Starkville Academy coach Jeff Terrill doesn’t totally understand the need for recent rule changes enacted by the Mississippi Association of Community College and Junior College presidents.
One thing Terrill knows is he doesn’t like the changes.
Beginning with the 2012-13 school year, the 14 football-playing MACJC institutions no longer will have recruiting districts or protection lists for in-district players. In addition, out-of-state scholarships will be reduced from eight to four.
“I am the coach at Starkville Academy,” said Terrill, whose squad is one of four finalists for the MAIS Class AAA, Division II state championship. “East Mississippi is our home school. We are having success. They are having success. It is a natural fit that our kids have the opportunity to play there.
“I may not have the caliber of athlete that Columbus High or West Point High has. However, my kids deserve the opportunity to play. Now, the EMCC coaches won’t be coming here. They will be on the coast or in Jackson trying to sign the best players they can.
“I don’t blame them. I would do the same. However, this is a sad day. I don’t understand the need for change. I really don’t.”
West Point coach Chris Chambless also doesn’t agree with what the MACJC is trying to accomplish. This season, four former members of the Green Wave are on the undefeated and third-ranked East Mississippi Community College football team.
“I have already seen a bunch of changes in the last month,” Chambless said. “It is a shame, too. My coaches have a great working relationship with the coaches at East Mississippi. That is where we want them to go. Now, anything is possible. We want to steer them to EMCC, but in the end it is the up each individual kid to make his choice.”
At Starkville Academy, Terrill brings a unique perspective to the discussion. He spent 23 seasons as a coach in the junior college system, including most recently a nine-year stint as coach at Itawamba C.C.
“Junior college football in this state has always been played on a very high level,” Terrill said. “They don’t play it in Louisiana. They don’t play it in Alabama. This has always been our thing and we have always been really good at it. Why come in here and do something that could change that?”
Meanwhile, Chambless has guided the Green Wave to back-to-back Class 5A state championships. With that success, coaches know this would be a good place to start stockpiling talent.
“Since the rule changes were handed down, I have heard from in person or over the phone all 14 junior colleges in the state,” Chambless said. “This has already turned into a headache. It is more work on all of the high school coaches. I can’t even imagine the impact it will have on the junior college coaches.
“You want what is best for your kids, so you have to make every effort possible to get coaches and players together. This will turn out to be quite a challenge.”
Terrill admits his time spent as a junior college football coach meant maximizing funds and doing the best with the limited resources available at his schools.
“If I am coaching junior college ball, this changes my life drastically,” Terrill said. “Now I am in Jackson talking to some star players. Now I am in Grenada, in Laurel, on the Gulf Coast. It is highly competitive. As a coach, you owe it to your players and your school to do everything you can be to successful.
“This is not going to be like the senior colleges where you make a call and a school plane carries you to scout this player or that player. Instead, you are going to be on the back roads of Mississippi from going from one destination to another.”
If the recruiting districts are rescinded, recruiting battles will take place all across the state.
“I want to know who is going to legislate everything,” Starkville High coach Jamie Mitchell said. “Who will count the calls? Who will count the visits? The premier programs always have three or four players being recruited. Does this total now go to 10 or 12 and involve everybody around the state? It is going to be a challenging situation.”
EMCC fourth-year coach Buddy Stephens, an outspoken critic of the rule changes, has echoed the same concerns. EMCC’s district includes Clay, Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Lauderdale, Kemper, and Noxubee counties. This season, EMCC has 39 players from its district.
“What we are fighting for now is a chance to stay home with our families,” Stephens said. “If the rule changes go through and the districts are gone, our family time is gone, too. Any coach worth his salt will be recruiting harder than ever before. Now, you have to check on that one extra player and make that one extra visit.”
Through his lengthy involvement on the junior college athletics scene, Terrill understands these changes could lead to an ever bigger gap between the haves and have nots.
“I am not really sure how a couple of programs will survive,” Terrill said. “Each year you have less and less to work with. Now as coach you are being told you have to start from scratch. You don’t start with the nucleus from your hometown.
“I don’t know how the smaller schools will survive. Fans attend games to see the hometown players play. You have to have a rapport with your local high schools. Those kids do not have to be the stars on your team, but they have to be in uniform. They have to be a part of your program and a part of your community.
“How do you fill a roster if you are struggling record-wise and financial-wise. It is even more challenging on a two-year basis. Already, you have to pretty much start over on a year-to-year basis.”
Competing on the national stage has always been a calling card for Mississippi junior college football. While most high school coaches are concerned about eliminating recruiting districts, Terrill also feels reducing out-of-state scholarships isn’t prudent.
Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. won the last Mississippi junior college national title four seasons ago. No. 3 EMCC could be in position to win the title this year. In the past decade, Pearl River C.C. and Northwest Mississippi C.C. also took home the top national prize.
“The out-of-state players are the keys to winning national championships,” Terrill said. “Mississippi junior college football is among the best in the nation. The right coach can balance the in-district kids with the blue chippers from out-of-state. You have to have both of those to have the type of program you want to have and to win championships.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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