Bishop Media Sports Network
Omaha!
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
One of the underrated sporting events in the country starts today and ends on June 27th.
It is the College World Series. The field looks balanced this year with no clear favorite after Tennessee, the self-proclaimed greatest team of all-time, choked at home in the Super Regionals losing to Notre Dame in grand fashion.
The field includes four SEC teams and two others, Oklahoma and Texas, who will be joining the SEC by 2025.
The SEC is dominant in most sports these days. The College World Series is played annually in Omaha, Nebraska. There should be plenty of SEC chants going on over the next 10 days. The CWS is a double-elimination tournament.
2022 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES Round 1
All Times Eastern
Friday, June 17
Oklahoma vs #5 Texas A&M 2 pm ESPN: A match-up of two SEC teams. One current and one in future in Oklahoma.
This was a huge rivalry when A&M was in the Big 12 so these programs are familiar with each other.
In his first year at Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle has reached the College World Series. He took TCU to Omaha five times in his 18 years at TCU. The Aggies are hot currently, so give me Texas A&M in this contest.
Notre Dame vs #9 Texas 7 pm ESPN: This should be a great contest. Texas lost game one in the Supers at East Carolina. Then come back and walked off with a win in game two and blew ECU out in game three to earn a trip to Omaha.
The Longhorns hit the long-ball frequently and will be a tough out in the CWS. Notre Dame, like I mentioned earlier, is riding high after beating Tennessee in Knoxville to earn a berth.
This is a tough gritty team that is dangerous in an environment like Omaha.
Give me Texas in this contest because the Longhorns have made the CWS field 38 times since the inception of the CWS.
The 2022 tournament marks the 75th playing of the CWS. Texas has been there more than half of the time. No other program has more than 25 appearances. Give me Texas in this match-up.
Saturday, June 18
Arkansas vs #2 Stanford 2 pm ESPN: Stanford always has good pitching, and this year is no exception. Arkansas was the Top overall seed in 2021 and did not make the CWS but went to Chapel Hill and beat a tough North Carolina team in three games to earn a spot in 2022.
Arkansas is peaking at the right time. Watch out for the Hogs. Give me Arkansas in this game.
Ole Miss vs #14 Auburn 7 pm ESPN2: Ole Miss may be the hottest team in college baseball right now. They were Preseason #1 that slumped badly in the middle of the season, only to get hot at tourney time.
The Rebels were the one of the last teams (probably last) selected to the field of 64 and have gone on a run and won a Super in Hattiesburg by sweeping Southern Miss and not giving up a run.
Auburn got sent to Corvallis, Oregon for a Super Regional and beat Oregon State.
Auburn has been a major surprise in 2022. The Tigers have a good power packed line-up. The SEC goes head-to-head in this one. Give me Ole Miss in this contest.
Teams with deep pitching staffs will rise to the top during the tourney. When it is all said and done, here is how I see it playing out:
Bracket One:
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Texas
Texas A&M
Winner: Texas
Bracket Two:
Arkansas
Auburn
Ole Miss
Stanford
Winner: Arkansas
College WS Final:
Arkansas vs Texas
Winner: Arkansas
Arkansas is your 2022 National Baseball Champions.
Canes QB
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
First-year Miami football coach Mario Cristobal considers himself lucky to have inherited a loaded quarterback room.
Cristobal faces a daunting task of attempting to rebuild the Hurricanes program, but it is made a bit less intimidating with the knowledge of whom he will have under center at QB.
Miami returns last year’s starter Tyler Van Dyke. He assumed the role as a redshirt freshman after D’Eriq King went down with injury in Week 3.
Van Dyke went on to prove he belonged there, throwing for 2,931 yards, 25 touchdowns and just six interceptions to earn ACC Rookie of the Year. He enters 2022 as the unquestioned starter and a potential NFL Draft pick.
Mario Cristobal has enormous praise for Miami Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke.
Evidently, the new leader of the program believes his quarterback can ascend into a superstar. Cristobal compared Van Dyke to Los Angeles Chargers star quarterback, Justin Herbert — Cristobal’s quarterback at Oregon.
Cristobal also thinks highly of redshirt freshman Jake Garcia, who appeared in one game last year before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Garcia is a former four-star recruit who ranked as the No. 52 overall player and No. 10 quarterback in the 2021 class.
“We’re very lucky that we have a very good quarterback room,” Cristobal said in a recent interview. “In fact, one of them is already a projected NFL player if he continues to develop and have a great season. But he’s not alone. You’ve got a guy who was hurt early last season in Jake Garcia. Him and Tyler have got to make the best one-two punch of any quarterback room in the country.”
The talent in the Miami quarterback room doesn’t stop there. The Hurricanes signed four-star recruit Jacurri Brown, the No. 18 quarterback in the 2022 class. Brown is dual-threat and threw for more than 3,000 yards while rushing for over 2,000 the past two years at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. He was an early enrollee this spring, where Cristobal said he was impressed with how he managed to fit in.
“They brought in Jacurri Brown, who joins us as the most prolific passer and winner in Georgia high school history,” the Hurricanes coach said. “A phenomenal athlete and human being who joins these guys. Got here as an early enrollee, which is always fun. It’s like getting dropped off in some place where you have to learn to get to know everybody and know processes. The simplicity of attaining a Cane card is as difficult as you can imagine. But Jacurri has adapted really well and he’s ready to roll, so we feel great about that room.”
Miami is set to enter their first season under coach Mario Cristobal following a disappointing 7-5 season this past year.
As a former Championship Winning offensive lineman with the Canes in 89 and 91, Cristobal understands the importance of rebuilding this program. The Hurricanes have only one 10-win season in the past 18 years.
Cristobal still has a long way to go in his rebuilding of the program, but he at least has a solid foundation at the most important position in offense.
He will get his first opportunity to put that talent to use when Miami opens the 2022 season on Sept. 3 against Bethune-Cookman.
The Coastal Life
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are getting closer to the start of the 2022 football season.
Let’s take a look at the ACC Coastal Division and predict the final standings.
#7 Duke 3-9 (0-8 ACC): The Blue Devils struggled in 2021. Head coach David Cutcliffe is now gone and former Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko has taken over.
The offense averaged 14.9 points per game in conference play last season. They lost quarterback Gunnar Holmberg and leading receiver Jake Bobo to the transfer portal and running back Mataeo Durant (1,241 yards) departed for the NFL.
The defense allowed 46.6 ppg and 7.1 yards per play in ACC games.
#6 Georgia Tech 3-9 (2-6 ACC): Head coach Geoff Collins is 9 – 25 over the last three years. The roster only returns four starters and the non-conference opponents are Ole Miss, UCF and Georgia.
Tech lost two offensive pieces in quarterback Jordan Yates, who transferred out, and running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who left for Alabama.
Jeff Sims returns at quarterback after passing for 12 TDs and 7 picks, but there isn’t a ton to work with around him moving the ball.
Drastic improvement is needed for the defense that has ranked 13th or worse in the ACC in points allowed in each of Collins’ three years at the helm. The offense averaged 24 ppg last season, which was third worst in the ACC.
#5 Virginia 6-6 (4-4 ACC): The Cavaliers will be led by first-year head coach Tony Elliott.
He previously served as a coach at Clemson from 2011 – 2021, most recently as associate head coach, offensive coordinator, tight ends coach and running backs coach. He has learned a lot from Dabo Swinney, which should mean good things for UVA.
Elliott inherits one of the ACC’s top quarterbacks (Brennan Armstrong) and receiving corps (Billy Kemp IV, Dontayvion Wicks, Keytaon Thompson and Lavel Davis). Armstrong led all Power 5 quarterbacks by averaging 427.3 total yards a game last fall.
They need to establish balance in the running game and take some of the pressure off of him. They lost all five offensive line starters.
#4 Virginia Tech 6-7 (4-4 ACC): Brent Pry takes over as the head coach in Blacksburg. Pry was the defensive coordinator at Penn State from 2016 – 2021. His experience should help make an impact immediately for the Hokies defense that’s returning seven starters. They held opponents to 25.3 ppg but only had 16 sacks in ACC play.
Transfer quarterbacks Grant Wells (Marshall) and Jason Brown (South Carolina) are battling for the starting job.
#3 North Carolina 6-7 (3-5 ACC): The Tar Heels lost QB Sam Howell, four offensive line starters and the bulk of the rushing attack.
Coach Mack Brown recruits well and a couple of good recruiting classes should make the difference.
Talented redshirt freshman Drake Maye will battle Jacolby Criswell for the starting quarterback job.
#2 Pitt 11-3 (7-1 ACC): The Panthers shocked everyone by winning the ACC last year. QB Kenny Pickett and receiver Jordan Addison are major losses.
USC transfer Kedon Slovis should win the quarterback job. They have a solid stable of running backs and the defense returns seven starters.
#1 Miami 7-5 (5-3 ACC): Mario Cristobal left Oregon to take the head coach job at his alma mater.
He hired Josh Gattis as offensive coordinator. Gattis led Michigan to the College Football Playoffs last season.
QB Tyler Van Dyke returns after throwing for almost 3,000 yards, 25 TD’s and 6 interceptions. He had seven games without a turnover and the U went 5-2.
The O line returns three starters, including All-America candidate Zion Nelson.
Jason Bishop Show June 11

New Path
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
McKenzie Milton has decided to officially hang up the cleats, announcing his retirement from football on Thursday.
The former UCF star returned from a catastrophic leg injury to play for Florida State in 2021, providing one great story last season.
But now that the 2022 NFL Draft has come and gone, Milton explained on Instagram that “my days of playing football have come to an end.”
Milton had a 27-6 record as a starter for UCF, after starting 4-6 his freshman season, he led the Knights to 23 consecutive wins. He contributed to two American Athletic Conference Championship teams, but that fateful injury in the regular season finale back in 2018 cost him the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Milton graduated from UCF and transferred to Florida State, where he was able to get on the field for six games with four starts during the 2021 season.
After participating in a pro day at Florida State and UCF this spring and not getting drafted, Milton can celebrate his recovery and still know he gave the NFL his best run.
In his announcement on social media, Milton made reference to the “what if” questions that might include whether his NFL Draft outcome might have been different without the injury. But he says his outlook is focused on his growing family, as he and his wife are expecting a boy this summer.
“A lot of people will wonder what if he never got hurt, what if this what if that? I asked myself those same questions for a while too,” Milton wrote in his announcement on social media. “It wasn’t until November 23, 2021 (three year anniversary of my injury) where I saw my son for the first time on ultrasound and then understood why I went through what I went through. It took three years to put it all in perspective. I get goosebumps thinking about how divine it is that three years to the day I get hurt, is the same day I see my baby boy for the first time.”
While Milton was working out with NFL aspirations, he simultaneously got active in the name, image and likeness business.
Dreamfield was founded in the summer of 2021 by two then-active college quarterbacks, McKenzie Milton and D’Eriq King. At the time, both had transferred to Florida schools after great AAC careers. Both said they wanted to take advantage of the new opportunity that was NIL.
Through their Dreamfield platform, they did things like releasing NFTs or non-fungible tokens, which are blockchain-based assets that allow college athletes to easily monetize their NIL, build their brand, and authentically connect with their fans in new and unique ways.
They also brought in other student-athletes, who wanted to use the platform to help find NIL deals.
Today, they offer numerous resources for the athletes who they’ve partnered with, including help with taxes, compliance, and brand building. Meanwhile, they help brands identify the right athletes for them and track the success of their campaigns.
They also exist to help boosters in the NIL era, as they try to begin crowdfunding and things of that nature.
Dreamfield works to bring student-athletes and brands together for the purposes of NIL. They do so without pairing up directly. Instead, they team up with the athletes themselves.
Among those athletes who they have teamed up with are Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham and Washington quarterback Michael Penix.
Now, with these new brands, they will be able to help those brands partner with more student-athletes in deals moving forward.
We may have seen the last of Milton on the gridiron, but he made his impact in college athletics.
Winning
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It is June and SEC football is less than one hundred days away.
My random thoughts relate to SEC Football. When Nick Saban arrived at Alabama in 2007 the entire landscape changed in the SEC.
Alabama became a dynasty. Beginning in 2008 Alabama has run things in the college football world. Here is a snapshot of the current SEC membership since the beginning of this great Alabama run.
Ten-win seasons since 2008:
Alabama – 14: Alabama has won 10 or more games for 14 straight seasons.
The worst record during that time was a 10-3 mark in 2010.
I do not know if college football has ever seen a more dominant run than the current one the Crimson Tide is on.
In the same window Alabama has won six national championships. Many have Alabama as the favorite to win number seven this fall under the Nick Saban watch. Saban is the greatest coach in the history of college football.
Georgia – 9: Georgia has been a consistent winner since 2008 and finally broke a long championship drought in 2021 by winning the national championship.
Losses to Alabama in the SEC title game in 2012, and a loss in the national title game in 2017 have kept UGA from having three national titles in the past decade.
Kirby Smart has Georgia built for the long haul. UGA seems to be here to stay. Kirby is getting ready to sign a long-term contract that could make him the highest paid head coach in college football.
Florida, LSU – 6: Florida won a national title in 2008, then lost the SEC title game to Alabama in 2009. Florida went off the grid for a few years then bounced back with a nice 2020 season then Dan Mullen made the famous recruiting comments after the UGA loss in 2021 then was run out of Gainesville.
LSU went 15-0 in 2019 and won the national title. That team was the first SEC team ever to go 15-0 in a single season.
LSU lost to Alabama in the BCS National Title game in 2011. LSU has had two straight losing seasons in 2020 and 2021. That is unacceptable in Baton Rouge.
Missouri – 4: Mizzou joined the SEC in 2012 and had 10-win seasons in 2013 and 2014 and won the SEC East in the process.
Mizzou also had a couple of other ten-win seasons since 2008. Never in a million years did would I have believed that Missouri would have more 10-win seasons than Auburn since 2008.
Auburn, South Carolina – 3: Auburn is either great or mediocre as evidenced by the 2010 national title with Cam Newton and the 2013 season in which they lost to FSU in the title game.
All of South Carolina’s success came when Steve Spurrier roamed the sidelines in Columbia. The Ball Coach retired in 2015.
Arkansas, Kentucky, Ole Miss – 2: Kentucky has played football since 1892, and in that time has four ten-win seasons.
Mark Stoops has two of those in the past four years. Arkansas and Ole Miss are proud football programs that are on the rebound with good head coaches.
Mississippi State, Texas A&M – 1: MSU is a historical doormat in the SEC, and Texas A&M went 11-2 in 2012, which is their only 10-win season this century.
Jimbo Fisher is getting paid big bucks by The Aggies to be an 8-4 type football program. Now he calls out Saban recently on NIL comments the GOAT made.
Tennessee, Vanderbilt – 0: Vandy is Vandy we know they are not going to compete consistently in football, but Tennessee being a dumpster fire for the last 14 years blows your mind. No ten-win seasons, no championships, 15 year losing streak to Alabama. How the proud have fallen.
2022 should be another banner year for SEC football.
The New Look SEC
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the next several days, the SEC will take over Destin, Fla., as the league’s leaders and coaches meet to discuss name, image and likeness, future scheduling, playoff expansion, transfer portal windows and more.
There’s undoubtedly going to be grumblings about collectives and college football free agency, but after commissioner Greg Sankey told Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher to zip-it recently, the spiciest of soundbites may have already happened.
Still, even if we don’t get Fisher vs. Saban Round 2, these SEC spring meetings could carry as much importance as they have in many years.
With Oklahoma and Texas set to join the league in 2025, the future of the conference could be hammered out at the Hilton Sandestin this week.
Here’s primer on the various topics expected to dominate the conversations:
Which scheduling model will the SEC choose? Heading into the SEC spring meetings, the conference is split on a couple different potential scheduling options starting in 2025 when new members Oklahoma and Texas join the league.
Pods (think NFL-like divisions) have been eliminated from the proposals.
The league is now considering two main formats: An eight-game (1-7) schedule where schools would have just a single permanent opponent (think Alabama–Auburn) and seven rotating opponents. This would allow every team and fan base to see the entire league every other year.
On the flip-side, it would eliminate a bunch of annual, storied rivalries.
There’s also a nine-game format proposal, where every school would have three permanent opponents, thus preserving more rivalries, and six rotating league games.
For now, divisions seem unlikely but haven’t totally been ruled out.
Expect plenty of horse-trading with whatever format the league chooses. The powerbrokers (i.e., Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida, etc.) are in favor of the nine-game format, understanding that it would generate the league even more revenue (i.e., more TV inventory, more butts in the seats) and produce better games. Again, it bears repeating, but it would also save important rivalries like Auburn-Georgia or Tennessee–Kentucky.
Notably, Sankey prefers a nine-game conference slate.
The bottom half of the league currently favors the eight-game format, wanting that extra non-conference game as a potential boost for their overall win-total.
Determining team’s permanent opponents will lead to some contentious debates. What’s equitable? And to whom? Is it fair if Auburn has to play Alabama, Georgia and Florida every year plus a rotating set of opponents? No. And other schools will make similar cases.
How serious is the league about an All-SEC playoff? Four Means More to the SEC than any other conference, so don’t expect Sankey or the league’s ADs to cave on any future eight-team playoff.
They were willing to sacrifice for 12, but when talks collapsed, the league began tinkering with ideas about its own postseason tournament.
The early details include an eight-team playoff tournament, likely starting around the same date (early December) as the current SEC Championship.
The question at hand is this merely a leverage play by Sankey and the ADs to essentially threaten the rest of the sport that if they don’t meet back in the middle on College Football Playoffs expansion then the league will be ready to do its own thing, or are they serious about exploring potential additional expansion (think poaching ACC schools like FSU and Va. Tech, among others), building a super conference and holding their own tournament?
The league would obviously benefit greatly financially from an intra-SEC postseason, and could still plot a path to playing someone from The Alliance (Big Ten, ACC, Pac-12 or Big 12) for “national championship.”
SEC QB1
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
1.Bryce Young, Alabama – Young is the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner who accounted for 47 touchdowns last season. The redshirt sophomore will have Alabama once again in contention for a National Championship. Young is without a doubt the top quarterback in the SEC and the entire country going into the 2022 season. Young could be the first name called in the 2023 NFL draft for a team that needs a franchise quarterback.
2.Stetson Bennett, Georgia – When you lead a team trailing with 8 minutes left to victory in the National Championship game, you land high on any QB ranking list. Bennett is a winner that folks not associated with UGA like to dismiss. He won the national title game with his arm with two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to lead UGA to that win over Alabama. The QB that is ranked higher on this list than Bennett, ended his 2021 season with a 79-yard pick six to Kelee Ringo. The Mailman will deliver once again this fall for the Georgia Bulldogs.
3.KJ Jefferson, Arkansas – Jefferson is an exceptionally large man. The Razorbacks’ 6-3, 250-pound dual-threat talent led a resurgence for Razorback football in 2021. Jefferson has Arkansas believing that they can supplant Alabama in the SEC West. If Jefferson plays well in 2022 then Arkansas should make some noise in the SEC West. I hope I am not over-hyping Jefferson.
4.Will Rogers, Mississippi State – Rogers can sling the football in Mike Leach’s Air Raid attack. He led the league in passing yards per game in 2021. He passed for 4,700 yards and completed almost 74% of his throws. This kid is good. You never know what you are going to get when you play against a Mike Leach team, but this QB makes State a dangerous team to go up against in 2022. Can you imagine Rogers leading a Texas A&M team in search of a topflight quarterback?
5.Hendon Hooker, Tennessee – Is Hooker that good or is it Josh Heupel’s system. Hooker passed for 31 TDs in 2021. Year 2 in the new system should reap comparable results. Tennessee should be able to put up a lot of points this fall. Game with the Vols could turn into shoot-outs in 2022 with Hooker under center. The Florida game will be huge for Hooker and Tennessee early in the season. Win that one and look out SEC. Tennessee has been down for a decade, but they will not be down much longer. The SEC is much better when Tennessee is relevant.
Just Missing the Top 5: Spencer Rattler, South Carolina – Rattler will have to make the adjustment to the SEC where much better team defense is played from the Big 12. South Carolina feels like Rattler can get them near the top of the SEC East. The Gamecocks host UGA in September. UGA fans are not laughing because there have been some tough trips to Columbia is last 20 years.
Will Levis, Kentucky – Quietly Levis has become one of the top tier QB’s in the conference. Kentucky is a sleeper team in 2022. He is tough and can use his legs. He makes all the throws needed.
Jaxon Dart, Ole Miss – Dart will be under the guidance of Lane Kiffin. Enough said there. Ole Miss QB’s will put up enormous numbers.
Save The Receipts
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The recent verbal jousting over NIL between two of college football’s heavyweight head coaches, Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher has garnered a ton of national media attention and headlines in the past few days.
The minute Alabama coach Nick Saban’s comments regarding Texas A&M and NIL showed up on social media Wednesday night, the college football world stopped to watch what happened next.
Saban further opened up about what he said during an event in Birmingham. He said Texas A&M “bought every player on their roster,” which led to a fiery press conference from Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher on Thursday.
Saban reiterated his stance on NIL and how it’s a good thing for players, but continued to call for “guardrails” to help create “parity.”
“It was not my intention to really criticize anyone,” Saban said. “I was just trying to make a point about the state of college football and college athletics right now. I think we have some unintended consequences of name, image and likeness in some of the circumstances that we’re in right now. The spirit of competition is what has made sports popular, created a lot of fan interest….But we’ve always had guardrails on rules that govern competitive sports to create parity, and I think the situation that we’re in now in college football, we don’t have that. There’s a lot of Division I schools that aren’t going to be able to do the same things that other Division I schools can do to create opportunities for players in some kind of way. I’m all for the opportunities for the players, but some way, we’ve got to create a balance in all that.”
Saban also said he worries about programs losing players to other programs because of NIL opportunities — and he called for “guardrails” to prevent that.
“I don’t want to go down that road of bidding for players out of high school. I don’t,” Saban said. “But if we go through this recruiting class this year and we lose all the players, because Jimbo Fisher has been saving the receipts.”
Texas A&M’s head coach went scorched earth Thursday during an impromptu press conference responding to comments by Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who accused Fisher and the Aggies of “buying every player on their team” through NIL deals this offseason.
Texas A&M inked the greatest recruiting class in modern history this spring, and Fisher, who has already issued multiple public statements denouncing accusations of cheating, once again doubled-down that the Aggies did nothing outside of the NCAA rules (i.e., pay for play) to land their historic class.
“It’s a shame that we have to do this,” Fisher said. “It’s really despicable. It’s despicable that somebody can say things about somebody, an organization, and more importantly 17-year-old kids. You’re taking shots at 17-year-old kids and their families. That they broke state laws, that they’re all money, that we bought every player in this group. We never bought anybody. No rules were broken. Nothing was done wrong.”
Thou doth protest too much? Too much performance art? Absolutely, but under the new NIL rules, Texas A&M could’ve totally provided six-figure deals to players. While inducements are prohibited, there’s a lot of gray area in-between.
But the mere suggestion that the Aggies’ recruiting was not above board sent Fisher into such a tizzy that he unleashed the greatest diss track since 2Pac’s Hit ‘Em Up.
The man emptied the clip on a man many considered his mentor, someone Fisher worked under for five seasons at LSU. During his opening salvo, Fisher referred to Saban as “despicable” multiple times, and called him a narcissist.
Jimbo Fisher has been saving the receipts, and his clapback is just relentless. No mercy. Who else cannot wait to be a fly on the wall when Fisher and Saban sit at the same table at the SEC Spring Meeting.
Swash-Buc-Ler
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There are lofty expectations for the McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers for the upcoming 2022 football season.
Many believe a deep playoff run will be in the Bucs future come playoff time. A key piece of that equation will be rising Senior JaReese Campbell.
Campbell is expected to take over at QB for MCA. He played running back last season.
Campbell is a dual threat QB with dynamic playmaking ability.
JaReese Campbell knows the expectation his Bucs have on them. “We are pretty good and have a senior heavy team. We expect to make a deep playoff run. Losing in the second-round last year was hard. None of us want to repeat that. Our team is like a big family and we are a bunch of hard workers”
Campbell was born and raised in Darien and has been playing football since the age of seven. He will spend his entire high school career at MCA.
“My parents have been the most impactful people in my life. They have always made sure I had everything I needed to succeed at whatever I decided to take on. They taught me about hard work and have always been very supportive.”
JaReese has set some pretty high goals for himself with that support system in place. “I am still trying to figure out what I want to major in in college but I know I am going. I plan to play football at the college level as well”.
Campbell has gotten looks so far from Middle Tennessee State, Georgia State, East Tennessee State, Wofford, Alcorn State, Georgia Southern and Kennesaw State. As the season progresses, it is a given that more schools will be recruiting JaReese as well.
JaReese has set some personal goals for himself on the football field as well. “I feel like if I throw for 1,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards, we will have a great season. That will allow other talented guys on our team to shine too”.
The Bucs QB will not only be under center for MCA but will play on defense as well. Campbell will be the starting safety for the Bucs. This will be his second year starting at safety for MCA.
“I honestly like playing defense better than offense. On defense, I can be more aggressive and I like that”.
Campbell has some high praise for his coach, Bradley Warren too. “Coach Warren has come in here and made believers out of us. He has shown us what it takes to win. The environment at The Ship on Friday Nights has been really awesome since he got here”.
We will see how well the Bucs do this season, but don’t be shocked to see them have a monster year and to hear the name JaReese Campbell as a huge reason why.