Photo by: National Underclassmen Football Combine
Football = Lifelong Relationships What Signing Day is All About
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| As you go through life, you start to take certain things away from it, #1 things don’t always go as planned, #2 always strive to be the best no matter what, #3 try to help people as much as you can and #4 place your hands in god the almighty for love and salvation. Football has always been for me the one place and the one thing that always brought people together. It didn’t matter, whether it was as a player, as a coach, as a spectator, or as a fan, anytime I was around football good things happened. This brings me the why I love football so much; it has to do with the relationships you make on and off the field. |  |
| I love how you meet players and families that still believe in striving to be the best. I love how you get to what the athlete is thinking, feeling, hoping along the tough road of competition. I love how you get to share in their times of happiness, disappointment, and adjustment as the athletes and the families overcome adversity, time and time again to reach their dream. I have developed great relationships over the years. In 2005 when Joe and Josh Haden came to our events and Tyrod Taylor participated and starred at the combine, I got to know their families. I texted Mr. Haden back in forth as got to watch his son win the National Championship at Florida. I get to see Mr. Taylor every year at our Hampton Roads events and share many laughs with him. | |
| Many of the players I have personally coached including Steve Beauharnais who is at Rutgers and Steve Maneri who now playing with the New England Patriots will still talk with me and discuss the different things that are going on in their lives. I enjoy seeing their progress and how far they have come in the last five years. I got to know Andrew Meredith and his father Allen, all the way from the great state of Wyoming. They used to come and train in NJ and I still talk with Allen and Andrew as they go through the daily battles and progresses of being a football family at the University of Wyoming. Andrew was one of the first athletes that we saw dominate camp after camp and on the field, but not get recruited the way he wanted, because of the remote location he came from. Andrew and Allen talk with me all the time about football, life and much more! |  |
| I have gotten to know Mr. Espinosa and his sons as they have come through our system. I got the updated from Mr. Espinosa on Dom as he signed with Texas and I get the recruiting pulse of Texas from him. Two of my favorite families The Boyd’s’ whose son Tajh is about to be the starter at Clemson, have talked with me throughout the recruiting process and still continuous update me on Tajh’s progress. They are the first family of the NUC, as they were truly the first ground up star of the National Underclassmen Combine. I got to watch him as a freshman through teardrop fades, lead Phoebus high to the state championship twice, and then through the winning touchdown at the US Army Game and then celebrate with him. The second family the Hubbard’s I have gotten to know with help and support of the development of DJ Hubbard who played in the All World Gridiron Classic. DJ’s father Tim has given us DJ’s progress and DJ has always been a star in the NUC system and we have gone through the trials and tribulations that a speedster who is slightly short has to go through. We have watched DJ go through recruiting with a great attitude towards it and handling everything always in a class manner. | |
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| Finally, but most important it brings me to the family that I have become closest to over the year. The Gauses’ through Quentin’s burst onto the scene from Rochester NY to his signing with Rutgers a few days ago, Mr. Gause and Quentin and family have been the most inquisitive, always enjoyable, very involved but always friendly and the most supportive of the NUC. Mr. Gause and I have chatted hundreds of times on the phone. Sometimes we have talked about absolutely nothing, other times we have talked about Quentin’s recruiting. Mr. Gause has also called me from the most auspicious locations, from the road driving through ice to the to the All World Game, From the Weight Room during his son’s workouts, even from the hot tub as he was enjoying an end of the day moment of relaxation. Mr. Gause and Quentin have sent me amazing tapes on Quentin’s workouts, updates on his academic performance and have always conducted and represented their family in a first class manner. I was particularly thrilled to see his dream come true! The Gauses’ represent what it means to become part of my family and the family of the NUC. I appreciate the friendship with them and the other families. As we begin the combine season today, I look forward to meeting thousands of families and developing new relationships that last a lifetime. Football= Lifelong Relationships and is the greatest thing about the sport for which I am forever indebted. | |
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