Great players never to go to play in college.

[McNine4MVP]

Best to not play in college in the metro-Nashville area:

 

Paul Glenn-David Lipscomb 1989- dude was a hoss, went to Middle, but never panned out.

 

Josh Waller-Antioch- Was a great natural runner with no weaknesses, led AHS to playoffs as a junior in 1997. Tore his knee up on a cheap shot at Tullahoma and just never got it back that senior year.

 

Jeremiah Ligon-Cheatham County- Was as versatile a player as you'll ever see, did it all for CCHS in the mid 1990's.

 

Greg Fly-Franklin- Was like a dollar store version of Mike Vick. Dude had crazy skills, a freakish arm, and wheels to boot. Got into some law scrapes and never panned out the way he could have.

 

Jay Gilmore-Antioch- Was a couple of years older than Waller, but they played together for a couple of years I think. Big pro-type guy, looked like a high school version of Byron Leftwich. He was 6'4 or 6'5, probably 215, big live arm. Problem was, Antioch didn't really start playing decent football until around his senior year and they were in that brutal region before the split with Pearl Cohn, Father Ryan, Brentwood Academy, and Beech, who was very good at the time. If I remember correctly there was another guy that QB'd at Antioch there at the same time that people thought was almost as good as he was, can't think of his name though.

[McNine4MVP]

Geez, I forgot about the best player in Smyrna High history, Larry Daniels. Was as good of a combo QB as you'll ever see. Took Smyrna by himself to the 1994 state semis before losing in a heartbreaker to Cleveland, who I believe had Dante Hickey at that time, I think the score was 28-26. He was recruited by all the big option schools at the time, Nebraska, K-State, Oklahoma, etc, but didn't test well and went the JUCO route. Later, he got caught up in a robbery with his uncle and I think did some time. Darn shame, he was a talent. Seemed like a good kid too, shocking how many slip through the cracks.

[82cat]

NOBODY RUNS A 4.1!!!! THAT IS A MYTH!

 

MARIO TAYLOR FROM SMYRNA--- WHAT A WASE OF TALENT

[Sienfield]

Powell High School , Knoxville, Tn

Players who gave Powell the "glory years" of the eary "90s but never played in college (or went and stayed maybe a week or two before getting in trouble or just quitting school and football)

 

Rudy Stinson-signed with Univ TN but got sick, transfered to CN, got sicker and finally was hospitalied and died; 6' 3" 305 could run and dunk a basketball; played defensive tackle and fullback.

 

Wylie King- brother to Stinson, defensive end, off tackle, went nowhere, 6' 4"

 

Preston Littlejohn- fullback, linebacker, poor in the classroom, went nowhere,

6'2"

 

Jason Littlejohn-option quarterback, great arm, signed with A-Peay but got in coaches doghouse in about 2 weeks and came home.

 

Josh Lewis-tailback, never made the grades, went nowhere,

 

Nate Kelso-tailback, got in trouble, did not graduate, went nowhere

 

Collin Steen-QB, reciever, graduated, robbed a motel, went to a prep school to get eligible but came home within 2 wks

 

Dori Steen-brother to Collin Steen, 6'5" basketball and football, reciever, free safety, went to Maryville but did not play, dropped out in less than a term

 

Chad Painter- signed with Vanderbilt, great student, went to Vanderbilt but did not play, shoulder injury, stayed there as student, 6'4" 245.

 

These are just a few of the better than average players from PHS that had the opportunity but did not accept it.

[OldFalcon]

The information on Chad Henderson is a little bit off. He played his senior season at a shade under 6'3" and was well above the 245 at which he was listed...probably 265. He also never ran anything near a 4.4 forty. Some of the recruiting services listed him at 4.5, but the truth would have been about 4.8 or 4.9. I know that because my best ever time was in the 4.8s, and I was usually about half of a step faster than him. Also, he wasn't the top defensive prospect in the country, but he was a consensus top 3 linebacker. If he had worked his way into major college football, however, he would have ended up as a defensive end. He didn't have the pure speed to be a college linebacker, but his quickness was awesome and would have made him a great DE.

As for the other Lincoln County guys, Carlos Hadley was a great high school linebacker at just under 200 lbs, and he was much, much faster than Chad. He ran about a 4.6 forty, which was also Kevin Henderson's speed. Carlos played college football and is a junior high coach now, I believe.

David Grogan was the best of them all, however. He was about 6'3", 215 coming out of high school and ran a true 4.5, which is faster than 95% of the guys who report a 4.4 in high school. He, like Chad, was Mr. Football and had a scholarship to UT. Also like Chad, he didn't qualify and bummed around a junior college or two before ending up back in Fayetteville. Grogan's athleticism was such that he got a baseball scholarship to Columbia State after football didn't work out...despite the fact that he had not played baseball before. If he had stuck with football, he'd be playing outside linebacker on Sundays right now.

Lincoln County had 4 Mr. Footballs (Grogan, Henderson, Antonio Manning, and Jay Thompson) in five years at one point, and only Thompson, the coach's son and the least talented of the four, qualified for college. It's a sad story for what really wasn't a bad school overall.