Nature Coast coach Mark Lee spent the past few days at the American Football Coaches Association in Orlando talking to former coworkers.Among them was first-year Marshall coach Doc Holliday, who was hired in December. Lee worked with Holliday at West Virginia in 1999.
The result of their brief reunion was a pair of scholarship offers for Nature Coast senior running back Tevin Drake and junior receiver/defensive back Ja’Juan Story.
Drake spoke with Holliday on Wednesday morning and will take an official visit to the school next week. He has plans to visit Western Michigan this weekend.
Drake, who finished as the North Suncoast’s second leading rusher of all-time with (5,103) career yards and (71) touchdowns, had an offer from Miami last summer (it was later rescinded) and turned down an offer to take an official visit to Minnesota. He also had been in communication with Oregon and Georgia at various points of the recruiting process. Drake said Wednesday in a text message he also has offers from Florida International, Florida Atlantic and Memphis.
“They can’t believe he’s available,” Lee said. “When Doc talks that highly of a kid that’s a good thing. He’s one of the top recruiters in the country.”
Story received his first offer in August from Florida International. Lee said there’s a lot of interest surrounding the 6-foot-4, 180-pound Story.
Chad Wilson is a college football recruiting expert and creator of the GridironStudsApp which allows high school football players to gain exposure to college football coaches and fans. Wilson is a former college football player for the University of Miami (92-94) and Long Beach St. (’90-’91) and played briefly for the Seattle Seahawks (’95). He is also a former youth and high school football coach for over 15 years most recently for 5-A State of Florida Champs American Heritage. He runs All Eyes DB Camp a defensive back training company located in South Florida IG: @alleyesdbcamp. Wilson’s oldest son Quincy plays in the NFL for the New York Giants and his younger son plays cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals.