The boy didn’t make the top 100 2027 players to watch. That’s good. That keeps him lean and hungry. He’ll get his flowers if he turns up the intensity and decides he wants to do the work off the field as well as on. It is a stepping stone to get on a list like that, and the real hurdle will be to compete in a camp next summer and look like a guy who deserves an offer. These are the steps I am concerned with. I want to see him get better and get fully engaged in the game. He’ll be getting plenty of chances now that he’s playing at two levels. He will get to play some JV as well as playing rotationally at the Varsity level. He needs it. He only played 5 games last year, and though he put up great numbers on both sides of the rock, he needs more snaps. He needs to see more offenses (and defenses) to truly get to a place where he is going to be that dog he wants to be.
Beyond that I am watching number 7 closely. He’s back home working out every day in preparation for camp this July. He isn’t going to be a day 1 starter. He blew that chance by not going to spring practice and instead doing the smart thing and enjoying a senior year. Now he has to work to show he deserves to be on the travel roster, and from there to be in the db rotation, and from there to start. It is, again, a lot of steps. But we take those steps. We love the journey.
The destination is where you find yourself when you decide to stop.