Thought some of you folks might find this interesting . jim
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FOOTBALL: New team is serious business for IMG Academy
Program will now feature two teams with 60-player rosters
BRADENTON
Starting next season, IMG Academy will field two football teams.
Or, to be more specific, two varsity football teams.
Yet according to head football coach Kevin Wright, don’t expect one to get a whole lot more love than the other.
Sure, the Wright-coached Blue team will play a stacked slate of opponents from across the country as IMG will once again try for a national championship. Meanwhile, the newly minted White team won’t leave or match up with anyone outside of Florida.
To wit: The White team will make its debut Aug. 25 at home against Brooksville Nature Coast. The following day, Wright and the Blue team head out to Arizona to play Chandler High, which won a Class 6A state title last year and beat Georgia’s Valdosta High in the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series.
But that’s where the differences end.
“You don’t invest the time and resources into what we’re trying to do,” Wright said Tuesday, “unless you’re all in on both teams.”
The idea, according to Wright, was born out of necessity. IMG expects roughly 120 players to populate its program next season — last year’s roster topped out at 95 — and Wright wanted to give more guys an opportunity to play but didn’t want to add a junior varsity team in order to do it.
“When I was coaching in Indianapolis, we had over 200 kids. The issue always was, how do you give varsity and junior varsity kids an equal opportunity,” Wright said. “Then you get here in Florida, and there isn’t much of an emphasis put on the JV teams. If you get eight games, that’s a good schedule because of the ways the rules are structured.”
So Wright decided to split the program up into two 60-man teams. Kenneth Stills, who played in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, and who has been coaching IMG’s running backs and defensive backs, has been tapped as the head coach of the White team.
“Having multiple varsity teams is something IMG Academy has done with team sports for years,” Stills said in a statement, “and it has been an effective approach to give student-athletes a way to maximize their development and garner more positive collegiate exposure. Now every player in our program will get that Friday night varsity experience, something that we feel is special and unique in the sport.”
To do so, IMG had to add six additional coaches, and, as Wright said, “two of everything” in order to meet each team’s needs.
The rosters for the Blue and White team won’t change much from week, Wright said, and will be constructed out of the 120 kids in the program.
“There’s the potential to be fluid,” he said. “But the same time, you don’t want to take away from one team to help the other. Like in every program, there are probably going to be six to eight kids that can play for one team or the other.
“Let’s say we have 12 wide receivers. Well, the last six probably aren’t going to play much. Now, you have six guys on each team, and we go three wide most of the time. So now we can rotate more kids in, and give more kids the varsity experience and prepare them to play a varsity game.”
When looking for opponents for the White team, IMG, which is an independent member of the Florida High School Athletic Association, was hoping to craft a schedule of mostly Class 3A and 4A teams. The timing couldn’t have been better with the FHSAA’s new playoff format kicking off in the fall, those schools no longer compete in districts and can fill out their schedules with anyone they want.
So the White team will play a full schedule against schools such as Key West High, Tampa Berkeley Prep and Ocala Trinity Catholic. IMG will also play a Manatee County school for the first time when the White team heads to Saint Stephen’s on Sept. 1. The Blue team will also play an area team when it heads to Venice on Oct. 6.
J.T. Musso, IMG’s assistant athletics director, reached out to Falcons coach Tod Creneti about the White team possibly joining the independent Sunshine State Athletic Conference, which includes Bradenton Christian and Out-of-Door Academy.
“As we were talking, I told him right away we’d be interested in playing them,” said Creneti, whose team won the SSAC state title last year. “I think it will be a good game for the community, and we feel like we have a good team coming back. And we’re always up for a game against a quality opponent.”
Creneti is also a board member for the SSAC and said this year will give the conference a good idea about whether IMG will make a good fit. Aside from Saint Stephen’s, the White team will also play in a SSAC bowl game at the end of the season.
“We’re always open to growth and expansion,” Creneti said. “They’re going to play some of our schools next year, and there is no better way to evaluate a team than seeing how they perform on a Friday under the lights.”
The White team will prepare like a regular varsity team, Wright said, doing everything from breaking down film to conducting meetings.
“The reality is, we’ve gained kids,” Wright said. “We want everybody to have a great experience.”
_______________________________________________
FOOTBALL: New team is serious business for IMG Academy
Program will now feature two teams with 60-player rosters
BRADENTON
Starting next season, IMG Academy will field two football teams.
Or, to be more specific, two varsity football teams.
Yet according to head football coach Kevin Wright, don’t expect one to get a whole lot more love than the other.
Sure, the Wright-coached Blue team will play a stacked slate of opponents from across the country as IMG will once again try for a national championship. Meanwhile, the newly minted White team won’t leave or match up with anyone outside of Florida.
To wit: The White team will make its debut Aug. 25 at home against Brooksville Nature Coast. The following day, Wright and the Blue team head out to Arizona to play Chandler High, which won a Class 6A state title last year and beat Georgia’s Valdosta High in the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series.
But that’s where the differences end.
“You don’t invest the time and resources into what we’re trying to do,” Wright said Tuesday, “unless you’re all in on both teams.”
The idea, according to Wright, was born out of necessity. IMG expects roughly 120 players to populate its program next season — last year’s roster topped out at 95 — and Wright wanted to give more guys an opportunity to play but didn’t want to add a junior varsity team in order to do it.
“When I was coaching in Indianapolis, we had over 200 kids. The issue always was, how do you give varsity and junior varsity kids an equal opportunity,” Wright said. “Then you get here in Florida, and there isn’t much of an emphasis put on the JV teams. If you get eight games, that’s a good schedule because of the ways the rules are structured.”
So Wright decided to split the program up into two 60-man teams. Kenneth Stills, who played in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, and who has been coaching IMG’s running backs and defensive backs, has been tapped as the head coach of the White team.
“Having multiple varsity teams is something IMG Academy has done with team sports for years,” Stills said in a statement, “and it has been an effective approach to give student-athletes a way to maximize their development and garner more positive collegiate exposure. Now every player in our program will get that Friday night varsity experience, something that we feel is special and unique in the sport.”
To do so, IMG had to add six additional coaches, and, as Wright said, “two of everything” in order to meet each team’s needs.
The rosters for the Blue and White team won’t change much from week, Wright said, and will be constructed out of the 120 kids in the program.
“There’s the potential to be fluid,” he said. “But the same time, you don’t want to take away from one team to help the other. Like in every program, there are probably going to be six to eight kids that can play for one team or the other.
“Let’s say we have 12 wide receivers. Well, the last six probably aren’t going to play much. Now, you have six guys on each team, and we go three wide most of the time. So now we can rotate more kids in, and give more kids the varsity experience and prepare them to play a varsity game.”
When looking for opponents for the White team, IMG, which is an independent member of the Florida High School Athletic Association, was hoping to craft a schedule of mostly Class 3A and 4A teams. The timing couldn’t have been better with the FHSAA’s new playoff format kicking off in the fall, those schools no longer compete in districts and can fill out their schedules with anyone they want.
So the White team will play a full schedule against schools such as Key West High, Tampa Berkeley Prep and Ocala Trinity Catholic. IMG will also play a Manatee County school for the first time when the White team heads to Saint Stephen’s on Sept. 1. The Blue team will also play an area team when it heads to Venice on Oct. 6.
J.T. Musso, IMG’s assistant athletics director, reached out to Falcons coach Tod Creneti about the White team possibly joining the independent Sunshine State Athletic Conference, which includes Bradenton Christian and Out-of-Door Academy.
“As we were talking, I told him right away we’d be interested in playing them,” said Creneti, whose team won the SSAC state title last year. “I think it will be a good game for the community, and we feel like we have a good team coming back. And we’re always up for a game against a quality opponent.”
Creneti is also a board member for the SSAC and said this year will give the conference a good idea about whether IMG will make a good fit. Aside from Saint Stephen’s, the White team will also play in a SSAC bowl game at the end of the season.
“We’re always open to growth and expansion,” Creneti said. “They’re going to play some of our schools next year, and there is no better way to evaluate a team than seeing how they perform on a Friday under the lights.”
The White team will prepare like a regular varsity team, Wright said, doing everything from breaking down film to conducting meetings.
“The reality is, we’ve gained kids,” Wright said. “We want everybody to have a great experience.”
