How 8 Tennessee high school football stars made national championship for Clemson, LSU

Wes Patterson stood next to his son Kane a year ago at the College Football National Championship game as Clemson celebrated its 44-16 rout of Alabama from the stands.

Kane Patterson, then a senior at Christ Presbyterian Academy, looked at his father and told him he'd be in the national championship game in 2020.

It was a bold prediction. But it came true.

Kane Patterson is one of eight former Tennessee high school football standouts who will be in uniform for either Clemson or LSU when the two teams kick off at 7 p.m. (CT) Monday in New Orleans.

"This is so fun," Wes Patterson said. "You realize how much work that they put in just to get to that point. Then the amount of work they put in these days from the mental side and the physical is amazing.

"I remember watching him run down the hill (at Clemson) the first time, and then run out on that field for the first play of the game on kickoff return. I was just, 'Holy cow, this is amazing.'"

Patterson is one of five from Tennessee playing at Clemson. He's joined by Tee Higgins of Oak Ridge, Amari Rodgers of Knoxville Catholic and twin brothers Jake and Tye Herbstreit of MBA. The Herbstreits are the oldest sons of Kirk Herbstreit, who will be on ESPN's broadcast of the game as an analyst.

There are three players on LSU's roster from Tennessee — Mo Hampton Jr. of MUS, Jacob Phillips of East Nashville and JaCoby Stevens of Oakland.

Coaches not surprised with success

Oak Ridge coach Joe Gaddis isn't surprised with what Higgins has done as a receiver at Clemson. Higgins, who was also a standout basketball player for the Wildcats, has 56 catches for 1,115 yards and 13 TDs this season. He was a first-team All-ACC wide receiver.

"Every day at practice he would just do something phenomenal," Gaddis said of Higgins. "He would have acrobatic catches that were just unbelievable on a daily basis. 

"Nothing Tee does surprises me. I saw that stuff on a daily basis for four years. He did phenomenal things at practice like it was nothing."

Higgins has 132 catches for 2,396 career yards and 27 TD receptions. He was part of a decorated 2017 recruiting class from Tennessee that included Stevens, Phillips and Rodgers.

All four were ranked in the top seven in Tennessee for the Class of 2017 by the 247Sports Composite and won Tennessee Titans Mr. Football awards.

And all four will start in the championship game.

Rodgers, who is the son of Tennessee Vols assistant Tee Martin, had just 28 catches for 418 yards this season after coming back from a knee injury. 

Catholic coach Steve Matthews said Rodgers' work ethic set him apart and helped him overcome any size limitations. He's a 5-foot-10, 210-pound receiver.

Matthews recalled going to Catholic's coaching offices before team meetings on Sundays and seeing Rodgers running up and down a hill wearing a weighted vest and carrying a weighted football.

"I asked him once, 'What are you doing?' He just told me he was running the hill," Matthews said. "He was always doing drills. I don't know if I've ever been around a guy that worked on his own as much as Amari did."

Dreaming of national championships

Stevens was always dreaming of playing for a national championship for LSU, his father, Jerermy Stevens, recalls.

The LSU safety would play the "NCAA Football" video game growing up. He'd have the Tigers loaded with his teammates from Oakland High.

"It's always been LSU in the national championship when he was playing that game," Jeremy Stevens said. 

He won that game, too. Now, he gets a chance to win that game for real.

"Everybody doesn't get that opportunity to live out their dreams," Jeremy Stevens said. "To see him out there and see him smiling and competing on the biggest stage, there is nothing like it.

"As parents, you know your kids don't know how the world really works when it comes to sports when they are young. They'll say, 'I'm going to play in the national championship one day' or 'I'm going to be at LSU.' To see that happen is pretty special."

Phillips has thrived at LSU. The two-year starter has 210 career tackles and is the active tackle leader on the team. That success is no surprise to his high school football coach Brian Waite.

"Jacob is such a diligent and hard worker," said Waite, who coached Phillips two seasons at East Nashville. "When he's focused on something on a task, he's going to achieve it.

"A lot of that goes to his parents. They instilled that drive on him."

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.

Tennessee connections to national title game

CLEMSON

Jake Herbsteit. The MBA graduate played in four games this season.

Tye Herbstreit. The MBA graduate played in four games this season.

Tee Higgins. The Oak Ridge graduate had 56 catches for 1,115 yards and 13 TDs. He has 2,396 career receiving yards with 27 TD catches. He is a starter at wide receiver.

Kane Patterson. The CPA graduate has 11 tackles and a sack this season. The linebacker is a starter on special teams.

Amari Rodgers. The Knoxville Catholic graduate has 28 catches for 418 yards and four TD catches this season. He has 1,116 career yards and eight TD catches for his career.

LSU

Mo Hampton Jr. The MUS graduate has 10 tackles after playing in 12 games with one start at safety. He's a two-sport athlete who will also play on the LSU baseball team.

Jacob Phillips. The East Nashville graduate has 210 career tackles and is a starter at linebacker.

JaCoby Stevens. The Oakland graduate has 120 tackles over the past two seasons with four interceptions. He is a starter at safety.