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THE RECRUITING TRAIL: Willis QB Lagway travels the map
Willis High School quarterback Derek (DJ) Lagway Jr. has risen to elite status over the past month, becoming the No. 1 Dual-Threat QB in the country and Top 20 player overall.
The Class of 2024 QB has already attracted attention from powerhouse programs such as Georgia, Alabama, Michigan State, Penn State, Florida, Texas A&M and LSU to name a few, and has started his tour of unofficial visit, which brought him to the Southeast last week.
This past weekend, Lagway visited Georgia Tech, Georgia, South Carolina and Clemson. Clemson and Georgia have been powerhouses in college football the past five years and have two of the best coaches in the game -- Dabo Sweeney and Kirby Smart.
I was able to catch up with Lagway and ask him what stood out about his recent visits. What was it like talking with and hanging out with both coaches? "I had a great time meeting them and learning things about their programs," he said.
Lagway also visited South Carolina and Georgia Tech and mentioned how cool the facilities and campuses looked. Both staffs really welcomed him in and he had great respect for both programs.
One of Lagway's best memories from his unofficial visits was talking football with Dabo Swee. He even mentioned that Sweeney welcomed him to his home. That meant a great deal to him, saying that "no coach has ever done that" with him.
Lastly, I asked Lagway about the best part of the trip... The Visit Pictures. Lagway said that Georgia Tech had the best photos, mentioning the amazing backgrounds and props they use made the pictures really cool.
Lagway has more visits planned in the next few weeks, and I expect his recruitment to keep picking up as he heads into his junior season next fall.
BJ Gotte leaves for Pearland
THE CAROUSEL: Coaching movement changing cultures across SE Texas
The coaching carousel in the Greater Houston and Southeast Texas areas has been spinning somewhat under the radar.
In case you missed it, here are some of the biggest storylines.
PEARLAND GETS IT STARTED
When Ricky Tullos took the Bryan High School job, who knew the how the dominos would fall. Follow me on this. Tullos goes to Bryan and defending State Champ coach BJ Gotte of Katy Paetow takes over the Pearland program. Denton Ryan OC Lonnie Teague gets the Paetow job and brings over David Hicks from Allen as an associate head coach. He brings over with him his son David Hicks Jr., who is the No. 1 player on Texas for the 2023 class.
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MILLER SPRNGS TO WILLIS
Trent Miller built a power over the past few seasons at Spring High with his explosive offense. Miller has taken the Willis Wildkat job after the departure of coach Mike Wall. He will have super sophomore QB DJ Lagway to work with for the next two seasons.
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YOUNG JOSEPH GETS MASSIVE JOB
If you have never been to Port Neches-Groves and seen a game at the Reservation, you are missing out. PNG’s Brett Faircloth took the Sulphur Springs job and in comes a familiar name to all of Texas – Jeff Joseph. Jeff is the son of legendary Katy coach Gary Joseph. Jeff was at Southlake Carroll as the special teams coordinator last year.
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MOVEMENT DOWN SOUTH
Texas City coach Leland Surovik moves to the AD spot leaving the Stings job open for now. Blake Ryder takes over at Santa Fe, Kevin Berneathy of Dobie takes the La Porte job, Pasadena Dobie hires Pasadena Rayburn HC Demon Stafford and Brazoswood Danny Youngs leaves to Brenham as Joe Dale Cary takes over the Bucs.
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MOVING ON UP
Coaches are always looking to move up the coaching ladder. Here are some interesting moves. Ramon ChinYoung leaves Willowridge to be a Quality Control coach for the Denver Broncos... Goose Creek-Memorial’s Shannon Carter takes an Abilene Christian assistant job and interim Daniel Ragsdale takes over Patriot Nation… Summer Creek OC Cornelius Harmon gets the Nimitz HC job… Westbury HC Darrel Colbert takes over at Class 6A Beaumont United… Atascocita DC Jacody Coleman is hired as the Dallas Skyline HC… CE King HC Derek Fitzhenry moves to the AD spot and George Young is now the HC… Huffman HC and AD Mike McEachern takes over as the AD at Pflugerville… Hightower assistant Will Blaylock was hired as HC of Lubbock Estacado…Manvel OC Kendrick Crumedy takes over as Jasper’s HC
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SAYING GOODBYE
Legendary coach Cornel Thompson of West Orange-Stark, who led the ‘Stangs to two State titles, has retired… After 19 seasons, John Bolfing hangs up the whistle at Montgomery.