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Air Force coaches find success selling post-graduation life to recruits
Although Air Force does not officially release its list of football recruits, here is the unofficial list, gathered by The Gazette through various sources. Height and weights are from Rivals.com, Scout.com or MaxPreps.com. Bios, as well as video highlights for most of the recruits, can be found at the Gazette's Air Force athletics blog at gazetteafasports.freedomblogging.com:
C Andy Agen, Burlington, Wash (Burlington-Edison)
6-3, 260
OLB Reed Allen, Calhoun, Ga. (Calhoun)
6-2, 215
LB Kola Alli, Kennedale, Texas (Kennedale)
6-1, 210
DB Kalon Baker, Fairburn, Ga. (Arlington Christian)
6-0, 175
LB Reggie Barnes, Tampa, Fla. (Berkeley Prep)
6-2, 215
OT Preston Bass, Mesquite, Texas (Poteet)
6-3, 285
QB A.J. Bilyeu, Bartlett, Ill. (Bartlett)
6-3, 180
OL Jackson Buonamia, Snellville, Ga. (Brookwood)
6-3, 280
TE Sam Byers, Kingston, Wash. (Kingston)
6-5, 250
DE Glynn Cheeks, Manvel, Texas (Manvel)
6-2, 215
DE Steven Cornellier, Jacksonville, Fla. (Bishop Kenny)
6-3, 230
RB Markez Davis, Holly Springs, N.C. (Holly Springs)
6-0, 195
DT Lochlin Deeks, Salem, Ore. (West Salem)
6-2, 230
QB Je’rod Evans, Mansfield, Texas (Mansfield)
6-4, 190
DT Tanner Fleming, Newton, N.C. (Foard)
6-2, 275
DE Randy Frost, St. Johns, Fla. (Creekside)
6-4, 230
C Brandon Greene, Redlands, Calif. (East Valley)
6-3, 260
RB Spencer Hammitt, Glendale, Ariz. (Mountain Ridge)
6-1, 220
DE David Harris, Cedar Hill, Texas (Cedar Hill)
6-0, 240
DE Will Hopkins, Austin, Texas (Bowie)
6-7, 230
FB Alex Lakes, Newnan, Ga. (Northgate)
5-10, 197
CB Desmond Lewis, Elk Grove, Calif. (Pleasant Grove)
6-0, 165
RB Andrew Long, Moore, Okla. (Southmoore)
5-9, 180
DB Gavin McHenry, Parker, Colo. (Chaparral)
6-0, 170
DE Jacob Nesmith, Cumming, Ga. (Forsyth Central)
6-4, 255
DB Jalen Noble, Blacklick, Ohio (St. Francis DeSales)
5-11, 180
K Drew Oehrle, Indianapolis, Ind. (Roncalli)
6-0, 148
RB Nnaji Omenye, Birmingham, Ala. (Jackson-Olin)
5-7, 193
TE Sam Pearce, Noblesville, Ind. (Noblesville)
6-5, 230
DB Cody Ray, North Miami Beach, Fla. (North Miami Beach)
5-11, 175
OL A.J. Ruechel, Hoschton, Ga. (Mill Creek)
6-2, 250
RB Devin Rushing, DeSoto, Texas (DeSoto)
5-9, 168
WR Andrej Suttles, Dallas, Ga. (East Paulding)
5-10, 179
LB Toronto Thomas, Lithonia, Ga. (Martin Luther King)
6-2, 220
DE Ryan Watson, Conyers, Ga. (Heritage)
6-3, 220
LB Brandtley Wilson, Beaumont, Texas (Kelly Catholic)
6-0, 225
When Je’rod Evans had to make a choice of where to go to college, he thought about life after college.
Evans, the second oldest of nine children, is a talented quarterback from Mansfield, Texas. He had options, including going to North Texas, but he thought about what the coaches at Air Force told him about having a guaranteed job upon graduation.
That was a reason Evans chose to come play football at Air Force, becoming one of the members of the Falcons’ 2012 recruiting class.
“It keeps my parents from worrying if I’ll have a job after college,” Evans said. “That was a deciding factor. Once they said it was guaranteed, and I could also play football, that’s a done deal.”
For college football coaches, recruiting is a sales job. Most players Air Force targets aren’t planning on a career in the NFL – the typical five-year active duty service commitment after graduation usually precludes someone from playing in the pros – and they are usually smart and conscientious kids.
Air Force taps into that. In most living rooms they will sell recruits and their families on the idea that in a bad economy, they’re guaranteed a job as a second lieutenant after four years at the academy. Among Division I football teams only the three service academies can promise that, and it has become a powerful pitch for Air Force, one the coaches use often.
“Of course, one of our concerns with our children is their future,” Kim Evans, Je’rod’s mother, said. “Them being in the Air Force is an automatic plus.
“It makes a mother and a father be at peace, because your son will have that kind of setup,” said Efrem Evans, Je’rod’s father.
Jalen Noble, a cornerback from St. Francis DeSales High School in Ohio, saw the benefit firsthand. His father Bill played football at Army and graduated from West Point in 1986. Bill Noble spent six years as a helicopter pilot before getting a MBA from Harvard’s business school, and has set his family up with a comfortable life.
“I saw what it did for him, and all the benefits he has and the life he’s living now, and in the back of mind I want to have a life like that,” Jalen Noble said. “I couldn’t turn it down.”
Among the dozens of high school recruits who committed to play at Air Force on national signing day Wednesday, not all of them will become stars for the football team. But if Air Force’s coaches found a few football stars in this class who were lured to the academy by the non-football benefits, it will be a successful approach.
“He’s a bright kid – he reads the news and knows how the economy is and how graduates are struggling to find jobs in their chosen majors,” Bill Noble said of his son Jalen. “He knows it’s a long shot to play in the NFL, so it’s important to find a college where you’re coming out and be gainfully employed and have a nice living for yourself and eventually your family. I think that was a significant factor in the recruiting process for him.”
Contact Frank Schwab: 476-4891
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