704 Media Day Review: Afternoon Session

<p>The 704 Media Day, with 18 schools in attendance, was recently held at Harding University High School in Charlotte, NC. In the afternoon session, six schools attended the Media Day and answered questions & took pictures with local media in attendance. We'll share some of what was said from these teams in attendance. All player interviews can be found on my Twitter profile <a href="https://x.com/pepman704/media">https://x.com/pepman704/media</a> .</p>   <p><strong>Providence Day Chargers </strong></p>   <p>As expected, the Chargers were a big draw on Media Day, bringing some well-known players to discuss their prospects for the upcoming season. Head Coach Chad Grier really wanted to talk about his players, as he is very impressed with their leadership and how they are off the field as people also. Coach Grier feels like they have the talent to be an elite team nationally, and that they try to schedule tough every season to compete at the highest level possible. Coming with Coach Grier to Media Day were LB [player_tooltip player_id='896158' first='Quintin' last='McCray'], who shared a great story on his road to play college football at Richmond. QB [player_tooltip player_id='896157' first='Zaid' last='Lott'] also joined Coach Grier at Media Day, and shared why he committed to play at Syracuse, and Coach Grier is very high on how well he will play this season. Finally, DL [player_tooltip player_id='1029786' first='Griff' last='Galloway'] joined Coach Grier at Media Day, and he has several Division 1 offers. Check out what Coach Grier had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/-sAoOTfpI74?si=kTpDWommi2P-Plmi </div></figure>   <p><strong>Olympic Trojans </strong></p>   <p>The Olympic Trojans were literally the last team left at Media Day, but they were worth the wait as they were a fun group to talk to. Head Coach Brandon Thompson talked about how he has shaped the Trojans into a consistent winning program in his tenure at the school. Coach Thompson talked about how they did some different training in the offseason to become more explosive on the field. The three players Coach Thompson brought to Media Day have been starters since being sophomores on the defensive side of the ball, which are linebacker Bryce Nixon, linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1909800' first='Zahir' last='Smith'], and defensive back Shaun Hartzog. Check out what Coach Thompson had to share in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1953904807254929657 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Berry Cardinals </strong></p>   <p>The Berry Cardinals are a unique school in Charlotte, in that they do not have a home attendance zone, and they can pull kids from anywhere in Mecklenburg County, being a full magnet school. It is a double-edged sword, though, because players can leave and immediately play for their home school. Yet, anyone wanting to transfer to Berry must sit out a full year before playing. You can imagine the challenge that makes in building a program, but Head Coach Darius Robinson has done a good job in retaining some impact players, like DB/LB [player_tooltip player_id='1671090' first='Miles' last='Smith'], who will be a leader for the Cardinals and has received some offers to play college football. Joining Coach Robinson and Smith at the Media Day were ATH Elijah Britt, OL/DL Daylyn Taylor, & DB Marquis McNair. Check out what Coach Robinson had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1953852437543989273 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Concord Spiders </strong></p>   <p>In my preview of Cabarrus County, I picked the Spiders to finish in the top half of the county, and in talking to Head Coach Darren Shepherd, their expectations are to be better than they were last year. Coach Shepherd has a strong belief in analytics to analyze the success of his program, and he said that they had over 80 percent participation in their offseason program, which is something they are very proud of. One of their major goals this season is to make the playoffs after barely missing getting in over the last three years. The three players Coach Shepherd brought to Media Day did very well in their offseason point system and earned the right to attend Media Day. Those players were OL/DL Alex Williams, DL Sam Harrington, and DB/RB Elijah Williams. Check out what Coach Shepherd had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1953893988852813900 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Country Day Buccaneers</strong></p>   <p>A program on the rise, the Buccaneers have a good mix of players who have been with them for the last couple of years and some exciting young talent that has some high rankings from a recruiting perspective. That was on display here at this Media Day, where Coach Witman brought four players who are all talented, but looked at very differently from a college recruiting perspective. In Coach Witman's interview, he said that one thing he likes about his team - that even though some of his older players aren't as highly recruited, the young players respect the older players and everyone works just as hard, no matter what their recruiting status might be. Coming with Coach Witman to Media Day were DB [player_tooltip player_id='1604320' first='Mac' last='Summerville'], LB [player_tooltip player_id='1607761' first='Bobby' last='Wakefield'], DB [player_tooltip player_id='1259782' first='Nate' last='Dollard'], and WR [player_tooltip player_id='651159' first='Braylon' last='Clark']. Check out what Coach Witman had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1953846271204118548 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Mountain Island Raptors </strong></p>   <p>Head Coach Robert Washington surprised me by saying that his team did not touch a football in offseason workouts until July, and the basis for that was what they faced when they were eliminated in the 2nd round of the playoffs last season. Coach Washington thought his team needed to be much stronger to go deeper in the playoffs, so that was a major focus for them. Coach Washington believes his team's speed is a strength, as a good number of his players participate in track in the offseason. Coach Washington is also proud of the fact that they build their players through the middle school program into starting players on Varsity. Coming with Coach Washington to Media Day are OL Aidan Bornhauser, DL [player_tooltip player_id='1717339' first='Jason' last='Eaton'], and RB [player_tooltip player_id='1334109' first='Aamir' last='Gilcreast']. Check out what Coach Washington had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1953878523535376883 </div></figure>

The 704 Media Day, with 18 schools in attendance, was recently held at Harding University High School in Charlotte, NC. In the afternoon session, six schools attended the Media Day and answered questions & took pictures with local media in attendance. We'll share some of what was said from these teams in attendance. All player interviews can be found on my Twitter profile https://x.com/pepman704/media .