Fort Worth school celebrates a record for football signings
National Signing Day is Wednesday, and for one area school, the numbers are staggering.
A school-record nine football players at Fort Worth South Hills High School will sign college scholarship letters of intent. South Hills had one player sign each of the past two years and seven in the past 10.
Coach J.J. Resendez attributes the work in the classroom to this year’s success.
“It’s a product of the culture,” he said. “We have to credit academics and in the classroom, they make sure the kids are serious about the grades as freshmen at the time they get on campus.”
Leading the bunch are twins Tracin and Tylan Wallace, who will sign their national letters of intent with Oklahoma State. Another FBS recruit, Calvin Clater, is going to Bowling Green.
“It’s the validation of the work they put in on and off the field,” Resendez said. “These days I feel like a proud papa. I hate to see them go, but I’m proud of the boys.”
To see them take the next step, it’s going to be a great occasion on Feb. 1 to stand there and take photos when they’re signing. There’s no greater feeling to watch kids that you’ve coached for so long, grow into young men, and to further their academic and athletic career.
Coach J.J. Resendez
Lisa Langston, a Fort Worth school district athletic director, has been with the district for 27 years, 22 of them in the athletic department. She knows firsthand how hard it is to get to this point.
“It’s hard work, but they always focus on getting better because when one gets better, it makes the team better,” said Langston, who played basketball and was a member of the track team at Texas A&M. “We saw that with South Hills, with nine kids signing, how they produced on the field. Not one person can make a football program, we see it spread out.”
Langston also spoke about the academic side of signing day.
“Obviously the kids are committed and put in the hard work not just in the weight room or on the field, but in the classroom. It starts with the leader of the programs and Coach Resendez and his staff work hard to make sure the kids are prepared,” she said. “We want to change the culture, going toward all our sports programs at every school and make that the norm.”
Other Scorpions signing on Wednesday: Johnny Garcia and Sergio Albarran (Texas Wesleyan), James Blue (Trinity Valley Community College), Camerion Pumphrey (Southeastern Oklahoma State), Romello Jackson (Missouri Southern State) and District 7-5A MVP Kyran Jackson (Sam Houston State).
As of Monday, 17 football players from Fort Worth school district schools were expected to sign letters of intent.
“Lot of talent in Fort Worth,” Resendez said. “It’s great to finally see academics pushed seriously and to see Fort Worth on the map.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Fort Worth school celebrates a record for football signings."