You know that when you come to an event (BCP or otherwise) at the end of June, the heat is already waiting on you to show up. The players that attended today’s E7 Executive event at Larry Sanders Park evidently decided to bring extra heat just in case the 102-degrees present at the end of the day was not enough. And by heat, we mean skills, upon skills, and competition as intense as Mother Nature’s beef with thermometers.

The day got started with the coaches taking the players through their paces in warm-ups, then on to the various challenges that were setup such as the 40yd, the tire-flip, and the med-ball. Players were then separated into individuals where the coaches were able to spend their time and raise the bar with zero tolerance established for mediocrity.

Once Keith Newman and Derrick Brooks were able to start working with their LB’s, things started clicking for guys like Jaye Miner from Wiregrass Ranch and Deran Baker from Chamberlain. Once they began to truly “sweat” the inches in their cuts and angles to the ball and in-coverage, it was amazing to see the difference. The MVP of this group was Gaither’s Decalon Brooks and with credit going to where credit is due; to the young man himself. Brooks is a member of the Class of 2017, which means you’ve got plenty of time to see what was showcased this afternoon. Wearing a jersey with the #55 on it, the hips, eyes, and feet were all in concert and blessed with what appears to be an eerily similar instinct as the man, who many of my generation grew up watching and idolizing.

Coach Bennett was not going to accept the heat slowing the thinking-process down with the field generals themselves, and was on their cases early and often in the morning. Once they too started taking care of the little things such as cutting out the wasted movement in the feet, the proper protection of the ball on the slide-step then getting the precise depth on the rollout, guys like Isaiah McIntyre from Bloomingdale and Shane Bucenell from Wiregrass Ranch were able to show touch AND some serious arm strength. The MVP of this group was Hillsborough’s Dwayne Lawson, but it was pretty clear from top to bottom that everyone of them were making things happen and that’s all you want on a day like this. Alonso’s Chris Oladokun continued his phenomenal summer as well.

Coach Bryant had some fun to say the least. From the Wide Receivers and Tight Ends the MVP’s were Berkeley Prep’s Jacob Mathis and Nature Coast Tech’s Dallas Maclachlan respectively. The two used their huge frames all day to manipulate DB’s into “right-where-they-want-‘em” territory and showed why they figure to be major components to their programs’ offensive schemes come this fall. Other guys that gave them a run for their money were Largo’s Reggie Campbell and Weeki Wachee’s Dayonta Patterson.

Now on to the guys assigned to cover the aforementioned ballers. The safeties and cornerbacks that were in the hands of Coach Williams nearly gave him a meltdown (no pun intended) on the field from having to choose just one. From East Bay’s Chris Angulo, to Gaither’s Nate Ferguson, along with the pair of 2017’s from Tampa Catholic in Bentlee Sanders and Devan Barrett and even throw Plant City’s Reaquavious Young into the mix and it’s a QB/WR’s nightmare. There were two guys that stood out from the rest however and it was Tampa Bay Tech’s Marchelo Judge and Wharton’s V’Onte Williams. These two were simply on another level than the rest this afternoon.

That leaves us the RB’s on the offensive side and the big fellas in the trenches. Since the hawgs up front never get the love they deserve, let’s start with the guys on the offense. Coach Keith Williams had his hands full as well and with a tough group to choose from and a diverse group in terms of skill-sets. Spoto’s Jesse Holmes took the honors on the day showcasing break-neck speed in 1v1’s along with the quickest set of feet and sticky hands. Weeki Wachee’s Shawn O’Gorman definitely got some work in as the safety valve in 7-on-7’s for Garrison Bryant & Holden Hotchkiss, showing good hands and quick feet to pair with vision. Newsome’s Bruce Anderson was also showing his combination of size and speed giving the Wolves Fans’ a ton of optimism for their vaunted wing-t attack and you can add Zephyrhills’ Jalen Pickett to that as well.

Last, but not least; the big uglies. The big boys. The call-me-what-you-want-just-don’t-call-me-late-for-dinner-boys. The MVP’s of this group come from the same team and that would be Class of 2016 OL Baveon Johnson and Class of 2015 DL Reuben Jones from Lake Gibson. Johnson had coaches reminding them of a young Isaiah Wynn before he became a BCS-bound player and Jones was simply going to hurt any and everyone in his way whether it was during individuals or when he attacked the poor monster-truck tire flipping it 21 times. Other guys from the group showing their executive statuses were justified were Nature Coast’s Christian Pellage and Freedom’s Scott Patchan along with St. Petersburg’s Sean Kennedy and Weeki Wachee’s Israel Cardona.

– Doug Pugh