High School to College

 Going into my senior year of high school, I started thinking about the hard decision that I would have to make in choosing the right college to continue playing football. Would it be Notre Dame or UCLA?


I expected there to be a few other big players to compete with, but those were my top two choices.


Should I go and play for Notre Dame and its elite program (at the time?)  Or do I follow my calling to go out west to California and play for the Bruins?  Both offered so many positives.


But while those choices were looming, there was another important choice to make that had nothing to do with what college to attend. And that was ‘what car to drive’!


You see, I had an agreement with my parents that if I received a scholarship, they would buy me a new car.  I had the perfect one picked out, the Suzuki Samurai.  This was an easy pick.

Like the ad said, it had 'fun' written all over it!

But before I drove off to Notre Dame (or UCLA) in that brand new (red) Suzuki Samurai, I had to finish my high school football season.

After we lost in the State Finals in my senior year to T.C. Williams, I thought that the schools would be calling me non-stop once the "contact period" began.  Schools had said they were interested in me and were going to contact me.  So, I waited.

And waited…and waited…and waited.

And as I was waiting, I started getting an uneasy feeling. 

Appalachian State University had stopped by during my senior season and said that I was their number one choice. But I never heard back from them.  Virginia Tech had expressed interest in me as a punter, but I wanted to kick field goals.  As for my top two teams, they never called.

I had received several calls from FCS (D1-AA) schools, William & Mary and James Madison University, but when I mentioned that to my high school coach, Mike Smith, they stopped calling.  That seemed odd.  I also had a few smaller schools, D2, interested in me, but all of a sudden they stopped calling.  I wasn't sure what happened. 

Why did they stop calling? 

The national signing day came and went. I was still without a college to attend.

What was I going to do? Where was I going to go?

I was completely unaware of how the recruiting process worked. I thought that if I kicked well and that our team was great, the rest would take care of itself.  My parents didn't have a clue either.  They just wanted to see me get a college education and hopefully see me kick at a few games.  I found myself in the same situation that many student-athletes find themselves.  I wasn't being heavily recruited, but I knew that I wanted to play at the next level.

Then in early spring things started to happen.  At the time, the coach recruiting our area for the University of Virginia was Tom O’Brien (Current N.C. State head coach). He came to visit and told me I was there top choice at kicker; but they didn’t have a scholarship.  Instead, they wanted me to walk on.

I was excited.


I was ranked 19th in my class, I had a 3.6 GPA and had scored fairly well on my S.A.T.s.  I felt that it was an ideal fit.  And the University of Virginia was (is) an incredible academic institution that had a solid football program.  Plus, it was only 2 ½ hours from home so my family and friends could come and visit.


I was very fortunate.


I ended up with a preferred walk on opportunity at the University of Virginia.  Coach Smith, as it turned out, had a big role in getting me there.  I had often wondered why all of those other schools just stopped calling me.  I think that Coach Smith told them that I wasn't interested.  I have since come to find out that he funneled me to the University of Virginia.


And just a little side-note to the story (considering all the worrying I did about finding a college).


That summer, after I graduate high school, I was contacted by Liberty University.  Their kicker had been injured and they had a full scholarship to offer me.  Knowing that I wanted to have a social life in college as well, I spoke to the coach recruiting me and asked about life on campus.  He told me “son, this is a very religious school, there are no fraternities and if there is any social activity it is off campus.”


Hmmm…now I had a decision to make. I thought, do I take the “money and run” or walk on at UVA?
I spoke to my parents and both wanted me to go to UVA.  I expressed my concern about them having to pay for school. They told me not to worry about that.


To this day, I am very thankful that I attended the University of Virginia and I would do it all over again.  I am proud to be a Cavalier.