Up On Game Presents TAYLOR SCOUTING With Coach Taylor Featuring Coach DWIGHT THOMAS I Look For DAWGS
September 29, 2023 • 26 mins
Fired up to have 2x Florida State Champ as coach at Escambia HS in Pensacola, Florida. Coach Dwight once coached Emmett Smith the NFL Hall Of Fame running back and Coach Dwight was a part of the staff at Merritt Island Mustangs a legendary team in the early 70s. Currently, Coach Dwight Thomas is evaluating prospects for Catapult Sports in the best area for college football prospects in America, the Southeast!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to up on Kaine Presents Taylor Scouting. Coach Randy
Taylor is bringing his forty plus years of knowledge to you.
This is Taylor Scouting and now here's coach Randy Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So hey, this is Coach Taylor again with the UPBU
Game Network. Up on Game Presents Taylor Scouting. We are
here with another podcast that, like always, you can follow,
follow us, and find us on all wherever you get
your podcasts. iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts. You can find us on
(00:41):
YouTube and up on Game Presents, so all of the
social media sites we are available. So this show today
I'm fired up about because one of my buddies two
time Florida State champ as coach at a Scambia High School, Secola, Florida,
(01:01):
where Dwight Thomas coached Emmett Smith, the NFL Hall of
Fame running back and was a part of the staff
legendary staff in Florida at Merritt Island Mustangs in the
early seventies. Now, that just scratches the surface of coaches
career and he's currently evaluating prospects for Catapult Sports in
(01:28):
the best area for college football prospects in America. The
Southeast and we'll talk a little bit more about exactly
where he is and what he does. So welcome coach
Dwight Thomas. Glad to have your brother, Proud to be
here and getting to see you.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
You do.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Randy Rogers, Randy Taylor, and Dwight Thomas. Those are my
three names that I when I think about the United
States for America high school football coaching, college coaching, I
think of those three names. So I am proud to
be part of this with you. Boy.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
We covered it all man, So talk about your coaching
days and some of the teams you've been a part
of in Florida and different places that you've been.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Please to man, because I am so proud. I don't
know anybody that has the three mentors, or let me
change that better three mentors than I did. I had.
I started in nineteen sixty five with Gene Cox at
that time to winning his coach in the history of
Florida football. The guy that loved the game, he loved
(02:39):
his family, and he loved his religion. And that was it.
And I learned and I watched him grow. I grew
from him. That was at Leon Lions in Tallahassee, Florida,
then went to Coco Beach and Merritt Island lured me over.
I was head coach at Kocoabe thinking I was, you know,
(03:01):
doing a good job, and we had eight shutouts one
year only two teams team scored on us. But every
year the Eddie Feeley jurl odom over at merrit Island.
They asked me to come over and join their staff.
They saw something in me, some energy, some something. They
were needing to go all the way. So I finally
(03:22):
gave in the very first year undefeated state champ. Played,
matter of fact, Leon in the state championship in Tallahassee
at FSU Stadium, and then I left there, went to Chocohatchee.
Was very, very successful there. We were thirty two and twelve,
(03:44):
but the superintendent decided that he wanted to go a
different direction. Have you ever heard that before? Randy, we
got to go in a different direction. Yes, And matter
of fact, if you were if I had a son,
I'd want you to coach him. But you know, we
got to bring in somebody here. Everywhere you've been, you
all been state champs, but you and the defensive coordinator
ever was a head coach. So we're gonna bring somebody in.
(04:04):
They brought in a guy that won five They fired
him in two years. But anyway, that opened the door
for me to tip. Scambia High School came open. It
was so bad and nobody applied. The principal heard I'd
got fired on Christmas Day called me over for an interview.
I go over an interview. So I drive nine years,
(04:27):
one hundred miles a day for nine years, so that
I can coach him in Smith and Emery Smith and
Eric Smith. But if I hadn't got fired, I would
have coached against him in Smith. How about that for
going from the out house to the penthouse. So when
you think about every boy they ever put the ball
under his arm. In the history of our game, the
(04:48):
history of the United States, for America, he has outdone
them all. You can decide if you're a Barry Sanders
or Walter Pate, whoever you want to say is the
best running back. But he's outdone them all. And I
had the honor of coaching him. Never tardy to a
meeting in four years, never missed a practice in four years.
I never heard him swear one time in four years.
(05:09):
Biological mother and father at home. That says it all.
So that was that was the route. And then after him,
you know, Randy, we all have we hit a wall
somewhere after with him it getting to meet all of
my goals. Decided I didn't want to coach anymore, but
I didn't want to quit because when coaches quit, wo die.
(05:32):
So I didn't want to die. Couldn't afford to live
on teacher retirement. So some head coach at that time,
all the head coaches come to all you used to
come to my office. So one of them said, Dy,
why don't you start combat? Why don't you do what
they do in Indianapolis for the NFL determine how many
median they're going to pay that guy you start that
in high school, and here's the deal to I, we'll
(05:54):
pay you to do that. Oh there's my niche. So
you're looking at the guy that ran the first high
school combine in America before anybody before Rivals Scout under
Army ESPN on three. I don't care before any of that,
we started it. I say that prouded to you, Randy,
because you're one of my idols when I grew up.
(06:15):
You're the guy I want to be. So so you
know that allowed me to do that. I had to
give up head coach and do that. So I went
back and closed out my career right back where I
started at Leon High School because my daughter was going
there and I wanted to where she were was and
in the summer I ran my combines. So give you
a long story right there. Sorry it took so long.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
No, that's okay. I just wanted to get the flavoring
and get a little bit of your get people to
know you a little bit, and you, I care about
you and feel about you like you do me and
Randy Rodgers and those that that whole thing we've always
talked about. But what I want to do coaches, these shows,
(06:57):
these podcasts, I think I tried to edge you, Caden.
You are one of the best and somebody that I've
learned from over the years. So what I want to
do is, let's talk about recruiting and been scouting and
so the first thing I wanted to find out from
you is what is the first thing you look for
(07:20):
in a prospect?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
That is a good question. Now let's just say let's
just go to where I go. I go to camps,
I sleep in the dorm, with the players. I eat
on the training table with them. I'm with the coaches
twenty four hours a day. After we put them to bed,
then we have our meeting. You know. So I'm gonna
(07:44):
I'm gonna see players. I'm gonna be a value. I'm
not some guy that sits in now I do this.
I'm like right now, I'm sitting in my office. You
see the flacks on the wall. I mean, I I
this is where I go. But I got to go
see the kids before before I can evaluate the guy.
I want to listen to them. I want to They
(08:05):
don't know me, so I don't and I don't talk
to kids. I don't call them. I've done this for
thirty three years. I've never no kids ever paid me
a penny, and I've never called a kid. I'm going
to go see the players. I'm going to evaluate what
I hear and see because down the road, somewhere like today,
I get a call today, I'm not going to say
who it was, what college or whatever question about a kid.
(08:28):
So if I don't know the answer, I'm going to
get him the answer. Because I have the respect of
five hundred and ninety head coaches in Florida. Those are
the guys I try to keep parents off their back
because once they get their information to me. Five hundred
I'm sorry, nine hundred and fifty nine college coaches nationwide
at all levels. How what I see? And here they're
(08:48):
the only one to see it. You notice you've never
seen well, yeah, you have seen what I do because
when you were recruiting coordinated, you saw it. But only
the college coaches that pay me that will see anything.
I'm not social media, you know, I'm strictly working for
the college coach. So I'm the first thing I'm gonna
look for. So I'm gonna look for a character. I
(09:09):
mean it may sound corny to you, may be a cliche.
We all got players. What do you have a player
that when the time? Because in our game, bad things
happen in our game. It's how you deal with those
bad things. And that's what makes a champion. Identify weakness,
something you're not good at, then you work on that
(09:31):
because you know, if you're not fast, guess what. You
don't want to run track? You know? Emmett asked me, coach,
I want to be the best player I can be.
How what route we're gonna tell you what I need
to do. It's very simple. In the fall, we're gonna
play football, and the winner we're gonna be on the
weightlifting team. And in the spring we're gonna be on
the track team. But Coach, I like to win the
(09:51):
strongest kid in Florida that time, Chili Dog was on
our team. So I'm not never going to win to
meet the fastest guy on our team. Whiters was on
our team. I'm never gonna It doesn't matter. We're getting bigger,
faster and strong. And that's the route we're going to take.
And that's what we did. And we liveded five days
a week and we ran track.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Coach, does the grad year matter? When you're saying that,
I mean, do you is there a way that the
kid can grow up? I mean, do you want to
see him more than once?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Coach? I learned this from one of my competitors who's
passed away. Now. The thing because I saw his stuff too,
and I the thing that I looked in there and
I saw he would tell the recruiters and you probably
subscribed to him. See what he say his name, But
he gonna tell you how many times you've seen him
(10:45):
and how many events, he's gonna see him, see him,
and what his evaluations are at each one of them.
So that's why all the guys that are with me,
they go in my comments and they're going to read
how many times I've seen the kid? What is results were,
what is stats are? What? Everything that I feel about
him is under the comments. The head coaches that share
(11:07):
their information with me they never see so I mean
it's very private, very secure, their grades or address, you know,
all their personal contact. So everything is in there for
those nine hundred to nine college coaches that pay cut
a poll sports for what I do in Florida, so
where it's very important. Everything is very important. That's why
I'm going to put it all in there. And thanks
(11:29):
for asking that, because not a lot of people understand that.
They just think that you know results. I mean, that's
just one small part. Is his stats. That's a small
part because it depends on how you play in and
all that.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Right, how much do you have to project the prospects
tap end? And I got a couple of body type
questions from there. How much do you project the prospect's
tap end?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
You know, for me, this is going to really sound
basic from me, I want the guy that's got the
heart and the fight, that the guy they got the dog,
and the one that's gonna play hard all the time,
don't take players off, not jealous, not envious, gonna work
hard and do all of those things I want to see.
(12:17):
I want that's the guy that I want to promote.
And I tell them, you know, there's two things. Be prompt,
be on times. And that's why I told you within it.
Never target to a meet and never missed a practice.
I mean never. You don't swear, you don't be negative.
I had to pull him in the first quarter sometimes
because we'd be so far ahead and I'm not gonna
run it up on anybody. So but you think he
(12:39):
complained it right, No, he went down chair for the defense.
So that's the team player. I'm looking for the team aspect.
I'm looking for what you bring to the table, and
it's the body size is minute for me, but it
is for those guys that you as a recruiting coordinator
at UCLA, you told your don't bring me no six
(13:02):
foot linemen in here. You probably said that. I don't know,
I'm putting words in your mouth. Maybe you didn't, but
I they're looking for it. So you better give them
the height, you better give them the weight, you better
give them what they want to look for. But they've
got to go to my notes about it. What I
truly think. It may sound corny to you, man, but
that's no.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
I'm the same way. I have the same value system
that you do on a lot of that. And I
think you have to be successful in what we do
because you're putting your name on a kid, and you
got to know that he's not going to be what
some people call coach killers.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Our fires, right exactly? Hey, what's a what do you
put more value on length or strength? Let's get into
some of them body types. And by the way, I
wouldn't want a six foot unless he was a d tackle.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Let it go specifically, I you know, it's it's that's
why it started combines. You know, I want to get objective,
verified data. Back then it was the click click of
the stopwatch. Then it became the laser. And now guess
(14:20):
what Catapult Sports has brought to the table. Right now,
we're putting the GPS wearables on them, the pot in
the back, the satellite's reading it, and everybody that's subscribed
our service, and there all are now because there's two
things you come to us for. That's the portal and
you come to us for GPS wearables. So Catapult Sports
(14:41):
has those two things. And so we go through us.
And you've you've been by our booth at the convention
and you saw that, you see the action, you see
all the college coaches there. What's the latest where we are?
But right now it's the verified data that we're collecting
from and getting the CBS files and putting that out there.
(15:02):
Miles prow we're going to do away with hand. Hell,
we're gonna do away with laser. We're gonna it's gonna
become Miles Prour. And that's where we are right now.
We're we're looking at that. But I still haven't to
answer to your question on length, and we'll get back
to that.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Well, well, go ahead and do that. What do you
what do you like more? Would you rather have a
guy with some length or a guy maybe a shorter arm,
guy with strength and and you may take them both,
but but uh, if you could just you you walk
up and you're looking at a prospect and and you
(15:39):
see a guy with certain arm length and the body.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Type and see it.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, So so I'm just trying to get the old uh,
the old scout to say, what do I love when
I first see?
Speaker 3 (15:54):
All right? You know, one of my favorite under my comments,
one of my favorite things I love to put in
there is long lean running machine. You you get me
that long, lean running machine that is tireless and what
I like to call relentless in pursuit and on the trail.
(16:14):
Those I want that guy and boy, I saw it
the other night a prime example, this little Wall mc
crae down at Mainland down here. Oh my gosh, that
guy's long lean running machine that can go that way
and that way and no time ellapses. I mean that
(16:36):
he is sudden. So there's yes, I'm looking for that.
I'm looking for the length, I'm looking for long arms
and so forth. So I'm I'm I'm all over that,
and I love putting that in my comments.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
And then and then you have speed and quickness so feet, yes, uh,
it is an important part of the of Theusian. And
and then you gotta throw flexibility into it. If a
kid can bend, well yeah yeah, So go through how
you look at a kid and and and what happens
when you see a stiff kid, but he can run.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Oh my god, I love, I love. That's another one
of my favorite comments. He can bend and run. See you.
You and I are on the same page, same terminology,
same everything. So so you you get that guy that
can deliver the punch, control the blocker and disconnect and
(17:35):
accelerated the ball. Be it the quarterback, the running back, whatever,
that's the guy you want. You want the strong. You
gotta have the strong punch, you gotta have the strong hands.
You got to work to get your hands on the
inside on the breastplate. If you're an offensive lineman, you
you got to get the hands in the air to
control that defensive guy. Do a little holding. Don't get
(17:56):
caught on that. So but I'm telling you the strength,
the speed, the flexibility, those things we're looking about. I'll
give you another example. There's a lineman here in matter
of fact, his name's Thomas. How about that. I saw
them and Thomas at Rains here in Jacksonville, saw him
as a ninth grader. Coach, tell him, you got to
(18:19):
look at this guy. So I've watched him most intent,
paid attention to detail. He is now the most sought
after offensive lineman in North Florida are probably for I
mean he's he's a junior. You pull him up, you'll
see what I'm talking about. Saw coach. I was at
the trendy Catholic Rains game last week. As a matter
of fact, the off all the head coach could talk
(18:40):
about was that lineman and how he hard to block,
and I mean hard hard to get rid of because
he has got the flexibility, can Ben can move, got
the power, got the got the strength. So yeah, very
important in today's game.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Is there a fundamentals make a huge impact on you
compared to physical ability or talents?
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Oh boy boy, you asked good questions because I'm telling
you tell you that. And this is another thing I'd
like to put in. I like to put in good fundamentally,
good stands, good get off. You know, you know the
things along those lines when you see those account or
you see those are practors. You watch them in pregame
(19:28):
and you watch them in the game and you see
them executing those fundamentals very important. You got to be
fundamentally sound. You got to be fundamentally sound to be
able to play today and be successful.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I think, yeah. The the So here's where we're going
to go now. Now, now we're going to really get
into your your evaluation of what level a guy can play.
So what's the difference between in your mind an f
c S player and a power five FBS prospect. Where's
(20:06):
the difference?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
That's another given because it's there's a finite difference in
there because the size, the strength, all the things we're
talking about comes into the play there. But FBS to me,
(20:30):
and here's all the guys that work with me and
have worked with me for thirty years, they know if
I air on the level because I rate them all.
If I air, I'm on air one level up. So
if I'm an FCS guy, I want and we go
by point five. So no, where's the lower the number,
the better uh player? That one is? Im it? Okay?
(20:54):
So so the Lord, as we look at players, we
got to plug them in somewhere. And that's part of
what I love about what I do. And that's why
I love signing Day because I want to get verified
or he actually signs up because if we talk, we
(21:14):
can talk a whole lot about offers. Today is back
to when you used to make an offer. It was
a little legit offer that ain't what's happening today. So
we got we got to be able to get them
close and always be consistent so that one guy is
(21:35):
the producer, the two is power five. You know that
one is the elite guy. That's the national recruit. If
I've done my job, everybody in America will offer, not recruit,
will offer. That's a one. I have fifteen of them
in Florida in the twenty fourth class. I guarantee you
(21:57):
all fifteen will play on Sunday. No saying I'm right
or wrong. I'm just saying that's how much confidence I've
got because I've seen them all, evaluating them all, and
that's where they are. They all got it. So that's
that's hopefully I'll answer your question because that's that's a
really good question. Man.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I've been throwing some good ones at your coach, and
I know I know you can answer them. Because I
just want if anybody wants to get into this business
of scouting or is going to go scout for a
college team, and I believe this that what we do
is different than the guys who are evaluating for the
(22:39):
college program because they are only going to get five
or ten of those kids and we got to rate
them all. So there's a huge difference and the consequences
for them are much greater than maybe they are for
us as well. So yes, sure, getting your spurred opinion
(23:00):
on some of these detail things is what I really
wanted to get out of you, because of your because
of how I feel about your ability to do this.
And just as a last thing, coach, what's your advice
to kids to work on? What? What would you be
(23:22):
telling your son or your players to be working on
so that college coaches are going to want to recruit you?
Speaker 3 (23:32):
And I basically do that every day I I I
I like to praise them for the following things. I
like to praise them, and I do it. If I
hear a kid say yes sir or no, sir, he's
going to get it quickly for me. Keep saying that
(23:52):
because that will take you a long way. That's a
little small thing, but it is a big thing. I
want to know about the work ethic. I want to
know if he is, if he's willing to lift five
days a week, if he feels like that's important it
is to me as a head as a head football coach.
Back when I coached, there was two things I was
(24:14):
going to do more than anybody I coached against. I
was going to have. I was going to lift more weights.
So we lifted five days a week. I was going
to have At that time, we had to bust our
kids to Black Mountain to FCA huddle group. Now they're
in our own we all have our own huddle groups now.
But those are the two things. Those are important things
to me, and so we put a lot of time
(24:37):
and energy into that. But I want to know if
they're if they got the work ethic, if they have
the character, and it's it's tough. I understand that at
Escambia High School, only seven percent of my kids out
of biological mother and father at home. And guess who
one of those wives. That's him at Smith. So you
can see how that goes to that ninety other percent
(25:01):
me and that segment coach was his father figure. So
we take that real serious and we work real hard
on that. So but you got to know those things
too before you go making decisions on if you guys
got good character or not. You know, you got to know.
So we'll work real hard on that. But I that
hopefully that answers your question. Yes, what we're trying to do.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah, that's what I wanted to get. I knew you
would have a good answer for that. And you know,
it's been fun doing this. I learned something from you
every time I talk to you, and I think we've
all learned a lot from a definite guru of evaluating.
I'm calling you a guru coach, so I Coach Thomas,
(25:47):
I appreciate you being on the show. Thanks for joining
us on the up On Game Networks Taylor Scouting podcasts,
and folks, join us for more episodes of Taylor Scouting
on the upind Game Network. You can follow us on iHeartRadio,
Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you view your podcasts and on YouTube.
(26:08):
We're on up On Game Presents Taylor Scouting. So again,
appreciate you, coach for being on. And I want to
give our listeners one last thing after we say goodbye
to you, brother, have.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
A good day.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Thanks there yourself, man, you got it.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
So rate and review us, folks, and we will see
you on our next podcast. This airs on Fridays at
nine am on the up On Game Network and that
is Pacific time, folks. Thanks a lot
Welcome to up on Kaine Presents Taylor Scouting. Coach Randy
Taylor is bringing his forty plus years of knowledge to you.
This is Taylor Scouting and now here's coach Randy Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So hey, this is Coach Taylor again with the UPBU
Game Network. Up on Game Presents Taylor Scouting. We are
here with another podcast that, like always, you can follow,
follow us, and find us on all wherever you get
your podcasts. iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts. You can find us on
(00:41):
YouTube and up on Game Presents, so all of the
social media sites we are available. So this show today
I'm fired up about because one of my buddies two
time Florida State champ as coach at a Scambia High School, Secola, Florida,
(01:01):
where Dwight Thomas coached Emmett Smith, the NFL Hall of
Fame running back and was a part of the staff
legendary staff in Florida at Merritt Island Mustangs in the
early seventies. Now, that just scratches the surface of coaches
career and he's currently evaluating prospects for Catapult Sports in
(01:28):
the best area for college football prospects in America. The
Southeast and we'll talk a little bit more about exactly
where he is and what he does. So welcome coach
Dwight Thomas. Glad to have your brother, Proud to be
here and getting to see you.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
You do.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Randy Rogers, Randy Taylor, and Dwight Thomas. Those are my
three names that I when I think about the United
States for America high school football coaching, college coaching, I
think of those three names. So I am proud to
be part of this with you. Boy.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
We covered it all man, So talk about your coaching
days and some of the teams you've been a part
of in Florida and different places that you've been.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Please to man, because I am so proud. I don't
know anybody that has the three mentors, or let me
change that better three mentors than I did. I had.
I started in nineteen sixty five with Gene Cox at
that time to winning his coach in the history of
Florida football. The guy that loved the game, he loved
(02:39):
his family, and he loved his religion. And that was it.
And I learned and I watched him grow. I grew
from him. That was at Leon Lions in Tallahassee, Florida,
then went to Coco Beach and Merritt Island lured me over.
I was head coach at Kocoabe thinking I was, you know,
(03:01):
doing a good job, and we had eight shutouts one
year only two teams team scored on us. But every
year the Eddie Feeley jurl odom over at merrit Island.
They asked me to come over and join their staff.
They saw something in me, some energy, some something. They
were needing to go all the way. So I finally
(03:22):
gave in the very first year undefeated state champ. Played,
matter of fact, Leon in the state championship in Tallahassee
at FSU Stadium, and then I left there, went to Chocohatchee.
Was very, very successful there. We were thirty two and twelve,
(03:44):
but the superintendent decided that he wanted to go a
different direction. Have you ever heard that before? Randy, we
got to go in a different direction. Yes, And matter
of fact, if you were if I had a son,
I'd want you to coach him. But you know, we
got to bring in somebody here. Everywhere you've been, you
all been state champs, but you and the defensive coordinator
ever was a head coach. So we're gonna bring somebody in.
(04:04):
They brought in a guy that won five They fired
him in two years. But anyway, that opened the door
for me to tip. Scambia High School came open. It
was so bad and nobody applied. The principal heard I'd
got fired on Christmas Day called me over for an interview.
I go over an interview. So I drive nine years,
(04:27):
one hundred miles a day for nine years, so that
I can coach him in Smith and Emery Smith and
Eric Smith. But if I hadn't got fired, I would
have coached against him in Smith. How about that for
going from the out house to the penthouse. So when
you think about every boy they ever put the ball
under his arm. In the history of our game, the
(04:48):
history of the United States, for America, he has outdone
them all. You can decide if you're a Barry Sanders
or Walter Pate, whoever you want to say is the
best running back. But he's outdone them all. And I
had the honor of coaching him. Never tardy to a
meeting in four years, never missed a practice in four years.
I never heard him swear one time in four years.
(05:09):
Biological mother and father at home. That says it all.
So that was that was the route. And then after him,
you know, Randy, we all have we hit a wall
somewhere after with him it getting to meet all of
my goals. Decided I didn't want to coach anymore, but
I didn't want to quit because when coaches quit, wo die.
(05:32):
So I didn't want to die. Couldn't afford to live
on teacher retirement. So some head coach at that time,
all the head coaches come to all you used to
come to my office. So one of them said, Dy,
why don't you start combat? Why don't you do what
they do in Indianapolis for the NFL determine how many
median they're going to pay that guy you start that
in high school, and here's the deal to I, we'll
(05:54):
pay you to do that. Oh there's my niche. So
you're looking at the guy that ran the first high
school combine in America before anybody before Rivals Scout under
Army ESPN on three. I don't care before any of that,
we started it. I say that prouded to you, Randy,
because you're one of my idols when I grew up.
(06:15):
You're the guy I want to be. So so you
know that allowed me to do that. I had to
give up head coach and do that. So I went
back and closed out my career right back where I
started at Leon High School because my daughter was going
there and I wanted to where she were was and
in the summer I ran my combines. So give you
a long story right there. Sorry it took so long.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
No, that's okay. I just wanted to get the flavoring
and get a little bit of your get people to
know you a little bit, and you, I care about
you and feel about you like you do me and
Randy Rodgers and those that that whole thing we've always
talked about. But what I want to do coaches, these shows,
(06:57):
these podcasts, I think I tried to edge you, Caden.
You are one of the best and somebody that I've
learned from over the years. So what I want to
do is, let's talk about recruiting and been scouting and
so the first thing I wanted to find out from
you is what is the first thing you look for
(07:20):
in a prospect?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
That is a good question. Now let's just say let's
just go to where I go. I go to camps,
I sleep in the dorm, with the players. I eat
on the training table with them. I'm with the coaches
twenty four hours a day. After we put them to bed,
then we have our meeting. You know. So I'm gonna
(07:44):
I'm gonna see players. I'm gonna be a value. I'm
not some guy that sits in now I do this.
I'm like right now, I'm sitting in my office. You
see the flacks on the wall. I mean, I I
this is where I go. But I got to go
see the kids before before I can evaluate the guy.
I want to listen to them. I want to They
(08:05):
don't know me, so I don't and I don't talk
to kids. I don't call them. I've done this for
thirty three years. I've never no kids ever paid me
a penny, and I've never called a kid. I'm going
to go see the players. I'm going to evaluate what
I hear and see because down the road, somewhere like today,
I get a call today, I'm not going to say
who it was, what college or whatever question about a kid.
(08:28):
So if I don't know the answer, I'm going to
get him the answer. Because I have the respect of
five hundred and ninety head coaches in Florida. Those are
the guys I try to keep parents off their back
because once they get their information to me. Five hundred
I'm sorry, nine hundred and fifty nine college coaches nationwide
at all levels. How what I see? And here they're
(08:48):
the only one to see it. You notice you've never
seen well, yeah, you have seen what I do because
when you were recruiting coordinated, you saw it. But only
the college coaches that pay me that will see anything.
I'm not social media, you know, I'm strictly working for
the college coach. So I'm the first thing I'm gonna
look for. So I'm gonna look for a character. I
(09:09):
mean it may sound corny to you, may be a cliche.
We all got players. What do you have a player
that when the time? Because in our game, bad things
happen in our game. It's how you deal with those
bad things. And that's what makes a champion. Identify weakness,
something you're not good at, then you work on that
(09:31):
because you know, if you're not fast, guess what. You
don't want to run track? You know? Emmett asked me, coach,
I want to be the best player I can be.
How what route we're gonna tell you what I need
to do. It's very simple. In the fall, we're gonna
play football, and the winner we're gonna be on the
weightlifting team. And in the spring we're gonna be on
the track team. But Coach, I like to win the
(09:51):
strongest kid in Florida that time, Chili Dog was on
our team. So I'm not never going to win to
meet the fastest guy on our team. Whiters was on
our team. I'm never gonna It doesn't matter. We're getting bigger,
faster and strong. And that's the route we're going to take.
And that's what we did. And we liveded five days
a week and we ran track.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Coach, does the grad year matter? When you're saying that,
I mean, do you is there a way that the
kid can grow up? I mean, do you want to
see him more than once?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Coach? I learned this from one of my competitors who's
passed away. Now. The thing because I saw his stuff too,
and I the thing that I looked in there and
I saw he would tell the recruiters and you probably
subscribed to him. See what he say his name, But
he gonna tell you how many times you've seen him
(10:45):
and how many events, he's gonna see him, see him,
and what his evaluations are at each one of them.
So that's why all the guys that are with me,
they go in my comments and they're going to read
how many times I've seen the kid? What is results were,
what is stats are? What? Everything that I feel about
him is under the comments. The head coaches that share
(11:07):
their information with me they never see so I mean
it's very private, very secure, their grades or address, you know,
all their personal contact. So everything is in there for
those nine hundred to nine college coaches that pay cut
a poll sports for what I do in Florida, so
where it's very important. Everything is very important. That's why
I'm going to put it all in there. And thanks
(11:29):
for asking that, because not a lot of people understand that.
They just think that you know results. I mean, that's
just one small part. Is his stats. That's a small
part because it depends on how you play in and
all that.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Right, how much do you have to project the prospects
tap end? And I got a couple of body type
questions from there. How much do you project the prospect's
tap end?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
You know, for me, this is going to really sound
basic from me, I want the guy that's got the
heart and the fight, that the guy they got the dog,
and the one that's gonna play hard all the time,
don't take players off, not jealous, not envious, gonna work
hard and do all of those things I want to see.
(12:17):
I want that's the guy that I want to promote.
And I tell them, you know, there's two things. Be prompt,
be on times. And that's why I told you within it.
Never target to a meet and never missed a practice.
I mean never. You don't swear, you don't be negative.
I had to pull him in the first quarter sometimes
because we'd be so far ahead and I'm not gonna
run it up on anybody. So but you think he
(12:39):
complained it right, No, he went down chair for the defense.
So that's the team player. I'm looking for the team aspect.
I'm looking for what you bring to the table, and
it's the body size is minute for me, but it
is for those guys that you as a recruiting coordinator
at UCLA, you told your don't bring me no six
(13:02):
foot linemen in here. You probably said that. I don't know,
I'm putting words in your mouth. Maybe you didn't, but
I they're looking for it. So you better give them
the height, you better give them the weight, you better
give them what they want to look for. But they've
got to go to my notes about it. What I
truly think. It may sound corny to you, man, but
that's no.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
I'm the same way. I have the same value system
that you do on a lot of that. And I
think you have to be successful in what we do
because you're putting your name on a kid, and you
got to know that he's not going to be what
some people call coach killers.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Our fires, right exactly? Hey, what's a what do you
put more value on length or strength? Let's get into
some of them body types. And by the way, I
wouldn't want a six foot unless he was a d tackle.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Let it go specifically, I you know, it's it's that's
why it started combines. You know, I want to get objective,
verified data. Back then it was the click click of
the stopwatch. Then it became the laser. And now guess
(14:20):
what Catapult Sports has brought to the table. Right now,
we're putting the GPS wearables on them, the pot in
the back, the satellite's reading it, and everybody that's subscribed
our service, and there all are now because there's two
things you come to us for. That's the portal and
you come to us for GPS wearables. So Catapult Sports
(14:41):
has those two things. And so we go through us.
And you've you've been by our booth at the convention
and you saw that, you see the action, you see
all the college coaches there. What's the latest where we are?
But right now it's the verified data that we're collecting
from and getting the CBS files and putting that out there.
(15:02):
Miles prow we're going to do away with hand. Hell,
we're gonna do away with laser. We're gonna it's gonna
become Miles Prour. And that's where we are right now.
We're we're looking at that. But I still haven't to
answer to your question on length, and we'll get back
to that.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Well, well, go ahead and do that. What do you
what do you like more? Would you rather have a
guy with some length or a guy maybe a shorter arm,
guy with strength and and you may take them both,
but but uh, if you could just you you walk
up and you're looking at a prospect and and you
(15:39):
see a guy with certain arm length and the body.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Type and see it.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, So so I'm just trying to get the old uh,
the old scout to say, what do I love when
I first see?
Speaker 3 (15:54):
All right? You know, one of my favorite under my comments,
one of my favorite things I love to put in
there is long lean running machine. You you get me
that long, lean running machine that is tireless and what
I like to call relentless in pursuit and on the trail.
(16:14):
Those I want that guy and boy, I saw it
the other night a prime example, this little Wall mc
crae down at Mainland down here. Oh my gosh, that
guy's long lean running machine that can go that way
and that way and no time ellapses. I mean that
(16:36):
he is sudden. So there's yes, I'm looking for that.
I'm looking for the length, I'm looking for long arms
and so forth. So I'm I'm I'm all over that,
and I love putting that in my comments.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
And then and then you have speed and quickness so feet, yes, uh,
it is an important part of the of Theusian. And
and then you gotta throw flexibility into it. If a
kid can bend, well yeah yeah, So go through how
you look at a kid and and and what happens
when you see a stiff kid, but he can run.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Oh my god, I love, I love. That's another one
of my favorite comments. He can bend and run. See you.
You and I are on the same page, same terminology,
same everything. So so you you get that guy that
can deliver the punch, control the blocker and disconnect and
(17:35):
accelerated the ball. Be it the quarterback, the running back, whatever,
that's the guy you want. You want the strong. You
gotta have the strong punch, you gotta have the strong hands.
You got to work to get your hands on the
inside on the breastplate. If you're an offensive lineman, you
you got to get the hands in the air to
control that defensive guy. Do a little holding. Don't get
(17:56):
caught on that. So but I'm telling you the strength,
the speed, the flexibility, those things we're looking about. I'll
give you another example. There's a lineman here in matter
of fact, his name's Thomas. How about that. I saw
them and Thomas at Rains here in Jacksonville, saw him
as a ninth grader. Coach, tell him, you got to
(18:19):
look at this guy. So I've watched him most intent,
paid attention to detail. He is now the most sought
after offensive lineman in North Florida are probably for I
mean he's he's a junior. You pull him up, you'll
see what I'm talking about. Saw coach. I was at
the trendy Catholic Rains game last week. As a matter
of fact, the off all the head coach could talk
(18:40):
about was that lineman and how he hard to block,
and I mean hard hard to get rid of because
he has got the flexibility, can Ben can move, got
the power, got the got the strength. So yeah, very
important in today's game.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Is there a fundamentals make a huge impact on you
compared to physical ability or talents?
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Oh boy boy, you asked good questions because I'm telling
you tell you that. And this is another thing I'd
like to put in. I like to put in good fundamentally,
good stands, good get off. You know, you know the
things along those lines when you see those account or
you see those are practors. You watch them in pregame
(19:28):
and you watch them in the game and you see
them executing those fundamentals very important. You got to be
fundamentally sound. You got to be fundamentally sound to be
able to play today and be successful.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I think, yeah. The the So here's where we're going
to go now. Now, now we're going to really get
into your your evaluation of what level a guy can play.
So what's the difference between in your mind an f
c S player and a power five FBS prospect. Where's
(20:06):
the difference?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
That's another given because it's there's a finite difference in
there because the size, the strength, all the things we're
talking about comes into the play there. But FBS to me,
(20:30):
and here's all the guys that work with me and
have worked with me for thirty years, they know if
I air on the level because I rate them all.
If I air, I'm on air one level up. So
if I'm an FCS guy, I want and we go
by point five. So no, where's the lower the number,
the better uh player? That one is? Im it? Okay?
(20:54):
So so the Lord, as we look at players, we
got to plug them in somewhere. And that's part of
what I love about what I do. And that's why
I love signing Day because I want to get verified
or he actually signs up because if we talk, we
(21:14):
can talk a whole lot about offers. Today is back
to when you used to make an offer. It was
a little legit offer that ain't what's happening today. So
we got we got to be able to get them
close and always be consistent so that one guy is
(21:35):
the producer, the two is power five. You know that
one is the elite guy. That's the national recruit. If
I've done my job, everybody in America will offer, not recruit,
will offer. That's a one. I have fifteen of them
in Florida in the twenty fourth class. I guarantee you
(21:57):
all fifteen will play on Sunday. No saying I'm right
or wrong. I'm just saying that's how much confidence I've
got because I've seen them all, evaluating them all, and
that's where they are. They all got it. So that's
that's hopefully I'll answer your question because that's that's a
really good question. Man.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I've been throwing some good ones at your coach, and
I know I know you can answer them. Because I
just want if anybody wants to get into this business
of scouting or is going to go scout for a
college team, and I believe this that what we do
is different than the guys who are evaluating for the
(22:39):
college program because they are only going to get five
or ten of those kids and we got to rate
them all. So there's a huge difference and the consequences
for them are much greater than maybe they are for
us as well. So yes, sure, getting your spurred opinion
(23:00):
on some of these detail things is what I really
wanted to get out of you, because of your because
of how I feel about your ability to do this.
And just as a last thing, coach, what's your advice
to kids to work on? What? What would you be
(23:22):
telling your son or your players to be working on
so that college coaches are going to want to recruit you?
Speaker 3 (23:32):
And I basically do that every day I I I
I like to praise them for the following things. I
like to praise them, and I do it. If I
hear a kid say yes sir or no, sir, he's
going to get it quickly for me. Keep saying that
(23:52):
because that will take you a long way. That's a
little small thing, but it is a big thing. I
want to know about the work ethic. I want to
know if he is, if he's willing to lift five
days a week, if he feels like that's important it
is to me as a head as a head football coach.
Back when I coached, there was two things I was
(24:14):
going to do more than anybody I coached against. I
was going to have. I was going to lift more weights.
So we lifted five days a week. I was going
to have At that time, we had to bust our
kids to Black Mountain to FCA huddle group. Now they're
in our own we all have our own huddle groups now.
But those are the two things. Those are important things
to me, and so we put a lot of time
(24:37):
and energy into that. But I want to know if
they're if they got the work ethic, if they have
the character, and it's it's tough. I understand that at
Escambia High School, only seven percent of my kids out
of biological mother and father at home. And guess who
one of those wives. That's him at Smith. So you
can see how that goes to that ninety other percent
(25:01):
me and that segment coach was his father figure. So
we take that real serious and we work real hard
on that. So but you got to know those things
too before you go making decisions on if you guys
got good character or not. You know, you got to know.
So we'll work real hard on that. But I that
hopefully that answers your question. Yes, what we're trying to do.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah, that's what I wanted to get. I knew you
would have a good answer for that. And you know,
it's been fun doing this. I learned something from you
every time I talk to you, and I think we've
all learned a lot from a definite guru of evaluating.
I'm calling you a guru coach, so I Coach Thomas,
(25:47):
I appreciate you being on the show. Thanks for joining
us on the up On Game Networks Taylor Scouting podcasts,
and folks, join us for more episodes of Taylor Scouting
on the upind Game Network. You can follow us on iHeartRadio,
Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you view your podcasts and on YouTube.
(26:08):
We're on up On Game Presents Taylor Scouting. So again,
appreciate you, coach for being on. And I want to
give our listeners one last thing after we say goodbye
to you, brother, have.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
A good day.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Thanks there yourself, man, you got it.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
So rate and review us, folks, and we will see
you on our next podcast. This airs on Fridays at
nine am on the up On Game Network and that
is Pacific time, folks. Thanks a lot
Host
LaVar Arrington
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