Brandon’s Dakota Trice is a player that has been nothing short of rock-solid in his two years on varsity with the Eagles. From a production standpoint, he’s accumulated 235 tackles in two seasons–which is the very definition of a productive player–but it’s his buying-in to what his coaches preach and becoming a selfless player that’s also helped him become a better teammate helping him earn that rock-solid characterization as well.

The Eagles as a program are in the midst of a two-year stretch that has seen them go 16-6 as a team under Head Coach Dean Eychner following his first two season in which the Eagles were just 4-16. The last time Brandon won this many games over a two-year period was the 1985 and ’86 seasons posting a 19-5 record. Of course, the Eagles were one of the most dominant programs during the 80’s in Hillsborough County going 54-22 from 1981-87, but Brandon’s turnaround isn’t about reestablishing a dominance such as the one just mentioned–it’s about establishing a philosophy now that will hopefully carry them further down the road beyond the football field.

On his first season of varsity as a sophomore, Trice totaled 105 tackles–51 solo–putting him at #115 per maxpreps.com in Florida in terms of production. Following this season, Trice was good for an astounding 130 tackles with a vastly improved solo-to-assist ratio with 72. Trice even added two interceptions, three passes defensed and a caused fumble to his numbers. But with those tackles, he landed at #29 following this season–putting him on plenty of radars when you consider he’s adding muscle weight to his 5-11/213-pound frame since being in the gym is literally is only hobby.

What happened (if anything) between his sophomore and his junior season in terms of the skyrocketing production? The skeptic can easily point to many things with numbers that high–but those same skeptics would be better suited at being court jesters when you watch his film. Trice’s body control is superb. He’s technically sound with great hips and knows how to hit someone–and hit them hard. Trice’s answer to the question posted about the “secret ingredient” from his sophomore to junior season was simple.

“I just did what our coaches preached in practice and in games about doing MY job and when everyone else does their jobs on the defense, it makes it pretty easy.” said Trice.

That’s where the philosophy that we mentioned earlier comes into play. The players at Brandon could have easily folded following those two seasons under Coach Eychner–but they didn’t. the coaching staff stayed on-point with their message and eventually the kids bought into it. Although Trice’s comments may seem like they’re centered around him specifically–you’d be mistaken if you didn’t think there’s plenty more players on that roster that feel exactly how Trice feels about his coach–and that’s where the results show the most.

“I feel like it’s the mindset that Coach Eychner is instilling in the program.” said Trice. “He preaches toughness and accountability and everyone’s buying into the program–I love Coach Eychner. There’s not a thing I don’t trust him with. Whatever he tells us to do, I trust him–because I know he’s making the best decision possible for the team no matter what it is and he’s always honest with you–gives it to you real.”

Brandon’s been at this-here-football-thing since 1944, making them one of the oldest programs in the county. That also means there’s something more to Brandon than football in terms of tradition–even though we shouldn’t kid ourselves that having a successful program hurts, either. We all know that Brandon’s one of “those programs” that when they’re relevant, things seem to be somewhat right with the world. Trice literally lives that tradition everyday and isn’t the first member of his family to attend the school. “I love the tradition of Brandon–it goes way back–my dad went to Brandon–I live across the street and I just love the whole hometown tradition of Brandon.”

Trice’s love for the game and the position aren’t complicated. He loves playing the spot because of the people around him as much as loves it for his own enjoyment of squaring up and hitting someone specifically. He also knows that with his added weight in muscle comes with added work on speed and agility–which is kinda important for someone playing his position. Things that he addresses.

“I love playing linebacker because the defense that Coach Eychner has us in makes it fun–you can send your own blitzes and playing the position is easy though when everyone’s doing their job and playing together—from sophomore to junior year I was working on just trying to be a better teammate and just do what I can to help the guy next to me because that’s what we all feed off–the whole defense benefits from it. My biggest goal this offseason was to get some more size on me–I’m up to about 213 (pounds) right now, but also working on keeping my speed in terms of agility–keeping a fast 5-10-5 time–just working on my physical appearance altogether I’d say.”

So with all of this production on the field comes (wanted) attention. You want to know something Trice doesn’t have to worry about? Being eligible. He currently carries a 3.8 weighted GPA with four AP classes and knocked his ACT out like an opposing ball carrier with a 26 on that standardized test. He has a super-eclectic group of schools with interest and recently visited the hometown Bulls for their Junior Day. In addition, he’ll be at Princeton and Stetson in April for their respective junior days as well as gaining an invite from NC State.

Specifically addressing USF’s Junior Day, Trice had this to say along with an update about who will be dropping by during his spring practice in May. “I liked it a lot. I really liked the coaching staff a lot–it seemed like they all had great personalities and treated everyone really well–plus everything they said made a lot of sense to me–they don’t recruit the 6-3/6-4 in particular, they just look for football players. I know Lafayette is coming to see me in May as well and so is Marshall–NC State invited me to their junior day as well–and Wyoming–they’re also coming to see me during spring practice in May.”

Trice will be at BCP’s E7 event in Lakeland on April 10th at Southeastern University as well.