Michigan head coach Brady Hoke, Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer all addressed the crowd.
Michigan coach Brady Hoke at the Adidas Sound Mind Sound Body Football Academy.
Eastern Michigan’s head coach Ron English and Western Michigan’s Bill Cubit were also in attendance.
There were assistant coaches from all over including Cincinnati, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ball State and Northern Illinois.
No, this wasn’t the American Football Coaches Association convention. It was last week’s Adidas Sound Mind Sound Body Football Academy in Southfield, Mich.
The coaches audience was over 600 kids and hopeful college football players, most hailing from the Detroit area, with others coming from Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio and as far as New York and Canada. Dantonio, Hoke, Meyer and company stressed what it takes to be successful on and off the football field.
Event director Curtis Blackwell has put on 20 of these events over eight years. Today’s event gets underway at Coolidge High in the Washington D.C. area.
“This year, having the best college coaches in the country arguably makes it the most unique program in the United State of America,” Blackwell said. “I don’t think you’ll get it anywhere else. When people saw Urban Meyer and Brady Hoke standing next to each other and talking to the boys, the event has come a long way to where we are now. Who would have thought that would be the case?”
No participant benefitted more than Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech athlete Damon Webb, who was able to earn scholarship offers from Michigan and Michigan State because of his strong performance at the camp. Chelsea (Mich.) High running back Berkley Edwards saw an Iowa scholarship come his way. The young men that attended got top of the line instruction from college coaches not just on the Division-I level, but from coaches all across the college football landscape.
“The biggest thing was the head coaches coming,” Blackwell said. “That was the talk of the whole camp. That was the highlight of the whole weekend.”
Camp cost was $50. Besides top-of-the-line instruction, the kids also left with cleats, gym backs, socks, shorts and a compression shirt.
The camp was loaded with talent as well. Among the big names were Michigan commits Shane Morris, Jourdan Lewis, Csont’e York, David Dawson, Logan Tuley-Tillman and Khalid Hill all participated. Notre Dame was represented by receiver commit James Onwualu. Michigan State commit Jon Reschke also worked out.
Blackwell and his program are expecting 250 kids at this week’s event in the nation’s capital. He said coaches from Penn State, Syracuse, Hampton , Howard, Morgan State and Towson will be helping out.
“It’s truly become a sight to see,” he said.
- Steve Wiltfong
- National Recruiting Writer - 247Sports