Tigers X - Number one Source to Talk Auburn Tigers Sports
Pat Dye Field => War Damn Eagle => Topic started by: Snaggletiger on August 07, 2024, 11:17:51 AM
-
I know we have some old school peeps on here that played sports in a little different time, with regard to how coaches treated players and ran their programs. I only played football through 10th grade, mainly because my high school team, Jeff Davis, now JAG or some shit, was absolutely loaded with talent, and I was a 150 pound tackling dummy. Looking back, I can name at least 7 guys that went D1 football, including Auburn QB, Charlie Trotman, Arkansas RB, Thomas Brown, Alabama OT, Mike Brock and Fuck Georgia OG, James Brown. I love me some football, but it didn’t take me long to realize that baseball was more to my liking.
Back then, coaches in all sports had far more leeway to handle players the way they saw fit. Had one baseball coach, at a rival school, get so pissed at one of his players for intentionally knocking his helmet off when he ran the bases, that he stopped a scrimmage game, and walked out to second base and wrapped tape around his helmet and chin just to prove a point. My own high school baseball coach was legendary for his rants, and you’d better stand clear when he walked towards the batting helmets, because he’d use them for field goal practice when he got pissed, and you just might be the goal post. It was common place for a football coach to grab your face mask and either “steer you” to where you were supposed to be, or merely to make sure they had your undivided attention while offering constructive, positive reinforcement.
I know that coaches are no less intense today than they were back in my era, but the environment is different in what you can and can’t do. Plus, everything is on teh videos these days, including things that happen at practice in Hoover, Alabama. If you haven’t seen those videos, actually taken by staff while filming practice, you should. They show why Head Coach, Drew Gilmer, and an assistant are on administrative leave. Not sure if it was Gilmer, or the assistant, or both who 1. Ripped a player’s helmet off, 2. Knocked a player to the ground, and 3. Dry humped a player’s face while he was on all fours.
I’m gonna’ guess Coach Gilmer will soon be just, Drew Gilmer. Anybody have, or anyone see some crazy corching “techniques” while you played whatever sport?
-
tl;dr
-
I came up in the "water is for <three day suspension>" days.
Three hour baseball practice and there was one water break in the middle which consisted of a hose with holes cut in it stretched across two poles. It was like a herd of puppies trying to get at the hose mama's teats when that happened.
Salt pills/tablets were the remedy.
Water/gatorade in the dugout? Yeah, but consumption was limited. Didn't want any players waterlogged. Can't play when you're sloshing around.
My coach had a legendary temper. I remember one game I was batting and fouled one off that curled over the elementary school that was on the first base side, way past the fence and some dividing trees. I stood at the plate and watched the ball sail onto the roof of the elementary school. Then I heard this unholy roar behind me. Coach erupted from the dugout, tobacco spit flying out of his mouth, looking like a George Brett tornado, screaming "WE RUN FOUL BALLS OUT HERE, YOU <three day suspension>!! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY PRIDE??" Dude got right in my face, chewed me out, pulled me out of the game mid-at-bat and I got to sit the bench for a while so I could ponder my clear lack of pride.
It wasn't that. I was just lazy. And slow. I needed to save my energy for times when the ball was in play.
FOOTBALL? I only lasted one spring. We didn't have the pee wee leagues or any of that. 9th grade (8th if you were really good) was the first exposure. JV team. Our coach - a notable drunk - got mad at the varsity with about a week to go before the spring game. So we lined up in tackling drills. These drills consisted of us junior high cannon fodder standing basically still while the varsity got a five yard head start to "learn how to tackle." We were getting obliterated.
I got matched with a senior linebacker. Black kid who outweighed me by at least 25 pounds of muscle. Headhunter type. It was like a car crash every time he hit me. And every time, drunken coach would scream at him for "doing it wrong" and we'd go again.
About the fifth time, sick of getting annihilated, when he hit me I drew my knees up and got him in the groin and guts. Took the fire out of him. Unfortunately when he recovered, it was payback time. This time when he hit me, he went helmet to facemask. While I was on the ground seeing stars, he stuck his hand into my facemask and gouged my eyes. Sliced my eyelid in half.
I had to go to the doctor, get stitches, wear a bandage over the whole thing. Doc said I could not practice or play until it healed. Coach? "If you can't play in the spring game, we got no use for you. That's the rules. I'll cut you in the fall."
Thus ended the potential football career of what might have been the white Cam Newton.
-
I had former Coach Dye WR, Dale Overton as a head coach at one point. He was tough, but fair. Didn’t play favorites on the field. We drank hot water from a pvc pipe with holes drilled in it. We’d get the face mask grabs, the slaps on the ass, a good cussing, or the singling out/humiliation tours. Conditioning had a few upchucking at every practice.
Think he ran into some trouble and got forced out a few years later for his search history on the school computer. He was a hell of a coach, though.
-
I had former Coach Dye WR, Dale Overton as a head coach at one point. He was tough, but fair. Didn’t play favorites on the field. We drank hot water from a pvc pipe with holes drilled in it. We’d get the face mask grabs, the slaps on the ass, a good cussing, or the singling out/humiliation tours. Conditioning had a few upchucking at every practice.
Think he ran into some trouble and got forced out a few years later for his search history on the school computer. He was a hell of a coach, though.
I knew that name rang a bell. I only remember him as “Hackleburg”.
He was a meek mild freshman back then.
Blakeney loved him some Hackleburg.
-
Like you guys said, water for the athletes at Jeff Davis was one mammoth water hose at the edge of the practice field. I remember Tennessee was playing Auburn back in the early 70's. UT had bad ass QB, Condredge Holloway. For some reason, the Vols did their Friday walk-through at the Jeff Davis practice field. I lived a couple of blocks from the school, so I rode my bike up there to watch them unload and get a glimpse of Holloway.
I still recall how impressed their players and staff were with the gigantic water hose. Only the finest amenities.
-
Like you guys said, water for the athletes at Jeff Davis was one mammoth water hose at the edge of the practice field. I remember Tennessee was playing Auburn back in the early 70's. UT had bad ass QB, Condredge Holloway. For some reason, the Vols did their Friday walk-through at the Jeff Davis practice field. I lived a couple of blocks from the school, so I rode my bike up there to watch them unload and get a glimpse of Holloway.
I still recall how impressed their players and staff were with the gigantic water hose. Only the finest amenities.
Holloway was a man before his time. In today's offenses? He'd be in the Heisman mix. Top NFL draft pick.
Remember him well. He was like a Michael Vick or Lamar Jackson. Not quite Cam level (who is) but he would tear it up today, college and NFL.
He grew up in Huntsville or somewhere close. I also know for an almost absolute fact that UAT didn't recruit him because Saint Bahr Brunt said he "didn't want no <likely three day suspension with a hard R> quarterback" and Holloway had no interest in playing any other position.
Never got a shot at the pros. Wasn't drafted until the 12th round - as a DB.
FWIW? He went 1-2 against Auburn and 0-3 versus Bama in his time at Rocky Top.
-
Like you guys said, water for the athletes at Jeff Davis was one mammoth water hose at the edge of the practice field. I remember Tennessee was playing Auburn back in the early 70's. UT had bad ass QB, Condredge Holloway. For some reason, the Vols did their Friday walk-through at the Jeff Davis practice field. I lived a couple of blocks from the school, so I rode my bike up there to watch them unload and get a glimpse of Holloway.
I still recall how impressed their players and staff were with the gigantic water hose. Only the finest amenities.
Ohhhh please!
In Prattvegas, we had four hour practices with one water break at the two hour mark. Line up on the sideline with one knee in the ground, everybody got one of those wax coated Coca Cola cups and waited for the coach to use the aluminum water dipper to fille your cup up. He’d go from one end to the other and then back again. Before he got back, you’d try to eat all the ice. Then dump it right as he refilled the cup. If you were dying, you could go to the hose during practice. But if you didn’t die, you had to run after practice.
When fourth quarter hit, we whipped everybody’s ass.
I remember getting to AU and they had the big plastic air compressed water wagons with multiple hoses. I finally asked one of the guys if we had to wait until given the OK for water. He laughed and said, “Naw man. Get it when you want it”. I thought I was in the field of dreams…
-
I'm reading this entire thread in the voices of the Dads and other Old Townies watching practice in Varsity Blues saying gems like "Them boys is having the time of their lives." and "We didn't press no wieners on no police car glass."
-
I'm reading this entire thread in the voices of the Dad's and other Old Townies watching practice in Varsity Blues saying gems like "Them boys is having the time of their lives." and "We didn't press no wieners on no police car glass."
Nailed it.
-
Nailed it.
(https://mountainproject.com/assets/photos/climb/110240508_medium_1494368946.jpg?cache=1701318838)
The older I get, the more I relate to this.
-
Ohhhh please!
In Prattvegas, we had four hour practices with one water break at the two hour mark. Line up on the sideline with one knee in the ground, everybody got one of those wax coated Coca Cola cups and waited for the coach to use the aluminum water dipper to fille your cup up. He’d go from one end to the other and then back again. Before he got back, you’d try to eat all the ice. Then dump it right as he refilled the cup. If you were dying, you could go to the hose during practice. But if you didn’t die, you had to run after practice.
Ohhhh pleeease
Before practice, coach used to make us sit in a sauna for an hour....no...hour and a half. Then, we put on full sweats and ran 20 X 100 yard sprints...uphill...both ways. Then, we had to flip tractor tires the length of the field 5 times, and do 110 push ups at the end of each length. And then coach would say, "You boys thirsty? Good, take a break and ring the sweat out of your sweat shirts. You can drink that." After that, we had a two hour weight lifting session.
Then, we did 100 burpees right before we started our four and a half hour practice. And then we'd go out on Friday nights and beat the hell out of those Prattville pussies.
-
Prattville pussies.
SHOTS FIRED!
-
SHOTS FIRED!
Ain't skurr'd. Those Lions were just kitty cats in reality.
If you can't tell, I'm even getting stoked for some high school football, which is about to start up in a couple of weeks.
-
Ain't skurr'd. Those Lions were just kitty cats in reality.
If you can't tell, I'm even getting stoked for some high school football, which is about to start up in a couple of weeks.
Just stop putting a "media" lanyard around your neck and trying to walk into the lockerroom, mmmmmkay?
-
Just stop putting a "media" lanyard around your neck and trying to walk into the lockerroom, mmmmmkay?
How else am I gonna' get those hot pics?
-
My school Banks was no different with the water rationing, salt tablets, tobacco spit and face mask yanking. Our head coach took a job as a db assistant under Bryant. Took as many as 7 players with him in a package deal. Program went to shit after my freshman season bc the area talent was already drying up.
-
How else am I gonna' get those hot pics?
Do you even Revenge of the Nerds, bro?
Porky's?
Fuck's sake, it's like playin cards with my sister's kids!
-
Player has an attorney now…I wonder if they hired a lawyer that cares.
-
Ohhhh pleeease
Before practice, coach used to make us sit in a sauna for an hour....no...hour and a half. Then, we put on full sweats and ran 20 X 100 yard sprints...uphill...both ways. Then, we had to flip tractor tires the length of the field 5 times, and do 110 push ups at the end of each length. And then coach would say, "You boys thirsty? Good, take a break and ring the sweat out of your sweat shirts. You can drink that." After that, we had a two hour weight lifting session.
Then, we did 100 burpees right before we started our four and a half hour practice. And then we'd go out on Friday nights and beat the hell out of those Prattville pussies.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa, son. You city bitches was afraid to play us country boys. Then in 1984 when you finally did, we whipped that ass…TWICE!
-
My school Banks was no different with the water rationing, salt tablets, tobacco spit and face mask yanking. Our head coach took a job as a db assistant under Bryant. Took as many as 7 players with him in a package deal. Program went to shit after my freshman season bc the area talent was already drying up.
The head coach at Prattvegas before my HC was none other than Mike Dumbose. He was an ass then also. He didn’t like practice one day, so he had the parents pull their cars up beside the practice field and they practiced under the headlights.
-
Snags and CC need to skin those smokewagons and see what happens.
:popcorn:
-
Player has an attorney now…I wonder if they hired a lawyer that cares.
Does this look like a face that cares?
(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQH0GF5UqJOgBZMxdmlDcYfIPJ_VqL6WZGZrmnB03mMc16v3G5F)
about anything other than race baiting, that is...
-
Snags and CC need to skin those smokewagons and see what happens.
:popcorn:
Listen, mister, I - I'm - I'm - I'm gettin' awful tired of your...
-
Snags and CC need to skin those smokewagons and see what happens.
:popcorn:
To be fair, Snags was talking about baseball. Baseball mane. He talkin bout baseball. Come on. Baseball mane!
-
To be fair, Snags was talking about baseball. Baseball mane. He talkin bout baseball. Come on. Baseball mane!
We talkin' bout practice. Practice? Not a game. Not a game. We talkin' bout practice.
-
I had not thought of salt tablets ....and bad high school coaches in years...
Damn this board, damn this group of (3 day suspension word)!!!
I dreamt of fresh cut grass and pink vomit last night....
"Damn you damn you all to hell"
:shitfan:
-
Don’t forget those horse sized electrolyte pills they forced on us.
At least that’s what they called them. I’m not so sure now.
-
Don’t forget those horse sized electrolyte pills they forced on us.
At least that’s what they called them. I’m not so sure now.
That was the Agent Orange they used to track you.
-
I feel for coaches these days.
When I was coaching one of my stated goals was to push kids beyond what they thought they could do. Sometimes that took challenging them, not backing down when they bowed up on you, and making them almost hate you at some point. Different kids took different tactics. Some only responded to negative reinforcement, that drill sergeant mentality almost. Like Officer and a Gentleman. Mayo finally figures it out. Sgt. Foley didn't hate him, he just tore him down to build him up.
I hated my high school baseball coach for the first year or two I played for him. He rode my butt constantly. Nothing I did was good enough. But he made me work harder than I ever would have on my own. I'd practice at home after practice because I wanted to be better and prove him wrong. He made me a better player. He made me a stronger man. I can see that now as much as I initially resented it. I was fortunate enough to get to tell him that several years ago. His response? "What kind of coach, what kind of mentor would i be if I let you waste the potential you had?"
How do you do that now? How do you drive kids and push them beyond their limits? Sometimes the chowderheads NEED to have a knot jerked in them. They need to have that facemask yanked to get their attention. They need to do pushups in the mud until they collapse. It's not abuse. It's character.
-
I feel for coaches these days.
When I was coaching one of my stated goals was to push kids beyond what they thought they could do. Sometimes that took challenging them, not backing down when they bowed up on you, and making them almost hate you at some point. Different kids took different tactics. Some only responded to negative reinforcement, that drill sergeant mentality almost. Like Officer and a Gentleman. Mayo finally figures it out. Sgt. Foley didn't hate him, he just tore him down to build him up.
I hated my high school baseball coach for the first year or two I played for him. He rode my butt constantly. Nothing I did was good enough. But he made me work harder than I ever would have on my own. I'd practice at home after practice because I wanted to be better and prove him wrong. He made me a better player. He made me a stronger man. I can see that now as much as I initially resented it. I was fortunate enough to get to tell him that several years ago. His response? "What kind of coach, what kind of mentor would i be if I let you waste the potential you had?"
How do you do that now? How do you drive kids and push them beyond their limits? Sometimes the chowderheads NEED to have a knot jerked in them. They need to have that facemask yanked to get their attention. They need to do pushups in the mud until they collapse. It's not abuse. It's character.
Agreed on all of this, especially the first line. Kids are just different today. Totally different mindset. And it's about to get even worse, as NIL is already here.
Now, the Hoover coaches? Total dumbasses! That went way beyond snatching a kid up by the facemask and getting in his face. Ripped the helmet off and knocked the shit out of one player, then dry humped the face of another, knowing full well every second of it is on video. Too stupid to run a program like that.
-
My head coach told me I had a bad attitude. I agreed, told him we had a bad team and named off the handful of players that would battle to win. He could have pushed us harder but I grew up around most of those guys and it wouldn't have mattered. And that was the only conversation he and I ever had. He ended up being the HC at Jax State for a few seasons.
-
Agreed on all of this, especially the first line. Kids are just different today. Totally different mindset.
Kids are the same. It’s the adults that have fucked things up.
-
Kids are the same. It’s the adults that have fucked things up.
Can I get an amen!
-
Kids are the same. It’s the adults that have fucked things up.
Beautifully said.
-
The Coaches ain’t coaching their parents.
Amen?
Doesn’t matter who failed the kids. The Coaches have the kids every day, not the parents.
-
The Coaches have the kids every day, not the parents.
wut?
-
wut?
You said it. I am not disagreeing.
-
wut?
He’s an old. He gets confused. We’ve seen it happen to the best.
-
The Coaches ain’t coaching their parents.
Amen?
Doesn’t matter who failed the kids. The Coaches have the kids every day, not the parents.
I’m gonna go ahead and kinda disagree with you there.
The parents are the worst. Some examples from my real life experience (20+ years ago)
> Meeting in the principals office with Lena’s mom. Lena, an 8th grader, wasn’t getting enough playing time. She was the best second baseman on the team but I was playing a senior over her for no reason. Well. Lena can’t hit and doesn’t field well. She’s never in position. She’s learning the game the way I want her to play. Mom: well her Dixie league coach said she is the best player he’s ever seen. Her Dixie coach is her uncle. Principal? Tells me to play her more to placate mom.
> I’ve got a dad climbing the fence in the outfield to countermand the instructions I’ve given his daughter on where I want her positioned. I’ve got moms behind the backstop countermanding my instructions on batting stances, when to take pitches. I’ve got moms changing the pitch calls I send to my pitchers. All them former Dixie league “assistant coaches” who know more than I do. And we were winning doing what I said. I took a program with a total of five wins over the previous four seasons and went 16-4 our first season. All four losses came to two teams, both of which made the state tourney in their classification. But the parents meddled constantly. I had to institute a running penalty for every player who told me “but my daddy says…”
> In football we constantly had parents coming out of the stands to demand playing time for their kid, to question position assignments, to criticize play calls - and we were winning. Big.
Parents were the worst. They trap kids in the middle.
Granted, I never humped a defensive back’s face. That’s out of bounds. But I did drag a few kids by the facemask or shoulder pads.
-
Try and keep up, people. We talkin' bout how the coaches can or can't handle the kids. They have the athletes in their care every day, not the adults. And if you think kids are the same today, you done loss yo damn mind.
You can't talk about the entitlement of this generation, and not realize it carries over to their athletic careers. Heard an interview yesterday with a local high school coach, and he talked about that very thing. He was asked about what's changed about coaching over his career, and he said you have to deal with the fact that if kids don't like something, they'll just transfer out, or quit.
These are the same kids that only months removed from high school, are now manipulating and playing the hell out of college coaches and boosters at a level we never dreamed of. Quinn Ewers got himself an Aston-Martin and left THE Ohio State high and dry. Carson Beck is sporting around in a Lamborghini. You think kids are the same?
-
Try and keep up, people. We talkin' bout how the coaches can or can't handle the kids. They have the athletes in their care every day, not the adults. And if you think kids are the same today, you done loss yo damn mind.
You can't talk about the entitlement of this generation, and not realize it carries over to their athletic careers. Heard an interview yesterday with a local high school coach, and he talked about that very thing. He was asked about what's changed about coaching over his career, and he said you have to deal with the fact that if kids don't like something, they'll just transfer out, or quit.
These are the same kids that only months removed from high school, are now manipulating and playing the hell out of college coaches and boosters at a level we never dreamed of. Quinn Ewers got himself an Aston-Martin and left THE Ohio State high and dry. Carson Beck is sporting around in a Lamborghini. You think kids are the same?
A child is a malleable chunk of clay. Adults mess them up.
The examples you give are extremes. There are still some players out there that will run through a brick wall for you, even if they are disciplined in a negative manner. Children crave discipline. They don’t know it but they do. When allowed to run amok, they usually hurt themselves. The adults allow certain behaviors and then we blame the children.
Babies are stupid. Adults need to make them smarter and some of us have failed.
Hell, some parents let their kids become professional rasslers!
Point being, kids will respond to how they are treated. Society has put these fuckers on pedestals.
Stop blaming the chirren!
-
A child is a malleable chunk of clay. Adults mess them up.
The examples you give are extremes. There are still some players out there that will run through a brick wall for you, even if they are disciplined in a negative manner. Children crave discipline. They don’t know it but they do. When allowed to run amok, they usually hurt themselves. The adults allow certain behaviors and then we blame the children.
Babies are stupid. Adults need to make them smarter and some of us have failed.
Hell, some parents let their kids become professional rasslers!
Point being, kids will respond to how they are treated. Society has put these fuckers on pedestals.
Stop blaming the chirren!
This will require a more in depth conversation than to just to apply it to sports. Your key word was “society”. Many parents try, but are undermined by a system designed to create Kaos. And we all know, one of him is enough!
-
A child is a malleable chunk of clay. Adults mess them up.
The examples you give are extremes. There are still some players out there that will run through a brick wall for you, even if they are disciplined in a negative manner. Children crave discipline. They don’t know it but they do. When allowed to run amok, they usually hurt themselves. The adults allow certain behaviors and then we blame the children.
Babies are stupid. Adults need to make them smarter and some of us have failed.
Hell, some parents let their kids become professional rasslers!
Point being, kids will respond to how they are treated. Society has put these fuckers on pedestals.
Stop blaming the chirren!
There are currently 3,843 players in the FBS Portal. That's the chirren making those decisions, and apparently there are more willing to bail at the drop of a hat, than there are those willing to run through that brick wall.
CCT hit the nail on the head about how society is set up. Kids are making life decisions based more on their interactions on social media than with their parents. Kids know more than you and me. Just ask them. They have an iPhone 28 that tells them all they need to know about life.
BTW, I know that 3,843 number because I looked it up on my iPhone 7.
-
There are currently 3,843 players in the FBS Portal. That's the chirren making those decisions, and apparently there are more willing to bail at the drop of a hat, than there are those willing to run through that brick wall.
CCT hit the nail on the head about how society is set up. Kids are making life decisions based more on their interactions on social media than with their parents. Kids know more than you and me. Just ask them. They have an iPhone 28 that tells them all they need to know about life.
BTW, I know that 3,843 number because I looked it up on my iPhone 7.
As a leader of the public, you should at least have an iPhone X…
No wonder you boomers don’t know shit!
-
Try and keep up, people. We talkin' bout how the coaches can or can't handle the kids. They have the athletes in their care every day, not the adults. And if you think kids are the same today, you done loss yo damn mind.
You can't talk about the entitlement of this generation, and not realize it carries over to their athletic careers. Heard an interview yesterday with a local high school coach, and he talked about that very thing. He was asked about what's changed about coaching over his career, and he said you have to deal with the fact that if kids don't like something, they'll just transfer out, or quit.
These are the same kids that only months removed from high school, are now manipulating and playing the hell out of college coaches and boosters at a level we never dreamed of. Quinn Ewers got himself an Aston-Martin and left THE Ohio State high and dry. Carson Beck is sporting around in a Lamborghini. You think kids are the same?
Kids are kids. Always have been. They are not fully formed people and need guidance...coaches, parents, whatever.
That said, I don't hold it against any kid who transfers. The adults in the room can do the same without any consequence, so the hypocrisy is gross.
I'd hope a kid has a strong enough foundation to weather a little hardship/difficulty, but if it's the wrong situation altogether then it's only harmful to the kid AND the program to force the issue.
-
Kids are kids. Always have been. They are not fully formed people and need guidance...coaches, parents, whatever.
That said, I don't hold it against any kid who transfers. The adults in the room can do the same without any consequence, so the hypocrisy is gross.
I'd hope a kid has a strong enough foundation to weather a little hardship/difficulty, but if it's the wrong situation altogether then it's only harmful to the kid AND the program to force the issue.
NIL and transfer don't really have any relationship to the ability of coaches to discipline players and push them beyond their limits. Other than if a kid doesn't like it, he can just walk away and have options.
The sages here are right. Coddling helicopter parents who demand equal outcomes, not just equal opportunity, are the real problem. They've created an atmosphere where kids believe their little underdeveloped turds don't stink. They refuse to face reality with their kids - sports, dance, whatever.
In one of my math centers recently a mom came to me and said she was going to have to take her kid out so he could "focus on baseball." This kid is in the fifth grade. He's 4'5" maybe. He weighs over 190. His math skills are barely second-grade level. But "hay, he struck out nine last time out and his coarch sez he really needs the time he spends up here tryin' to learn math to work on his game... They say he's special. Like a real rare talent. I know math is kinda important, but his heart is set on baseball. He's gonna be a Atlanter Brave one day." She showed me videos of his games all the time. He's not special. Not by any stretch of the imagination. He will never be a Brave. But he needs to focus on his game, not math.
She's delusional. She's one of millions.
-
Some good friends of mine spent a fortune on travel baseball for their two boys. They were solid high school players and might have been able to play juco ball had they wanted to. Both are now linemen for the power company and making good money.
Point being, if a kid is good enough, the scouts will find him in high school.