Preparing Players: West Orange football is all about getting players ready for college

One of the biggest arguments against the professionalization of amateur sports, from college to even the pee-wee level, is that the main goal of one level of a sport should be to develop athletes physically, emotionally and mentally for the next, and not about winning games or championships.

While you could argue that winning inherently promotes development, the importance a program places on winning can also hurt a player's growth. For example, if a program trains players in schemes and tactics that work at a lower level but become outdated in the future, are those skills really worth learning?

If you ask West Orange High football coach Geno Thompson, the answer is no.

Our main goal as a program is to get kids into college, he said. And not only get them there, but prepare them for the opportunity to be successful at the collegiate level on the football field, in the classroom and in life.

The 'why' of West Orange

Not only does Thompson know from his time as a coach what it takes to get to the next level and be successful, but from his playing days he also knows what it's like to not be prepared for success at the next level.

When I had the opportunity to go to college, there were some things I wasn't prepared for, Thompson said. I ended up going to Wofford College, and my college career consisted of one career catch that came on a fake punt against The Citadel, 32 yards. That was my big moment, and that's not what I expected my college playing days to be like, but I wasn't prepared for it.

What I learned when I went to college was that I didn't know anything, that I wasn't well versed in football schemes, even though growing up I was always told I was smart in terms of my football IQ, he said. But I go to college, and it's like information overload. I didn't know how to process it all; I didn't understand the system of college football. I ended up redshirting, and I felt like I would just focus on academics to make sure I get my grades right, and then worry about football because the redshirt year doesn't matter. That was the worst attitude you could have. In the end it really put me behind.

Thompson's experience playing in college did more than just help shape his coaching philosophy. It became the central tenet of the program he developed at West Orange.

I realized that having sufficient skills in college was one thing, but the most important thing, when you get to that level, is your dedication, your work ethic and your understanding of the schedule; Because if you didn't know what to do, you wouldn't take the field, he said. Fast forward to me as a high school coach, and we talk about our why and our purpose as people and as a program. Our why is not just to give kids the opportunity to go to college, but to prepare them to be successful in high school. If you want to play college football, you will have every opportunity to prove that you belong there and prepare for that opportunity at West Orange because we run our program like a college program.

Student, not just an athlete

By putting player development first, Thompson must ensure his guys get the job done in the classroom.

We were fortunate as a football program because West Orange as a school does a phenomenal job of preparing kids to be successful in college, not only as athletes but as student-athletes, Thompson said. Our teachers do a great job of holding students accountable, making sure they are doing what they are supposed to do in the classroom and meeting academic standards before they even hit the field. That commitment from the school and the teachers is reflected in our group entering next year: our class of 2025 is a great group, not only on the field but also academically. Their GPAs are through the roof. The majority of them are above a 3.4 GPA, which is unheard of.

Despite college football paying more and more attention to a player's skills on the field, performance in the classroom is still one of the biggest determining factors in getting a college scholarship at many institutions, from the Division I level to D-III or even an opportunity for a player.

Thompson's offseason mission is to take full advantage of that academic achievement and get scholarships for his boys.

Knowing that this group is in the classroom, we are trying to figure out how we can take advantage of that and get our guys recruited by the schools that place more importance on academics and offer scholarships to the kids that are good enough to play at the school. next level, he said. What we discovered was that there are many schools like this in the Ohio Valley region. So we asked ourselves, what's the best way to get these schools to look at our kids?

Typically, the schools we've identified come by to visit our kids, but not until January at recruiting fairs, Thompson said. By then, much of the purse money they have to offer has already been allocated to different players, and usually these are the players from their local area. The money they allocate to kids in Florida is limited, which often means Florida kids have to pay out of pocket to play at the schools that give them an opportunity. So we recognized that we need to get our kids into these Division II, D-III schools earlier so that they can have the opportunity to get scholarships and football scholarships to these very, very good academic schools, some of them even more than a lot of these Division I schools, are better academically or have an alumni network that you can't beat.

What Thompson and his team came up with was a six-day bus tour of twelve schools culminating in an academic mega-football camp at Miami University in Ohio. In total, the West Oranges players were judged by a total of more than 150 schools on the tour, which paid off for them.

From that trip, we ended up with four seniors receiving multiple offers, Thompson said. We have given more seniors the opportunity to build relationships with schools that they can follow up with throughout the season to see how they have developed. Not only that, but we even had a senior from the class of 2024 commit to an offer for the trip.

Check the receipts

The list of players who have recently come through the West Orange program or are currently in school is chock full of current and future college players.

Just look at the upcoming 2024 roster: Senior defenseman Ivan Taylor is a Notre Dame commit; senior athlete Donovan Lanier has offers from Ole Miss, FAU, Coastal Carolina and more; junior DB Devin Jackson has offers from Florida, Mississippi State, Wisconsin and more; junior athlete Devonte Anderson has offers from Florida, Kansas, Colorado and more; junior defenseman Chakai Scott has an offer from UMass; senior receiver Ryne Brown has an offer from Ole Miss; and senior offensive lineman Nicolas Marti, has an offer from Wabash College.

Thompson expects a few more upperclassmen to receive offers in the summer and fall.

Another great example of how Thompson's approach works is West Orange alumnus Jordan Castell, Class of 2023. In his freshman season, the University of Florida defensive back hit his stride, appearing in 12 games. He made 60 total tackles (1.5 for a loss), deflected four passes and caught an interception. Castell's play on the court earned him a spot on the Freshman All-SEC team and the ESPN Freshman All-America team, while his work in the classroom earned him on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.