MHSAA, MHSFCA to Provide Spring Evaluation Camps for College Football Hopefuls
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 27, 2023
The Michigan High School Athletic Association, in partnership with the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA), will be hosting first-ever Spring Evaluation Camps to provide athletes with aspirations of playing college football opportunities to show their skills and abilities to college coaches at one of five locations.
The one-day camps will take place between May 15-18 at Jenison High School, DeWitt High School, Jackson High School, Brighton High School and Detroit Country Day High School. The MHSAA’s involvement will allow for the opportunity for Division I college coaches to attend, and representatives from college football programs at all levels are expected.
Athletes who will be juniors or seniors in Fall 2023 may register to participate via a link on the Football page.
“This is an attempt by the MHSAA to help our athletes get exposure during the spring evaluation period in a way that does not intrude on spring sports,” said Brad Bush, an MHSAA assistant director and past high school and college football coach. “We are working with the MHSFCA to help put together a first-class experience for the athletes and college coaches.”
Cost is $20 per player, and each registrant will receive a shirt to wear based on the athlete’s graduation year and registration number so college coaches in attendance can monitor their camp performance. College coaches also will receive registration information for each athlete in attendance.
All athletes must have a coach from the athlete’s school staff present at the camp, and that coach must be a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.
MHSFCA executive director Andrew Pratley called the Spring Evaluation Camps a tremendous opportunity for high school athletes in Michigan.
“We are very excited with the partnership with the MHSAA that allows our kids the opportunity to wear a helmet and do drills in front of college coaches in the spring at a minimal cost,” Pratley said. “College coaches are thrilled, and it's a unique opportunity to have the rules waived by the MHSAA at these events only in order to showcase the tremendous talent all over the great state of Michigan.”
The Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) has been devoted to the promotion of high school football since its inception in March 1972. The MHSFCA has more than 2,500 members and provides several educational and development opportunities for members and their athletes, including an annual coaching clinic, an annual leadership conference for coaches and potential team captains, and the annual summer East-West All-Star Game for graduated seniors. Additionally, the MHSFCA’s Leadership Development Alliance is in its third year of training coaches and offering veteran members of the association as mentors.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.
Century of School Sports: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 26, 2024
For hundreds of Michigan high school athletes, this weekend’s 11-Player Football Finals will provide their first and only opportunity to play any sport where the pros play – in this case, Detroit’s Ford Field.
But for a handful, it could instead be the first of several games to come on the Lions’ home turf.
According to data at Pro-Football-Reference.com, Michigan high schools have produced 791 players from 303 schools who have gone on to play in the NFL. They’ve come from all over, predictably from larger population areas like Detroit but also from several now-closed schools like Stambaugh High School in the western Upper Peninsula, which produced a pair of pros during the 1930s before decades later consolidating with Iron River to become West Iron County.
According to that data, 81 players from 61 schools are currently active in the NFL – topped by five from Detroit Cass Tech, including Jourdan Lewis (32) pictured above making a tackle against Detroit Cass Tech during the 2016 Division 1 championship game. Several more current players experienced Ford Field as a high schooler at the MHSAA Finals – perhaps most notably among them Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, who caught a touchdown pass in Detroit Martin Luther King’s 41-25 win over Muskegon in the 2018 Division 3 championship game, went on to play at University of Cincinnati and has been an All-Pro after both of his first two seasons as a cornerback for the New York Jets.
(Coincidentally, in that win over the Big Reds, Gardner and King played against another future pro – Anthony Bradford, now a starting offensive lineman for the Seattle Seahawks.)
Gardner and Lewis are among those who have formed rich tradition as well of Detroit producing NFL talent. According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic and FOX Sports, Detroit was tied for the fourth-most players on NFL opening-day rosters this season with 14 – trailing only Miami, Fla.; Las Vegas, Bradenton, Fla; and tied with Atlanta, Ga. During the most recent NFL draft, Michigan high schools saw seven players drafted over the seven rounds, with River Rouge one of 22 high schools nationwide with multiple players selected – Ruke Orhorhoro (Atlanta Falcons, from Clemson) and Kamal Hadden (Kansas City Chiefs, from Tennessee).
Gardner was selected fourth overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, joining a collection of impressive past Michigan high school stars picked at or near the top of the board. Among recent others: 2008 No. 1 Jake Long (Lapeer West/Michigan/Miami Dolphins), 2022 No. 2 Aidan Hutchinson (Dearborn Divine Child/Michigan/Detroit Lions), 2003 No. 2 Charles Rogers (Saginaw/Michigan State/Detroit Lions), 2005 No. 3 Braylon Edwards (Harper Woods Bishop Gallagher/Michigan/Cleveland Browns), 1984 No. 3 Carl Banks (Flint Beecher/Michigan State/New York Giants) and 1991 No. 5 Todd Lyght (Flint Powers Catholic/Notre Dame/Los Angeles Rams).
From this group, Rogers also played in an MHSAA Final catching a 60-yard touchdown pass as Saginaw defeated Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 14-7 in the 1999 Division 2 championship game at the Pontiac Silverdome.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Sept. 25: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
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