A special day for the Bulldogs
It’s hard to believe that today is National Signing Day for aspiring college football players around the nation.
Across the country a familiar scene will be repeated thousands of times as high schools honor the young men they will soon send forth in search of football glory.
The most accomplished high school players will go on to play at power schools such as Florida State, Alabama and Texas. On rare occasions, one or two of those players might surprise people and go to a smaller, less prestigious school for reasons involving family ties or their faith. But most of the time young men with visions of football grandeur rushing through their mind go with the big schools in power conferences.
Today will be a red letter signing day at Crestview. Six Bulldogs are ready to sign their national letter of intent so they can continue to play the game they love.
Crestview standouts Earl Reed, Javarius Seastrunk, Matt Hutchison, Geo Hillsman, Will Boler and Alex Campagne will officially go from being commitments to signees in an 11 a.m. ceremony in the Crestview auditorium.
Reed is expected to sign with the University of Memphis. Seastrunk is leaning toward Elon University in North Carolina, but Bulldog coach Kevin Pettis said he also has an offer from Minnesota. Elon is a member of the Southern Conference and a Division 1-AA school.
Hillsman and Hutchison are both expected to sign with Gardner-Webb. Gardner-Webb, like Elon, is a 1-AA school, but is a member of the Big South Conference.
Boler and Campagne will sign with Cumberland University in Tennessee. Cumberland is a member of the National Association of Interscholastic Athletics.
It is believed that Crestview has never had six football players from the same class sign scholarships. The Bulldogs definitely have never had six football players sign in the same day.
When Pettis took the Crestview head football coach and athletic director job last year one of the things he stressed was his ability to get players to the next level and if this year’s signing class is an indication of things to come the futures of the CHS players look good.
I will always be a Tennessee guy, but I’ve always enjoyed turning on the TV and watching local kids play college football.
In the years to come it looks like I’ll be doing a lot of channel surfing as I try to keep up with the former local stars.
But before the teammates go their separate ways, they will enjoy another big day as Crestview football players as they see their hard work pay off.
Time will tell how far football will take these young men, but today the world is in front of them for the taking.
I’ve always said my job makes me feel like a distant uncle to the kids I cover. I watch them grow from freshmen to seniors and I’m amazed at how quickly the years go by.
And now as they get ready to step into a new chapter of their lives, I wish all the best in football and happiness in life to Earl Reed, Javarius Seastrunk, Matt Hutchison, Geo Hillsman, Will Boler and Alex Campagne.
