The newspaper industry provided me a four-decade career experiencing inspiration, dedication and just plain fun. The start of my career covering the Chargers, college, high school sports and Olympic athletes came full circle with Don Coryell’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction on August 5 in Canton, Ohio. I helped Hall of Famer Dan Fouts with research on Coryell’s remarkable record of first-time Pro Bowlers with the SAN DIEGO Chargers and Cardinal for Fouts’ presentation to the voters
PHOTO (News & Observer): Cardinal Gibbons quarterback Whitt Newbauer feels he found the right fit at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.
Visit my website homepage, TomShanahan.Report
By TOM SHANAHAN
The modern college football world enraptures us, even as the sport drifts further from its roots. Too often it seems limited to the glitterati.
The rich and famous are the Power 5 conference members in the Football Bowl Subdivision. School administrators bend to TV network mega-deals, fans fawn over 5- and 4-star recruits setting up orchestrated commitment announcements on social media (that is, if ESPN passes on televising it live), the players chase NIL money and athletes conveniently change identities through the transfer portal.
But what about the overwhelming majority of high school football players who love the game for its essence? They don’t fit the recruiting profile of a big-time FBS school.
Cardinal Gibbons coach Steven Wright advises his players if they love football, they don’t have to chase one of the 133 FBS schools. They can find the right fit among the NCAA’s 537 lower division options — Football Championship Series, 128 schools; Division II, 169; and Division III, 140
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Previous weekly features this season:
— October 6, Cardinal Gibbons’ Whitt Newbauer, Furman commit
— September 29, Fuquay-Varina’s Malcolm Ziglar, North Carolina commit
— September 22, Wake Forest’s Zane Williams, North Carolina State commit
— September 15, South Garner’s Nnamdi Ogboko, Georgia commit
— September 8, Southeast Raleigh’s Chase Robinson, two offers.
— September 1, Southern Durham’s Isaiah Campbell, 30-plus offers.
— August 25, Rolesville’s Isiah Jones, committed to NC State
— August 18, Millbrook’s Mason Fortune, underrated prospect.
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I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055.
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Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation awarded first place by the Football Writers Association of America. I tell untold stories on Michigan State’s leading role and the true pioneers of college football integration. Click here to read a summary.
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Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do
THE RIGHT THING TO DO
The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s
Foreword by Ruffin McNeill
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Click here to purchase Raye of Light.
RAYE OF LIGHT
Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans
Foreword by Tony Dungy
