Quartet of Dragons sign letters of intent
Southlake Carroll head football coach Hal Wasson wasn’t telling tall tales about his 2016 offensive line. This group was big. It was strong. These five could move. They would be counted on to lead Carroll to another successful season.
And three of them are going to be playing Division I college football at the Power 5 level. The latest was this past Sunday when center Ryan Miller changed his commitment from the United States Naval Academy to Baylor. It finished what was a wild week for Miller. A week ago, he had just committed to Navy. He is expected to play center for the Bears.
“To me, [Baylor head coach Matt Rhule’s] message about what they were going to be was really impressive,” Miller said. “They were there to fix what happened and be the example. It spoke volumes. Some coaches say something just to say something. But you could feel his passion. You go to other schools and see all the gear. With Baylor, it was genuine.”
On National Signing Day 2017 (Wednesday), Miller (6-2, 280) will be signing his letter of intent along with fellow offensive linemen Henry Klinge (Baylor) and Carson Green (Texas A&M). Safety Robert Barnes, a national recruit, is signing with Oklahoma.
Colleyville Heritage will have only quarterback Cam Roane signing with San Diego State. Grapevine is not expected to have any Division I signees. Regardless, that’s a pretty healthy Division I collection on this side of Northeast Tarrant County.
Throughout the 2016 offseason and spring football season, Wasson made it clear that his offensive line was going to be the crux of the offense. Miller, who played offensive tackle his sophomore year and then switched to the defensive line his junior year, was asked to move to center in 2016.
The move presented few problems. Wasson credits his coaching staff led by offensive line coach Zac Bryant to enhancing the techniques and fundamentals to get his players to handle the objectives. As Miller said, “Bryan knows what it takes to win.” Carroll had an impressive running game, won the Disrict 5-6A championship and finished the season 10-2 after falling to eventual Class 6A Division II state champion DeSoto in the area round.
“We felt like our offensive line was going to be our strength and that proved to be the case,” Wasson said. “They did a great job throughout the season. They were leading us in so many areas including work ethic and handling every assignment. They passed that down to our younger players. I’m really proud for our linemen with their opportunities.”
Of course, Baylor has been through a tumultuous last seven months regarding a sexual assault scandal that resulted in the firing of head coach Art Briles, the resignation of athletic director Ian McCaw along with president Kenneth Starr’s resignation, and several lawsuits.
Miller said Rhule addressed that situation with him and the other recruits who visited this past weekend.
“They talked about things,” Miller said. “He said they weren’t going to hide the problems. There were some horrible things that happened. The reason he was there was to fix the issue and to bring kids to the team who would be leaders on the field and academically.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2017 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Quartet of Dragons sign letters of intent."