Georgia Takes Steps to Make August Practices Safer in the Heat

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Over the past 15 years, Georgia has had more heat-related deaths of high school football players than any other state in America.  That fact wasn't lost on the state's governing body on Monday when it made big changes to its policy on teams practicing in the heat.

For the first time in state history, the Georgia High School Association has implemented a policy that limits practice time, that includes a ban on three-a-day preseason practices.  Also included in the sweeping changes is a rule that prohibits two-a-day practices on consecutive days, plus limits practice to no more than five hours in a single day.

The GHSA also is requiring that all schools must use wet-bulb temperatures, and not the heat index, to determine when excessive heat and humidity call for limiting or canceling practices. Wet-bulb temperature is the temperature one feels when one's skin is wet and is exposed to moving air.

Here are other rules changes approved by the GHSA on Monday:

- Each player must participate in five days of practices in only helmets, t-shirts and shorts before going to pads in August. These practices without pads, which may begin no sooner than July 25, are limited to two hours.

- Practice in pads, which may begin Aug. 1, are limited to three hours.

Directors of Academy Award-nominated "Undefeated" join Jeff Fisher on High School Football America

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

If the Super Bowl is football's pinnacle, then the Academy Awards are the Super Bowl of movies.

On Sunday in Hollywood, directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin will be trying to win the Super Bowl that comes with a golden statue known as Oscar.

Back in 2009, Lindsay and Martin shot more than 500 hours worth of video while covering the Manassas High School football team that was trying to win the school's first-ever playoff game in the 110-year history of the Memphis, Tennessee school.

The result was more than just a football documentary called Undefeated.  It's what critics are calling a real life Blindside, and as a result, Undefeated is now nominated in the category of Best Documentary at Sunday night's Oscars.

Tonight at 7pm Eastern Time, Lindsay and Martin will be my guests on High School Football America to talk about catching lightning in a bottle all the way to the red carpet.

Former Manassas head coach Bill Courtney is at the center of this piece of football history that I can't wait to see next week.

From the moment I watched the first seconds of the trailer (below), I was hooked and ready to see the entire 113 minutes.  Undefeated is currently showing in LA and NYC and will be opening in additional cities on March 2nd.

Click here to listen to this evening's show at 7pm EST.

Florida High School Football Leads the Way with Eight Former Players Winning Super Bowl Rings

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

We all know that the New York Giants won Super Bowl XVI behind another outstanding 4th quarter comeback led by MVP quarterback Eli Manning.

Somewhere during the 10+ hours of pre-game, game and post-game coverage, it was mentioned that Peyton's younger brother played his high school ball at Isadore Newman High School in New Orleans.

While pundits and fans are still breaking down the game and the commercials, we thought we'd take a look at how high school football fared Sunday.

Florida wins the overall battle with eight former Sunshine State high school players on the Giants' roster. California and Ohio tied for the second most Super Bowl champs with five players each.

When you combine the rosters of the Giants and Patriots, California led the way with 13 former high school football players taking the field in yesterday's Super Bowl in Indianapolis.  Florida had the second most players in yesterday's game with eleven, Ohio wasn't far behind with nine.

Below is a look at the Giants roster followed by the high school of each player.

New York Giants Super Bowl Roster

#5 - Steve Weatherford (North Vigo HS, IN)
#8 - David Carr (Stockdale HS, CA)
#9 - Lawrence Tynes (Milton HS, FL)
#10 - Eli Manning (Isadore Newman HS, LA)
#12 - Jerrel Jernigan (Eufaula HS, AL)
#13 - Ramses Barden (Flintridge Prep, CA)
#15 - Devin Thomas (Canton HS, MI)
#20 - Prince Amukamara (Apollo HS, AZ)
#21 - Kenny Phillips (Carol City HS, FL)
#22 - Derrick Martin (Thomas Jefferson HS, CO)
#23 - Corey Webster (St. James HS, LA)
#26 - Antrel Rolle (South Dade HS, FL)
#27 - Brandon Jacobs (Assumption HS, LA)
#28 - D.J. Ware (Rockmart HS, GA)
#31 - Aaron Ross (Tyler HS, TX)
#33 - Da'rel Scott (Plymouth Whitemarsh HS, PA)
#34 - Deon Grant (Josey HS, GA)
#36 - Will Blackmon (Bishop Hendricken HS, RI)
#39 - Tyler Sash (Oskaloosa HS, IA)
#44 - Ahmad Bradshaw (Graham HS, VA)
#45 - Henry Hynoski (Southern Columbia HS, PA)
#47 - Travis Beckum (Oak Creek HS, WI)
#51 - Zak DeOssie (Phillips Academy, MA)
#53 - Greg Jones (Archbishop Moeller HS, OH)
#55 - Spencer Paysinger (Beverly Hills HS, CA)
#57 - Jacquian Williams (Riverview HS, FL)
#58 - Mark Herzlich (Conestoga HS, PA)
#59 - Michael Boley (Elkmont HS, AL)
#62 - Mitch Petrus (Carlisle HS, AK)
#63 - Jim Cordle (Lancaster HS, OH)
#64 - David Bass (Riverview HS, FL)
#66 - David Diehl (Brother Rice HS, IL)
#67 - Kareem McKenzie (Willingboro HS, NJ)
#69 - Justin Trattou (Don Bosco Prep, NJ)
#70 - Tony Ugoh (Westfield HS, TX)
#71 - Dave Tollefson (Ygnacio Valley HS, CA)
#72 - Osi Umenyiora (Auburn HS, AL)
#73 - Jimmy Kennedy (Roosevelt HS, NY)
#76 - Chris Snee (Montrose HS, PA)
#77 - Kevin Boothe (Pine Crest HS, FL)
#79 - James Brewer (Arlington HS, IN)
#80 - Victor Cruz (Patterson Catholic HS, NJ)
#82 - Mario Manningham (Harding HS, OH)
#85 - Jay Ballard (Springboro HS, OH)
#86 - Bear Pascoe (Granite Hills HS, CA)
#88 - Hakeem Nicks (Independence HS, NC)
#90 - Jason Pierre-Paul (Deerfield Beach HS, FL)
#91 - Justin Tuck (Central Coosa County HS, AL)
#94 - Mathias Kiwanuka (Indianapolis Cathedral, IN)
#95 - Chase Blackburn (Marysville HS, OH)
#97 - Linval Joseph (Santa Fe HS, FL)
#99 - Chris Canty (Charlotte Latin, NC)

Great Line-up of Guests for Tonight's High School Football America Radio Show

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

A former NFL quarterback turned high school football head coach; a highly successful coach leaving his state champion team for a new challenge; and the leader of America's oldest football club.  That's the description of guests that will appear on High School Football America tonight starting at 7pm Eastern Time.

My lead guest will be Jon Kitna, who after 16-years as an NFL QB with nearly 30,000 yards in passing, has become the new head football coach at his alma mater Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington.  Kitna will be discussing his dream of returning home to not only coach football, but also to teach mathematics.

The second guest tonight will be Jamey Dubose, who after leading Prattville High School in Alabama to national prominence and two 6A state titles as a head coach, has resigned to take the head coaching job at Florence High School.

I'll wrap-up the show with Mark Wolpert, executive director of The Maxwell Football Club, which is America's oldest football club.  Mark will be talking about the organization's national player of the year, Noah Spence from Bishop McDevitt High School in Pennsylvania.  Spence will be honored along with the Maxwell Football Club's College and NFL Players of the Year at the group's 75th gala in Atlantic City on March 2nd.

Click here to listen live starting at 7pm Eastern/6pm Central Time.

National Letter of Intent Signing Day

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

It's not quite a national holiday, but for high school and college football fans alike, National Letter of Intent Signing Day keeps getting bigger every year!

Over the past decade, a lot of the mystery of the day has been eliminated with various national websites like MaxPreps.com, Rivals.com and Scout.com breaking news of the top recruits' verbal commitments.  And, then there's the made for TV announcements that we saw earlier this month during the national all-star football games where players posture for the cameras while playing a "shell game" with several hats before announcing "I choose so-and-so"!!

On Wednesday, ESPN will dedicate over 10-hours to the day when all of those verbal commitments become official...or in some cases change...when high school football players around the country put their signatures on the dotted line.  Part of the program includes top recruits announcing on live TV "I'm going to so-and-so".

Maybe the name of National Letter of Intent Signing Day should be called "I'm going to so-and-so day"!?

Once Wednesday ends, the focus will immediately turn to next year's graduating class.

That brings me to a video that our fine partners at NCSA Athletic Recruiting put-up on their YouTube channel.

NCSA Athletic Recruiting matches college coaches with qualified student athletes through their college sports recruiting system. More than 35,000 college coaches and more than 1,700 colleges and universities use NCSA to meet their recruiting needs.

In the below video, NCSA's Randy Taylor, who has over 30 years of experience in the college football recruiting business, including bringing in a #1 ranked class while he was an assistant at UCLA, addresses the question of whether a student-athlete should transfer from a losing high school team to improve his chances for a college scholarship.



To learn more about NSCA Athletic Recruiting, click here to fill-out your child's free profile.

You can also learn more by listening to a recent interview I did with Coach Taylor.  Click here to listen to that interview on November 17, 2011.

As far as National Letter of Intent Signing Day is concerned, click here to listen to my interview with MaxPreps' Steve Spiewak previewing signing day on last week's High School Football America radio show.

The Super Bowl Streak Continues for Big 33 Classic

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

When Super Bowl XVI is played next Sunday in Indianapolis, officials of the Big 33 Classic that is played annually in Hershey, Pennsylvania will be once again celebrating.

What will they be celebrating?

The streak.

What streak?

For the 46th straight Super Bowl, a Big 33 alum will be playing on football's biggest stage!

It's quite a calling card for the Big 33 Classic that began back in 1958.

Through the years, Pennsylvania’s top 33 football players have squared-off with all-star teams from Maryland, Ohio and Texas. There have been games against an all-USA all-star team, plus sometimes the eastern part of the state battled the western part of the state for bragging rights.

For the past 19-years, the Big 33 has pitted the Keystone State against stars from Ohio. It’s been a very competitive series with Ohio winning ten games and Pennsylvania winning nine.

This year's game between the New York Giants and New England Patriots will feature an incredible number of eight former Big 33 participants, which would have been nine if Dan Koppen, Patriots' center was on injured reserve.

Here are the the former Big 33'ers that will take the field on Sunday:

New York Giants: (WR) Mario Manningham, (FB) Henry Hynoski, (LB) Chase Blackburn, (G) Chris Snee and (RB) Da'rel Scott

New England Patriots: (QB) Brian Hoyer, (P) Zoltan Mesko, (FB) Lousaka Polite and (C) Dan Koppen (injured reserve)

On January 12th, I spoke with Mike Brennan, head coach of the 2012 Pennsylvania all-stars.  During that interview, Brennan talked about the incredible streak.

Click here to listen to that interview.

This year's Big 33 Classic will be played June 16th.

The Maxwell Football Club Names Pennsylvania Player as its National Player of the Year

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Ohio State recruit Noah Spence of Bishop McDevitt High School (Pennsylvania) has been named the fifth winner of The Maxwell Football Club's National High School Player of the Year Award.

Spence had a great senior season that saw him lead his school to Pennsylvania Class AAA championship game.  The 6-4, 240-pound defensive end recorded 108 tackles with 12-and-a-half sacks, plus 27 tackles for losses.

Spence joins past winners DeVier Posey (Cincinnati LaSalle, OH), Jamarkus McFarland (Lufkin, TX), Sharrif Floyd (George Washington, Philadelphia, PA) and Jeff Driskel (Hagerty HS, Orlando, FL)

Former NFL Quarterback Jon Kitna Reportedly In-line for High School Job

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

According to KING-5 TV, 15-year NFL veteran quarterback Jon Kitna will be named the new head football coach at Lincoln High School in Tacaoma, Washington later this week.

Kitna was a three-sport athlete at Lincoln, playing football, basketball and baseball.

In the NFL, Kitna played with Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit and Seattle.  In 141 games, he passed for nearly 30,000 yards and 169 touchdowns.

Kitna is the second former QB to take a high school head coaching job in the past week.  Shane Matthews accepted the job at Tim Tebow's alma mater, Nease High School in Florida last week.

Last season, Lincoln was 4-6 under Michael Merrill.