a challenge I might jump on it. Right now I am real excited about this team, this program and this town.”    

Seventeen Positive Things Coaches Should Do While Working With Young People In The Coaching Profession, According To One Coaching Legend

Greenville—As we gather to reunite with old friends at the 63rd annual South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association Clinic, being held at the Carolina First Center, it might just a good time to share some wisdom that John McKissick wrote about in his Called To Coach II biography released in 2003.

I was honored to help co-author his second book with him and at the very beginning of the book the games all time winningest coach outlines the core values coaches need to adhere to as they work with young people on a day-to-day basis. This is an ideal time to share this information with coaches and our readership.

McKissick’s 17 Things To Do Include:

1. To work with young people to help them grow into good citizens.

2. To teach them the value of success, not only in the sport you choose, but in everything that you do.

3. To help them mature physically and mentally, as well as morally.

4. To help them build up their strength with weight training, etc.

5. To teach them good health habits.

6. To teach them good manners and how to get along with others.

7. To respect their elders as well as their teammates.

8. To work to become a team.

9. To teach them that hard work achieves success.

10. To teach them good study habits; to stress the value of good grades.

11. To provide a listening ear when they are troubled or have problems.

12. To keep them off the streets and teach them the value of good, clean living.

13. To provide a role model for them.

14. To teach them to never give up.

15. To teach them the value and joy of winning and the heartbreak of losing.

16. TO TEACH THEM GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP AT ALL TIMES.

17. To teach them that losing is a temporary obstacle in all areas of life and winning is a permanent goal.

“It’s all about the love of the game and competition and fulfilling one’s dreams of success,” said Coach McKissick. “It’s all about helping to mold and shape young people’s lives and dealing with the good and the bad.”

At 83, Coach McKisisck will soon begin his 59th season on the sideline of Summerville Green Wave football. This feat ties him with Alonzo Stagg for the most seasons coached in the game of football. The Baron of Summerville enters the 2010 season with a 576-133-13 record including ten state titles.  He is just 24 wins shy of staggering all-world record mark of 600 wins and he is still enjoying good health.

With his 2010 team loaded up with good skill people the Green Wave should be able to win at least 12 games, if not more, and they are coming off an 11-2 season. The challenge might come next year when the team will have graduated a top running back and two very talented receivers.

Should Coach McKissick be able to achieve the “600 win” milestone it might just be considered one record in coaching that will never be surpassed. This is great for high school football in South Carolina. This is something that should make us all proud.

On a highly personal my journalism career began across the desk from Coach McKissick in late August, 1969 as a nervous freshman working for the Pine Log school newspaper at Summerville. Four days earlier I had left a children’s home at John de la Howe in McCormick where I had been, in part, due to my father dying of cancer when I was two. My father left eight children behind with an uneducated mother dealing with her own issues.

Coach McKissick was watching film against a freshly painted wall when I knocked on his door nervous, stuttering and totally unprepared. His practice was due to start in ten minutes. My comment to him was how much I had enjoyed his team winning a game the previous Friday night that I had attended. I also managed to get out something about how important I thought he was to the school.

His comment back to me has never left my memory bank. “You think I’m important?” he asked back. “You got it wrong. You are the one who is important. I have never had a student reporter come to my office before. Looks like I got me a little buddy.”

The next day a small table suddenly appeared near his desk and their were 16 years worth of scrapbook memories done on a year-by-year basis of his early Green Wave teams. I dove into them with the curiosity of a mind reader, and 41 years later I hope I am still that buddy to a “Coach” who cared about me at a very delicate time in my life.

click for more images

By Bill Mitchell
Special Writer

Columbia – A recruiter’s wildest fantasy actually became a reality on Sunday July, 18 when the High School Sports Report held its annual pre-season football media day at the University of South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium.

Approximately 250 of the Palmetto State’s finest high school football players were on hand for a photo session and media interviews that included the daily media and several website organizations. While it was a recruiter’s dream, there were none present in conformity with NCAA rules.

Once again we thank Dusty Rhodes and all the staff members in South Carolina associated with Josten’s for sponsoring the HSSR-Josten’s recruiting page once again this year including on our website hssr.com.  

“We were certainly pleased to have the majority of our Top 15 players here today, and with 50 teams here, our 160 page football tabloid we will print in August (covering every school in the state) has the potential of being our best one yet,” said HSSR founder Billy G. Baker who was on hand to run the event. “I can’t imagine it not being worth the $5 cover price seeing how we commit $20,000 in time, resources and expenses to produce the only type publication of its kind in South Carolina covering all schools large and small.”

  Some of the marquee players on hand included number one rated defensive end Jadeveon Clowney of South Pointe (6-6, 250). Clowney, cutting jokes and laughing for most of the HSSR Media Day, lists his top five schools as South Carolina, Clemson, North Carolina, Alabama, and Florida State.

As a junior he had 139 tackles including 23 sacks and rivals.com has him listed as the top prospect in the nation.

Dorman receiver Charone Peake (6-4, 200) was also on hand at media day and he is a firm commitment to Clemson. Peake is rated as the number two prospect in the state by HSSR starting the season. Last year he caught 51 passes for 881 yards and 9 touchdowns.

Peake chose Clemson over Georgia in June from a pool of schools that also included Florida, Southern Cal and North Carolina. This summer Peake attended the Clemson football camp and he has been participated in various summer passing league games with the Dorman team.

“After I went to camp at Clemson I got home and talked over things with my parents and I felt like Clemson was the right decision for me,” said Peake. “Me and my family just love all the coaches at Clemson and we just feel comfortable with Clemson. I am 100 per cent committed to Clemson.”    

The annual event, complete with a cook-out sponsored by the HSSR and Fatz Café (special thanks to Scooter Brandemuehl) of Orangeburg, marks the unofficial kickoff of the football year which will not begin officially until practice after next week’s South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association clinic to be held in Greenville.

 The day brought together one of the strongest classes in the state’s history to talk, get their pictures taken, and to respond to media questions under a usually hot July sky that, true to form, produced a few afternoon showers.

Pictures included individual and team photos were taken of each school represented. Pictures of the top players attending by position were made for future use as football coverage goes into full swing

Other top players at the event included Goose Creek offensive lineman Brandon Shell (6-8,320) and both Gerald Dixon, Jr. of Northwestern and Gerald Dixon of South Pointe along with Summerville running back DeAngelo Henderson, Scott’s Branch tight end Jerrell Adams (6-5, 230) was also on hand along with number 15 rated Stanton Seckinger (6-5,200) of Porter-Gaud who is a clone of former Florida receiver Chris Doering who is now a sportscaster in the Gainesville, Florida area.

Seckinger has offers from N.C. State and Clemson and he was hoping to impress the Gamecocks at a one day prospect camp on July 23.

Does it bother Seckinger knowing that despite high jumping a new SCISA record of 6-6 and having close to a 40 inch vertical that some colleges don’t like the fact he plays at a small private school? “When you play in SCISA I understand what some coach’s say about the competition and some feel like you don’t play against good enough competition,” said Seckinger. “I ask the coaches when the last time they had been to a SCISA game was and I remind them that while we don’t have 500 athletes to draw from that we do have quality athletes in SCISA who can play at the next level. We might only have two or three per team but we do have some great athletes in SCISA.”

Seckinger has gone to summer camps at Georgia, Wake Forest, Clemson and Furman thus far. He will be going to South Carolina and Tennessee later in July. He visited N.C. State in June where he was offered. Seckinger’s mother is a former volleyball player at Clemson and his father went to college at Georgia.  “I hope to play in the Southeast area but I am open minded at this point,” said Seckinger last year Seckinger caught 58 passes fro 1,095 yards and nine touchdowns. His yards after catch are very impressive and he is seldom tackled by just one person.  

There are those who call this the Year of the Quarterback.  At least three have already committed to major colleges. Myrtle Beach’s Everett Golson (North Carolina), Northwestern’s Justin Worly (Tennessee), and Tony McNeal of Chester (Clemson) by no means exhaust the talent pool at the position.

Worley was not recruited by South Carolina and Clemson got a late start with him. Worley has been compared to Peyton Manning at the same time of his career so it is almost fitting that Worley has committed to Tennessee. Worley owns the state record for touchdown passes in a season with 53 and with a good senior season he is expected to become the all-time passing yardage leader in state history.

Golson was the major focus of South Carolina recruiters in a year of strong quarterback talent but he decided to follow his childhood dreams of playing for the Tar Heels. Golson will enter the fall at Myrtle Beach with over 7,000 career passing yards. As a junior he completed 224 of 356 passes for 3,529 yards and 47 touchdowns.  

North Augusta’s Loranzo Hammonds, Chesterfield’s Seth Truesdale, Hilton Head Prep’s Matt Layman (6-2, 180), Hammond’s David Nidiffer and Hilton Head Christian’s Luke Sirgo are among others highly thought of quarterbacks in the pre-season assessments.

Layman has the advantage of having Clemson “Ring of Honor” honoree Steve Fuller as his quarterback coach at Prep. Layman threw for 2,000 yards in just six games as a junior after being injured.

“It’s pretty cool to have a former NFL quarterback under your wing teaching you how to throw and make reads,’ said Layman. “He is a really good mentor for me.”

Layman said he would like to play both football and baseball but playing football has been a major dream of his for quite some time. “I would to be all-state in all of my sports that I play and I would love to help lead all my teams to state championships.”

Layman has been to Coastal Carolina, Furman, Duke, Wake Forest, Liberty, and Davidson. He was also invited and attended the USC spring game. He has also attended the well respected Peyton Manning Academy the past two years.      

After these players, there are a number of exceptional athletes performing at the quarterback position who could well see another position at the next level. Some of those include Woodland’s Robert Smith who has committed to Clemson, Calhoun Country’s Shamier Jeffery and Gaffney’s DeEdward Burris. Jeffrey has been offered a chance to play quarterback at Kentucky.

“I play quarterback, but I also play all over the field” said Burris. “I play free safety and cornerback. at times too.”

As a junior Burris finished 7th in the HSSR stats when he threw for 2,643 yards and 26 touchdowns. As a runner he gained 1,129 yards on 243 carries and 14 touchdowns.

Before former Gaffney head coach Phil Strickland left for Newberry in the spring he told HSSR, “Last year Burris was a great athlete playing quarterback and as the season went along he got more comfortable in his role. His challenge for his senior season is to be a great pure quarterback and get all the reads down and show that he is capable of being a next level quarterback. I am confident that he will have an outstanding senior season.” 

Dan Jones, the Indians’ defensive coordinator, has taken over from Phil Strickland in Gaffney this year and that means some changes.

“We’re working on our play book now,” Burris said. “I think things are going to be good. the changes could be for the better.”

Top running back Shon Carson (5-10, 200) of Lake City said his recruitment would come down to what colleges would allow him to play both football and baseball. Some observers feel that he prefers playing baseball at South Carolina and football at Clemson. “I just like playing both sports so whoever allows me to play both that is where I am going. “

Carson did say USC’s national championship in baseball had pushed him “a little bit” closer to that program. Carson did say that both USC and Clemson are pushing him hard for a football commitment.

Carson has a 320 pound bench and he runs low to the ground with 4.3 speed. As a junior he rushed for 2,146 yards and scored 33 touchdowns. He also played some defensive back where he had three picks.

His senior goals are to break the high school rushing record in the state. His top five schools right now in order of preference include Florida State, Clemson, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama.  

Top recruits abound at all positions, but South Pointe’s Jadeveon Clowney, regarded by some as the top prep talent in the nation and his opposite number Gerald Dixon are highly regarded defensive ends along with Union’s Desmond Floyd. All three of these players indicated a strong lean to the SEC at the HSSR Media Day.

Northwestern’s massive defensive tackles Gerald Dixon and Rod Byers are strong inside, also among defensive linemen is Deshawn Williams of Daniel, committed to Clemson.

Offensive lineman Brandon Shell of Goose Creek is among the best on that side of the ball. Shaq Anthony of Wren and Jerome Maybank (6-5, 330) of Waccamaw are pledged to Clemson. 

The players, their coaches and parents were treated to a calabash chicken from Fatz; along with a hamburger and hot dog cook out before the working session began.

Why Is Nobody Looking at Me?

By Charlie Stoudenmire
HSSR Talent Evaluator and Academic Adviser

Note: Charlie Stoudenmire – HSSR talent evaluator and academic advisor.  He served as a school principal for thirty five years in South Carolina.  He was named South Carolina’s School Administrator of the Year and he was recognized as South Carolina’s National Distinguished Principal.  Charlie has a passion for helping children to succeed. 

     Every year around this time, a number of high school talented senior athletes have experienced the worst scenario. Not one college recruiter has visited their school to talk with their coach about them coming to play for them.  Dreams of getting a college education lessen each day.  Some student athletes are saying, “Why is nobody looking at me?”  Parents are saying, “My child is good enough. Why isn’t he/she being offered an athletic scholarship?” Parents are blaming the coach (and rightly so in a few cases) for not promoting their child.  What is the real problem?

The problem is that outstanding student athletes are losing out on a college education.  What’s causing college recruiters to overlook certain student athletes?  The answer is simple.  The student athlete has poor grades.  He/she does not meet the academic requirements for admission to get into college.  The first question a recruiter will ask is, “What kind of grades does the student athlete have?” If a student’s grades are too low to meet admission requirements, the recruiter doesn’t proceed.  It does not matter how good an athlete he/she may be.   

Some athletes do not take serious the importance of having good grades.  Student athletes are getting to their senior year and their core grade point average (GPA) for grades nine through eleven is so low that it is almost impossible to recover in the senior yea alone.  It is vital that athletes have good grades in the “core” courses for grades nine through eleven. 

  What is the difference between a student’s regular GPA to that of a student’s core GPA.  A student’s regular GPA is when all course grades are used to get an overall average.  A student’s core GPA is when only the grades from core courses are used to determine a student’s grade point average.  Core courses are generally a student’s basic courses (i.e. English, math, science and social studies).  The core GPA is the average grade of the highest sixteen core courses.  The NCAA Clearinghouse is the official agency for determining a student athlete’s core GPA.  Every student athlete’s transcript in America goes through the Clearinghouse.  Why is this core GPA so important?  Colleges set their admission standards by a student’s score on the SAT or ACT.  That score is determined by what the student athlete’s core GPA will be. The higher a student athlete’s core GPA is, the lower the SAT/ACT score has to be.  The higher the SAT/ACT score is, the lower the student athlete’s core GPA can be.  What’s happening is that student athletes get to their senior year and realize their grades in grades nine through eleven do not qualify him/her for an athletic scholarship at any level.  Sometimes the Clearinghouse will fail to classify a core course due to the lack of information given to describe that particular course.  Sometimes it is in the athlete’s best interest to challenge whether or not a course taken is a core course.  The Clearinghouse has the reputation of looking for every possible way to judge in favor of the student athlete. 

Division IA admission standards are higher than Division IAA colleges.  Division IAA admission standards are higher than Division IAAA.   A low core GPA is detrimental to a student athlete’s future.  One such situation I was involved with was a senior football player.  He had all the physical attributes, size and speed, for DIA consideration.  He had the stats to backup his DIA prospect status.  He was all state in his school’s classification.  He had a great highlight video, but wasn’t accepted into any college.  After reviewing his transcript, one of his core grades at the end of the first semester of his senior year did not match his grade in February.  There was a huge discrepancy.  Once that grade was corrected, it helped his core GPA to come up enough to meet DIAA requirements with the SAT score he had.  All scholarships by this time had been taken.  We tried every Division IAA program in the southeast but no bites.  So, he walked on and was promised if he started next year, he would get a full ride.  Another case was when a 0senior wide receiver, with DIA speed, had no recruiters look his way.  The first question I asked was, “What were your grades in grades 9-11?”  His core GPA was 1.7.  That meant his SAT had to be 1035 t qualify for DIA.  The student athlete’s 760 SAT score shut the door on this great kid.  Again, we looked back on his 9-11 grades.  There was no way he could have pulled out of this, even if he had superb grades in his senior year, which he did.  The best I could recommend to this student athlete was the junior college route.  The last scenario was when a student athlete would be officially accepted upon his final core GPA calculation.  The Clearinghouse called to tell him he did not meet the sixteen core unit requirements.  After reviewing the course description, the Clearinghouse was challenged with one of their social studies.  The course was approved for core course status and it gave the student athlete the necessary sixteen core courses. 

The three young men referred to in the above paragraph needed a support system to avoid all the heartaches they have experienced.  Who is the blame for a student athlete being in these situations?  Is the student athlete the blame?  Absolutely, he/she is.  In all the cases above, the student athlete had the intellectual ability to make the grades necessary for college.  They didn’t apply themselves and make their studies a priority.  They didn’t realize that their grades in the ninth grade were so important.  Are parents the blame?  Absolutely they are part of the blame.  They should set the expectation that education is important.  They should monitor homework every day.  Parents should periodically conference with their child’s teacher and guidance counselor.  Yes, even when your son or daughter is in high school, parents should keep an ongoing record of their child’s GPA.  This should begin in the ninth grade.  They should take the initiative to find out what colleges expect for admission.  They should have high expectations for respectful behavior.  They should closely check on their child’s attendance.  Parents, yes you are accountable.  Should the school system (the school board, the superintendent, the principal, the teacher, the guidance counselor, the coach) be held accountable?  Absolutely they should.  The School Board of Trustees should set the expectations that parents be properly informed of their child’s progress and provide adequate information about college admission requirements for student athletes.  The school board should expect their superintendent, principals and teachers to provide intervention strategies for student athletes that are struggling.  These interventions should begin in the ninth grade. They should expect their coaches to promote exceptional student athletes and make it a part of their job responsibility.   

As you can see, it really does take a “village” to raise a child.  A child’s life is in our hands.  We’ve got to take every possible step to provide the student athlete the opportunity to succeed in the classroom as well as on the athletic field.  Ya’ll, its hard work, but our children are worth every bit of the effort.

The next HSSR issue will provide suggestions to prevent a child from being left out.  The article will be entitled “Please Tell Me What I Need to Do”.

 Charlie Stoudenmire – HSSR talent evaluator and academic advisor.  He served as a school principal for thirty five years in South Carolina.  He was named South Carolina’s School Administrator of the Year and he was recognized as South Carolina’s National Distinguished Principal.  Charlie has a passion for helping children to succeed.