Road Warrior - St. Louis

I've been in this business for 14 years now and I've read about all those that have come before me and how they spent days and nights on the road talking to prospects and coaches. Give me a little elbow room, I'm now one of those guys.

I'm on the road more than I'm home and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm fortunate to be able to do what I absolutely love for a living.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a week in Southern Illinois and St. Louis. My week started at Edwardsville (Ill.) H.S., visiting with Coach Mark Bliss and seeing 2011 top prospect Rodney Coe and it ended in St. Louis at McCluer North H.S. visiting with legendary coach Jim Schottmueller.

I met some great coaches and great kids during the week. I found out that Gateway Tech (St. Louis) offensive coordinator, Jason Dulick, is a former wide receiver standout at Illinois. I found out that DeSmet is loaded with talent but also that head coach Pat Mahoney, is one of the best people I've met in the business.

DeSmet quarterback Steve Kaiser (pictured) is a an extremely talented signal caller and an outstanding get for SMU, however, Kaiser and his family will be making campus visits to Kansas and Colorado State.

St. Louis is arguably the best kept secret in the country. St. Louis kids, like the kids in Chicago are willing to leave the state at a drop of a hat. They are open to seeing every opportunity and talking to every coach who recruits them.

Why is St. Louis a hotbed? Within a 4-5 hour driving distance are Missouri, Kansas State, Kansas, Louisville, Cincinnati, Illinois, Purdue, Memphis, Indiana and few others. I visited  17 schools in the St. Louis area.

All film from St. Louis is now available for viewing to all NPN Clients. Log onto www.nationalprepnetwork.com.

King Kong Coe!

Edwardsville coach Mark Bliss has a hard time finding words for what kind of football player he has in Rodney Coe. The 6-3, 245-pound, athlete, yes athlete, will be one of the most sought after football players in the 2011 class.

Coe lettered as a freshman, he had a very good sophomore season and he's proving his worthy of all the accolades this season.

"Rodney is as good as they come," said Coach Bliss.

"He could be a tremendous tight-end at the next level. He could play defensive end because of his explosiveness and quickness off the edge and he can run (4.56) sideline-to-sideline if you play him at the MIKE BACKER position."

Illinois has already offered Coe and the Illini might have an inside track here because he wants to play running back at the next level.

"Rodney sees himself as a Brandon Jacobs type running back," said Charlie Coe, Rodney's grandfather, who also happens to be the head coach at Gateway High in St. Louis.

"He tells me all the time that he wants to play running back. I think he could be a Julius Peppers type defensive end in college."

Charlie Coe knows a little about football. He's spent time coaching under the likes of Johnny Majors and most recently under Lane Kiffin for the Oakland Raiders.

Rodney Coe in person is a physical specimen. You watch him work and you can't believe how light he is on his feet for his size. He just turned 16 and there are already boxes upon boxes of mail for him in Coach Bliss's office.

I was told by once by a very respected college coach that high school kids mature the most between their junior and senior years. When kids come back for their senior season, you might not even recognize them.

It's scary to think of what Rodney Coe is going to look like next season?? Looking at my list, there are several major D-1 prospects in the Class of 2011 in Illinois. Being down here in St. Louis this week has opened my eyes even more.

There are other talented skill athletes in the junior class at Edwardsville but the one getting the least pub has to be kicker Sam Fink (6-2, 170). Fink is a soccer player who kicks for the football team. He has a huge leg and showed me that he's worthy of a D-1 football scholarship. Fink is a 2011 grad.

Belleville East is loaded with talent and so is East St. Louis. Althoff Catholic has D-1 prospects and so does O'Fallon. The St. Louis (Southern Illinois) area is becoming a hot bed for recruiting.

Why? Because like Chicago, the kids in St. Louis will look out of state to go to school. All within a five hour drive you have Memphis, Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago and maybe a few more cities.

Other D-1 prospects at Edwardsville - -


WR/DB Andre Cleark - 6-1, 185 (2011)
WR/DB Reggie Box - 6-0, 175 (2011)
OL/DL Vincent Valentine - 6-4, 300 (2012)

NPN CLIENTS WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS EDWARDSVILLE FILM BY LOGGING INTO THEIR ACCOUNT. IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A NPN CLIENT, PLEASE CONTACT ME AT CHRIS@NATIONALPREPNETWORK.COM

Plenty of Under-Class Talent at H-F

Ok, I know I've been talking a lot about Homewood-Flossmoor lately in my blogs but hey, you have to go where the talent is and talent is at H-F. Ken Smith's Vikings are battling injuries this year and a murderous schedule but there's only 2 seniors in the starting line-up and one of the seniors is Tennessee verbal commitment Zach Fulton.

Yesterday, I gave you the 411 on Michael Rouse. The 6-4, 315-pound, OL/DL will be a top prospect in the Midwest in 2010. Here are a few more underclassmen to watch at Homewood-Flossmoor.

2011 - RB Malik Norman (Pictured) (5-8, 160). Norman isn't a fast but he's patient, shows good vision and burst to the hole. We'll have highlights cut on Norman this week and they'll be in the NPN database for our clients to watch.

2011 - RB Lantz Sims (5-8, 180) Shares the backfield with Norman and shows flashes of being a D-1 prospect. Worth taking a look.

2010 - QB Tim Davis (6-6, 195) Started as a sophomore and was lost to a broken thumb in week 3. Looked raw but there's some definite talent to work with. Should be a solid prospect in two years.

2010 - WR Gerald Butler (5-10, 170) Made some very nice plays in the two games I watched this year. Very good hands and not afraid to go over the middle and make the tough catch.

NPN CLIENTS CAN VIEW H-F FILM BY GOING TO THE WEBSITE WWW.NATIONALPREPNETWORK.COM. 

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Rouse Taking Advantage

Michael Rouse, a 6-4, 315-pound, OL/DL from Flossmoor, Ill., (Homewood-Flossmoor) is taking full advantage of having a teammate that's being sought after by all the college football powers in the South. Rouse will be one of the top 2011 prospects in the Land of Lincoln next season.

"It's going to be nice having a lot of coaches coming into our school this year to talk about Zach (Fulton) but the big benefactor of all of this will be Michael Rouse." said H-F coach Ken Smith.

"We'll get to show the coaches Michael's highlights and get him more exposure that he probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere else."

Rouse is definitely a load. I've seen H-F in person a couple of times this year and although he's far from a finished product, there's a lot of clay for a coach at the next level to work with. Michael comes from a great family, he works hard and wants to play at the highest level."

You can check out my YouTube channel to see a video of Rouse and don't forget to check out my twitter to see where I'm going and where I've been.

Schools interested in seeing Michael Rouse (2011), Zach Fulton (2010) and the rest of the talent at Homeood-Flossmoor, contact me at chris@nationalprepnetwork.com. NPN Clients can access H-F games by going to our website and using you login that was issued.

Check out vidoe of Michael Rouse and Zach Fulton by visitng my YouTube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/MidwestScout#play/uploads

Also make sure and bookmark and follow me on twitter. I'll be in St. Louis for the next five days looking at prospects and talking to coaches.

http://twitter.com/Chris_Pool

Illinois Lineman Taking Visits

Homewood-Flossmoor interior lineman Zach Fulton (6-5, 325) is verbally committed to Tennessee but he has told Lane Kiffin that he's going to open things up and take some visits. "Coach Kiffin was completely understanding when I told him that I wanted to check out other schools to make sure Tennessee was the best fit for me," Fulton said.

"I'm still verbally committed to Tennessee but I'm going to visit Florida at the end of November. Miami and LSU have really come on strong as well."

Homewood-Flossmoor is 0-5 this season and have been riddled with injuries. Zach Fulton however has been one of the very few bright spots for the Vikings. I was at H-F's game last night and Fulton graded out excellent. Zach has a bright future for whichever school he ends up signing with in February.

I spoke with Zach's father after the game.

"We're still with Tennessee," Glen Fulton said. "I really liked the way they competed with Florida last Saturday and I feel the coaches have it going in the right direction down there. Florida is calling every week and so has Miami and LSU.

"We'll take a few visits. You only have one chance to make the right decision. We want to make sure that we dot all the i's and cross all the t's."

Zach Fulton's older brother, Xavier Fulton, is a rookie offensive lineman with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Check out Zach Fulton coming onto the field for warm-ups last night at Homewood-Flossmoor by clicking my YouTube link below.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/MidwestScout

Naperville Central 2011 Prospect

Hayden Daniels, a 6-4, 185-pound, wide receiver, from Naperville (Ill.) Central, will be one of the top prospects in the 2011 class. I had the chance to see Daniels in action against a talented Waubonsie Valley squad and came away very impressed.

Daniels, the younger brother of Houston Texans tight end, Owen Daniels, has the same kind of athletic ability as big brother. Hayden runs good routes, uses his body well when fighting for the ball and has very good hands and leaping ability.

There will be several schools trying to get Daniels to their one-day camps next summer.

The National Prep Network is the nation's largest on-line, on-demand, video and highlight scouring service.

NPN Clients wishing to see Hayden Daniels in action, can log on the website at www.nationalprepnetwork.com. Those schools interested in becoming an NPN client can contact me at chris@nationalprepnetwork.com

Huskers - Badgers Make Strong Moves!

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I've spoken about the dynamic-duo in Illinois of DaVaris Daniels and Evan Spencer. Both are 2011 grads from Vernon Hills, Ill., both will be 4-5 star recruits in 2010 and both are probably among the Top 10 prospects in Illinois this year.

Daniels and Spencer are best friends, live next door to each other and they are now talking about attending the same college together. On Sept. 1, the first day that schools can offer junior prospects, one school offered both and now another has thrown their hat in the ring.

Nebraska has mailed offers to both DaVaris and Evan and just this past week, Wisconsin recruiting coordinator Randall McCray told the Dynamic-Duo that they have a home in Madison if they want to be Badgers.

The Huskers and Badgers take an early lead at this point and I have found out that both will be in Madison this coming weekend to watch Wisconsin go head-to-head with Fresno State.

Illinois and Miami are the other schools that have offered DaVaris Daniels a scholarship.

Those schools that are clients of NPN can view 2009 film of DaVaris Daniels and Evan Spencer on-line at www.nationalprepnetwork.com. Those schools interested in becoming an NPN client, feel free to contact me at chris@national prep network.com