While football may not be played on television sets in the spring, coach John Featherstone and his staff are working hard at recruiting players as well as doing what they can to get sophomores placed into Division I or Division II programs across the country.
“Football is a 12-month commitment,” Featherstone said. “I’ve always preached that championships are won in the spring.”
With a total of 24 players committed to Division I colleges, Featherstone said he believes that players who either have not committed or received lucrative offers will be playing football this fall.
“There are six or seven more of our players who have the possibility of playing at the Division I level,” Featherstone said. “We also have about five players who can compete at the Division II level.”
Another one of the 24 players already committed to a Division I program is Corey Surrency, who has committed to Florida State.
“I knew I had to do what was best for my family when I made my decision,” Surrency, who played at South Ridge High School in Florida before transferring to EC, said.
Oregon State received commitments from three EC players in Simi Kuli (defensive end), Brent McNeil (offensive lineman) and Jeremy Francis (running back), who are set to compete for starting positions for the Beavers.
“The coaching staff (at Oregon State) felt like I could compete right off the bat for a starting position,” McNeil said.
Other players committing to Division I or Division II programs are Verran Tucker, who committed to the University of California at Berkeley; Justin Thompson, Oregon; Patrick Hill, University of Miami; Josh Berard, Kansas State; John Finau, Kansas State; Lamar Chapman, University of Utah; Taylor Wallace, San Diego State; Kaipo Sarkissian, University of Tulsa.
Others include Tolu Moala, Brigham Young ; Greg Ray, University of Memphis; Rolando Barragan, Southern Mississippi; David Decordova, Alabama-Birmingham; Boo Jackson, University of Ohio; Hilton Dawson, University of Ohio; Chris Williams, Utah State; Cedric Mack, Florida Int’l; Cory Lattimore, Florida Int’l; Jarrett Gant, Idaho State, and Devohn Moutra, Clark Atlanta University.
Featherstone and the rest of the coaching staff believe that regardless of the caliber of players leaving EC, the Warriors will remain competitive as they try to win their fourth straight Mission Conference championship next season.
“This is the reason why we do this (on getting players recruited),” Featherstone said. “The staff is proud of our kids (who are transferring), but we have a good nucleus of players coming back.”
