Iona Prep and Stepinac football prospects get a chance to show off for college coaches
Chasing a football scholarship is a daunting process, so it helps to remember it only takes one coach at the next level to believe in a prospect.
And when there are 80 of them representing colleges across the country standing on your home field and taking notes, the likelihood of a meaningful connection increases exponentially. Players from Stepinac and Iona Prep drew a crowd of logoed evaluators on Wednesday during the final leg of the Northeast Football Show Days caravan.
“We’re reaching a range of coaches we don’t normally reach, which I think is a necessity in this day and age,” Gaels coach Joe Spagnolo explained.
Recruiters haven’t always made this neck of the woods a high priority stop.
The Crusaders had five players from its 2014 team sign professional contracts. Malcolm Koonce, now a defensive end on the Las Vegas Raiders, is the only member of that team who received an offer from a major Division I school. “It gives the college recruiters a chance to see these kids run around and meet them in person,” Stepinac coach Mike O’Donnell said. “We have been doing this for two years now in partnership with Iona Prep. The NCAA has a new rule where colleges can only visit each school once in the spring season and this gives them a chance to hit our area and see some the top student-athlete football players at one time.
“This has definitely changed the way the country sees New York football.”
Show Days took root last year when prep schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut banded together. Avon Old Farms coach John Wholley reached out to Spagnola this year about looping in some of Catholic powers in the Metropolitan area.
This year’s tour started Monday in Connecticut and Massachusetts with stops at Brunswick, Darien, Hamden Hall, Choate, Cheshire Academy, Taft, Avon Old Farms, Suffield Academy and Springfield Central. Workouts continued on Tuesday at Deerfield Academy, Williston Northampton, Worcester Academy, Dexter Southfield, Tabor Academy, Milton Academy, St. Sebastian’s, Belmont Hill and Buckingham Browne and Nichols.
Workouts are scheduled to last 60 minutes and coaches have an opportunity to interact with the players.
They were at DePaul Catholic, Paramus Catholic and St. Joseph Regional in New Jersey bright and early Wednesday morning, then spent the afternoon and evening at Cardinal Hayes, Stepinac and Iona Prep.
“Everyone kind of works it differently,” Spagnolo said. “We do a speed circuit to let the coaches really see these kids move. We do a special teams period so you can see long-snappers, returners, holders, kickers and punters for a few minutes. We do an individual period where everyone gets in their position group. There’s no pads or anything. We do skill player one-on-ones, receivers on defensive backs and running backs on linebackers with the quarterbacks throwing. We do some quick 7 on 7s and then go 1-on-1 with the linemen.”
Here are three takeaways from the local stops:
1. There is major college talent here
Iona Prep and Stepinac are now mainstays in the highly competitive CHSFL and routinely graduate players to college rosters every season. That attracts talent along with more and more interest from top FCS and FBS programs.
Gaels tackle Rowan Byrne is the No. 1 recruit in the area. His momentum was slowed last fall by a broken fibula, but the rising senior has 24 offers and plans to make official visits to Clemson, Penn State, Michigan State and Florida State.
“Today is a great day for the coaches to get some clarification, but to be honest, they’re always evaluating,” Byrne said. “Every time they come to see you it’s an evaluation. It’s about showing them how you’ve improved versus the other guys they are going to see. I know what I’ve done this offseason to rehab and improve from where I was last year. I’m better technically, and stronger. I just have to go show that.”
Crusaders offensive lineman D.J. Williams picked up his 16th offer Wednesday after the workout, adding Kent State to a list that includes the likes of Pitt, Boston College, Duke, Temple and James Madison.
“It was awesome,” he said of the workout. “There were 80 college coaches watching us today, which is amazing. To have an opportunity for everyone to get looked at is a blessing.”
The other hot prospects from Stepinac include defensive lineman Kadear Dembele, who has 13 offers, including Army, Boston College, Wake Forest West Virginia and Duke, and defensive back Gavin Heslop, who on Wednesday added Rhode Island to a list of offers that includes Syracuse, Minnesota and Purdue.
Gaels defensive back Terron Johnson has five offers in hand, including Minnesota, Boston College, Duke and Syracuse. He got another on Wednesday from Rhode Island. Defensive lineman Gabe George picked up offers from UConn, Rhode Island and Georgetown and put them on the list that already included Minnesota and Fordham. Quarterback Joey Gaston has an offer from Marshall.
2. The competition was real, so were the nerves
Players from both sides were pretty worked up in anticipation of the event. Being around teammates in a familiar environment only eased a small measure of tension.
A lot was at stake.
“Today is the make it or break it day,” Spagnolo said. “Today is the day we get feedback on our seven or eight scholarship level kids. They are going to make their camp schedules and determine the next steps based on what they hear today.”
Performing under pressure is a big part of the game.
“I’m sure some of the guys have some nerves because it’s a big thing,” Byrne said. “If you know you are good enough to go play in college and you continue to do the exact thing you’ve been doing, there is no reason to be nervous.”
So is dealing with like-minded competitors.
"We always want to make each other better," Williams said. "That’s always how it’s been."
3. There is no time for a long vacation
Meaningful offseason workouts are part of the deal at this level, and players from both sides used the Show Days as motivation while logging hours in the weight room and on the field. Nobody is taking an extended break over the summer.
The schedules in place are brutal.
Iona Prep is playing Delbarton, N.J., Springfield Central, Mass. and Bergen Catholic, N.J. ahead of a CHSFL schedule that includes Stepinac, St. John the Baptist, St. Anthony’s, Cardinal Hayes, Kellenberg and Monsignor Farrell.
Stepinac is facing McDonogh, Md., Archbishop Spalding, Md. and St. Joseph Regional, N.J. before taking on league opponents Iona Prep, St. Anthony’s, Chaminade, St. Peter’s, Monsignor Farrell, Cardinal Hayes and Moore Catholic.
“Along with getting players looks today gives us more confidence in general,” Williams said. “We’re getting ready for sure. I look at the schedule all the time. The first four games are the biggest of the year, so we’re getting ready to prove ourselves.”
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Iona Prep and Stepinac take part in Northeast Football Show Days
