A Sea Of Red

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1182411

Florida is where it's at.

The state of Texas appears to have won the distinction for having the most Division I FBS scholarship football players as 345 signed Letters of Intent.

Florida, however, wins the bigger honor: It has the highest percentage of football players heading to a Division I FBS program.

and everybody made fun of me when I said virginia high school football was terrible. I should know. I played in it. Also, Tidewater region is WAY overrated.

I was watching ESPNU on signing day, and one of the guys made a pretty good point. Texas players coming out of high school are more polished, because of the quality of coaches, and facilities. Florida players have alot of raw talent, but they need the coaching. Basically, Florida players are more talented, but just aren't as fundementally sound coming out of school. I thought it was pretty interesting.

bravo269er wrote:I was watching ESPNU on signing day, and one of the guys made a pretty good point. Texas players coming out of high school are more polished, because of the quality of coaches, and facilities. Florida players have alot of raw talent, but they need the coaching. Basically, Florida players are more talented, but just aren't as fundementally sound coming out of school. I thought it was pretty interesting.

Very interesting observation. I can definitely see that being the case.

jbock13 wrote:and everybody made fun of me when I said virginia high school football was terrible. I should know. I played in it. Also, Tidewater region is WAY overrated.

VA is still closer to the top. There are a handful of states with 2 or fewer signees, 4 states with 0.

Perhaps Sly could check my facts, but texas (and the midwest) play more of a style of running the football (which isn't statistically impressive), and Florida more teams run the spread offense, which makes the stats more inflated. Just my observation. I know from playing in VA everything was pretty much a run up the middle.

jbock13 wrote:Perhaps Sly could check my facts, but texas (and the midwest) play more of a style of running the football (which isn't statistically impressive), and Florida more teams run the spread offense, which makes the stats more inflated. Just my observation. I know from playing in VA everything was pretty much a run up the middle.

Halfway thru the season this year, my HS in Florida had thrown 20 passes total. We run a wing-T.

In general you may be right. But there are always exceptions. We have 2 DI guys on this year's team, one at RB and one "Athlete"

Texas used to be a 3 yards and a cloud of dust brand of football. But that I ancient history. Texas is now known as the hotbed of passing nationwide. Just take a look at who the top QBs in college football have been the past few years and a HUGE percentage have been Texas products.

According to the 2010 NCAA Passing Leaders, six of the top 16 passers were from Texas. Here are some Texas passers that made some noise in 2010:

• Andrew Luck - Stanford
  Ryan Mallett - Arkansas
  Taylor Potts - Texas Tech
  Kyle Padron - SMU
  G.J. Kinne - Tulsa
  Robert Griffin III - Baylor
  Greg McElroy - Alabama
  Nick Foles - Arizona
  Darron Thomas - Oregon
  Andy Dalton - TCU

And that doesn't even mention guys at traditional Lone State State powerhouses in Austin & College Station. I really started to see the tide shifting in the mid '90s when I was covering Drew Brees at Austin Westlake.

As for the percentages for states, I think it should be noted that participation levels for football are higher in Texas than anywhere else in the nation. Everyone plays football whether you are any good or not here in Texas because it is ingrained in the culture.

It has been true for a long time that the most fertile recruiting grounds in the nation have typically been in Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Louisiana & South Florida. Not much has changed over time. At LU we have done a nice job reaching into Florida and I look forward to the day when we can dip deeper into the Texas & Louisiana pools.

ToTheLeft wrote:

jbock13 wrote:Perhaps Sly could check my facts, but texas (and the midwest) play more of a style of running the football (which isn't statistically impressive), and Florida more teams run the spread offense, which makes the stats more inflated. Just my observation. I know from playing in VA everything was pretty much a run up the middle.

Halfway thru the season this year, my HS in Florida had thrown 20 passes total. We run a wing-T.

In general you may be right. But there are always exceptions. We have 2 DI guys on this year's team, one at RB and one "Athlete"

On my team, you're lucky to get 4 passes a game. We run the old Wishbone formation. Which is why we stunk.

Sly is right on. When I lived near Baytown, TX those guys threw the ball all the time out of the spread. Last year there was a great article in SI talking about Texas qb's, and how the high school game has changed to a passing based offense. That is taking shape across most of the country based on trends in the college game, and the NFL.

Yeah that's my bad for opening my mouth about Texas high school football when I didn't know. Guess I'll learn lol.

Most people think of Texas football as power running football, because of Darrell Royals Longhorns of the 70's . Perception is often reality I guess. Given the perception that Texas doesn't have "fast" players like Florida people assume the high school teams play power football. It's not true. Next season watch a high school game on ESPN with a top Texas high school program, and you'll be in for a treat. They are just as good as St. Thomas Aquinas, Manitee or any other Florida team.

bravo269er wrote:Most people think of Texas football as power running football, because of Darrell Royals Longhorns of the 70's . Perception is often reality I guess. Given the perception that Texas doesn't have "fast" players like Florida people assume the high school teams play power football. It's not true. Next season watch a high school game on ESPN with a top Texas high school program, and you'll be in for a treat. They are just as good as St. Thomas Aquinas, Manitee or any other Florida team.

The two UT guys that come to mind are Vince Young and Jamal Charles - both of who are extremely fast.

Bravo dropping a Baytown reference on me? Wow, didn't see that coming. And yes, Baytown Lee has sent a ton of QBs to major colleges including Ell Roberson @ K-State & Drew Tate @ Iowa.

As for speed, the top sprinters in the nation generally coming from Texas, Louisiana & Florida. It is no coincidence that those three states top recruiting wish lists. (How's that for a track reference, 01?)

Yeah, I lived near Baytown a few years ago so i'm familiar with the area. My wife is from down that way. I got your back on the Texas football scene, lol.

I spend quite a bit of time in Baytown & Mont Belvieu with clients. PastorZack is from Silsbee where his dad is head football coach.

yawn

its still all fly-over country

why dont you go get your spurs polished or maybe buy your wife a nice heart-shaped cactus for Valentines' Day

Unless you're talking about Dillon, Texas, I'm not interested.

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN'T LOSE!

As great as that show has been, it still doesn't do Texas football justice.

El Scorcho wrote:Unless you're talking about Dillon, Texas, I'm not interested.

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN'T LOSE!

This.