By Marty Kirkland
A little went a long way for the area on this year’s national signing day. While only two players from local high schools signed football scholarships on Wednesday — and there certainly could be more who do so in the coming weeks — the offers they seized were big ones. With their prep careers finished, nice opportunities await Dalton’s Jalen Fields and Northwest Whitfield’s Nermin Delic, a pair of ends who’ll try to realize their upside at Georgia and Kentucky, respectively.
So ... who’s next?
A couple stories I’ve worked on recently reminded me how far ahead college coaches in all sports have to think to land a good recruiting class, or at least what they think will be a good recruiting class. And even for high school teams, next season is always closer than one might realize — once football banquets for one year are finished, it seems like teams barely catch their breath before it’s time for spring practice — and so are the final campaigns for area players who could be celebrating their own signings a year from now.
Here’s a look at six solid prospects from the local Class of 2011 heading into their final prep football seasons:
• Floyd Coffey, DE, Dalton: In name recognition, Coffey might have played in the shadow of fellow Dalton end Fields this past season after the senior became the first commitment to Georgia for 2010. But Coffey still made an impression on opposing teams — he had 69 tackles during the regular season, 12 more than Fields, although their work as a tandem no doubt helped each of them — and his own coaches, who at the team’s recent banquet named him their MVP on defense. Although I highlighted Watts Dantzler in a column last week on the visit to Dalton by Alabama’s Nick Saban, Coffey was also among the players the Crimson Tide coach spoke with during his brief stop. A fundamentally sound tackler, Coffey has excelled at containment and pursuit, but if a player got past the line, he did a good job getting downfield to help make the stop.
• Watts Dantzler, OL, Dalton: The interest has really taken off for the big Catamount after a strong junior season. We’ve reported on several of the honors that have come his way and the watch lists he’s landed on since last fall, but with the 6-foot-8-inch, 315-pound tackle in no rush to commit, Dantzler may use his senior season to improve his stock for that long roll of schools interested in him.
In 2009, he made the path for two 1,000-yard rushers while accumulating 52 pancake blocks and grading out at 80 percent. Strong showings at summer camps and a senior season with stats like that might increase his options even more, and I would bet on the bright Dantzler — who’s never struck me as anything but humble despite his talent — to make a good decision for his future.
• Synjen Herren, OL, Northwest: The Bruins have their own big man up in Tunnel Hill, and he helped make things a lot easier for their backfield this past fall, too. While Northwest’s offense might not have been the juggernaut that Dalton was in 2009, the Bruins had their share of good nights running the ball — Lance Andrews’ 193-yard, five-touchdown effort in their Region 7-4A playoff game against Paulding County stands out — and you can bet Herren helped make a difference up front. With technique to match his size — he graded a team-best 86 percent for the year and led the way with his 33 knockdown blocks — Herren should be ready to join the list of Northwest linemen to play at the next level during Mike Falleur’s eight-year tenure as coach.
• Mickey Guerrero, LB, Southeast Whitfield: Based on his size near the middle of his junior season — 6-0, 205 — Guerrero is a couple inches and quite a few pounds shy of what big-time college programs look for to fill their linebacker slots, particularly if they’re playing a 4-3 front.
But a trend across all levels of football toward the 3-4, the same scheme in which Guerrero plays outside for the Raiders, could help him out. A switch to safety might even be in his future, but someone’s going to miss out on an intense playmaker if they don’t at least give him a look. Great instincts allowed him to make long returns for touchdowns on an interception and a fumble last year, and his pass-rushing skills —his four sacks in a game and nine in a season are both Southeast records — limited the options for opposing offenses.
• Jake White, LB, Murray County: White is in many ways similar to Guerrero, a former Murray County teammate before he transferred to Southeast in the summer of 2009. Their height and weight were the same last season, both were two-way contributors at fullback and linebacker as sophomores before coaches found they fit best on defense and both showedprogress over the course of the year as they became major headaches for opponents. While Guerrero’s quickness and speed seemed to spring a lot of his big plays, White’s finish was what stood out as he tackled well and tackled hard from his inside ‘backer spot. His 60 stops were third among the Indians, behind two seniors, and while his consistency probably wasn’t where he or coaches would like it, standout games like the one he had against Rome — 14 solo tackles — showed his potential.
• Luke Woodason, DB, Northwest: A player whose physical style of play makes his game worth hearing as much as seeing — I’ve written it before, but you don’t want to get hit by a Woodason — he’ll be counted on as a major contributor in his senior year and looks to be up to the task of defensive leadership that will also be required. He was used sparingly at receiver this past season, but if the Bruins make more of a commitment to passing, he might be a big help on that side of the ball, too.
He’s already proven capable on defense, where his 75 tackles as a junior were just outside the top 10 in the area; he also had an interception and forced a fumble. He was listed at 5-11, 170 in 2009, but coaches felt like he played bigger than that because he never shied away from sending a message with his tackles.
