Editor's note: No football player in the Augusta area has ever had more scholarship offers as a junior than North Augusta wide receiver/safety C.J. Byrd.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
|
Have a thought?
Go to the Forums or Chat.
|
|
|
|
|
BYRD's BIO
Positions: WR/FS
Ht: 6-3
Wt: 184
40-yard dash: 4.5
GPA: 3.1, 880 SAT
School: North Augusta (South Carolina Class AAAA)
2003 stats: Led North Augusta with 92 tackles, also caught 37 passes for 536 yards and returned a pair of kickoffs for 100-yard touchdowns.
Favorite Quote: "I can do all things through He who strengthens me." Phillipians 4:13.
Special
|
|
He earned the nickname "Big Byrd" early in his junior recruiting period due to his tall frame and pleasant personality. He will be one of the top football recruits in America this fall and has 31 scholarship offers.
North Augusta wrapped up its spring practice last week and will hold its annual spring scrimmage on Tuesday. C.J. will share his thoughts over his recruitment and final season with the Yellow Jackets this summer and fall in a diary. Today is the second installment of that ongoing series.
Now that our spring practice at North Augusta is about finished, it will be time to get back on the road and visit colleges.
Spring practice was everything and more that we expected. We got to practice in the stadium because of scouts and fans, and it was fun to practice in front of a small crowd as opposed to no one being there. Our team has a lot of hard work to do over the summer, but our coaches feel like we have a chance to be good next year. They feel like we are a few players away from being a very competitive team. Our coaches are really concerned about the quarterback position. We have players in our program that have the talent and raw ability to fill QB and other positions, we just need to put in the time and hard work over the summer to improve.
Everybody was excited to see the college coaches come through this spring. On the first day, three assistants from the University of Georgia were there, along with the recruiting coordinators from South Carolina and Georgia Tech. Clemson's Tommy Bowden stopped by last week, and there were a lot of Clemson fans from North Augusta following him around.
As you know, under NCAA rules, you can't talk to them during this time of year. But you know they are there. You see them and they see you. My family and I will soon start making unofficial visits to colleges again. When you are on their campus, you can talk to the coaches and players. That is probably the best thing about recruiting: seeing a lot of different places and meeting a bunch of new people.
I've already had some memorable experiences in my visits over the last two months:
l At Clemson, my dad got to talk X's and O's with Coach Bowden and I got to see (former North Augusta standout) Reggie Merriweather go through drills at tailback. We all thought it was funny when the Clemson assistants chanted "Big Byrd" a few times.
l At Georgia, we got to spend a lot of one-on-one time with coach (Mark) Richt. We got to Athens late that day and also left late. When we were walking out of the athletic building, we saw David Pollack. The rest of the players had taken off hours before, but Pollack was there all by himself working out with weights. He took a break to talk with us.
I've always admired David because of what he stands for: His spiritual life is very important to him, and he's not afraid to show it even though he is an All-American football player.
l At Auburn, the coaches presented me with a scholarship letter on the field. ... at South Carolina, I got to listen to coach (Lou) Holtz. ... at Tennessee, coach (Phil) Fulmer was late for his daughter's softball game so he could welcome us. ... at Florida, I got to hang out with Chris Leak. He's not as tall as he looks on TV, but he is definitely more muscular in person. He has a great arm and throws perfect spiral after spiral like a machine.
From now until the beginning of preseason workouts, my family and I plan to continue visiting as many schools as possible. We hope to do that so we can narrow down to five or 10 schools by the end of the summer.
