When Brandon Derrick took over the McMinn Central program three years ago, even by small-town East Tennessee standards, Englewood was a dead-end destination for high school football. The Chargers hadn’t had a winning record in nine years, there were just 32 players on the roster and college scouts weren’t using MapQuest to find the school.

After last year’s Region 3-3A championship and 9-2 record, the school almost immediately became an area melting pot for players from other programs. The roster has doubled, including two well-publicized junior transfers — quarterback Zach Rayl from Meigs County and defensive end D.J. King from McMinn County. Both started in last week’s 34-13 win at Loudon.

“When I first came here three years ago, I said if we build this thing people will come,” Derrick said. “If the other area programs aren’t winning, they’ll come to us. I don’t have to go out and talk to anybody or recruit.

“We’re in an age of instant gratification. People make that change because they want to go where they can win or because they feel like they’re fighting for scholarships.”

The fact Rayl and King came from rival schools only adds fervor to the growing trend of players transferring between area programs.

“I don’t care what anybody else says,” said King, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound defensive end. “Everybody wants to go to a team that’s winning.”

According to a Times Free Press survey of 40 area programs, 29 have players who transferred from other area schools since last season. More than 60 area players have changed schools since the spring for a variety of reasons.

That total doesn’t include teams that gained transfers from outside the area, including Red Bank running back Keon Williams, who moved in from North Carolina, and South Pittsburg receiver Malcolm Jones, who moved back in with his mother after living with his father in Montgomery, Ala., for three years.

Under TSSAA rules, Williams is ineligible because a student’s athletic record is tied to where his parent or legal guardian lives, and his mother still lives in North Carolina. Unless there is a legal guardian transfer or his mother moves into Red Bank’s zone, Williams will not be eligible for one calendar year. According to TSSAA rules, the minimum requirement to become an eligible transfer is for that player and his family or legal guardian to have a bona fide change of address.

Red Bank also has three Tyner transfers who, because they were part of that school’s magnet program, have been ruled ineligible this season. The TSSAA does not allow students to transfer from within a magnet program to another school within the county without sitting out one year athletically.

Tyner lost seven players who would have been starters or key contributors, and one area coach said that Rams coach Wayne Turner’s refusal to coddle younger players or ensure they are not being lured by other schools is the reason for the exodus.

“If they want to go somewhere else, go,” Turner said. “I am not going to lose sleep over it. I know some coaches go to middle school games to try to get kids to come to their programs, but I don’t worry about losing those kids.

“We play the best 11, so if a kid or their parents think they can get more playing time somewhere else, that’s fine. But if you’re getting a transfer from within the county, you’re probably only getting a headache anyway.”

One Tyner transfer who is eligible and likely to make an immediate impact is Soddy-Daisy running back P.J. Hubbard. The 5-10, 170-pound junior was part of a committee of backs at Tyner but will be the Trojans’ featured runner. He was cleared to play because he was not part of Tyner’s magnet program and because he used a diversity clause in the No Child Left Behind program that allows a student to transfer to a school in which he would be a minority.

“Soddy-Daisy is mostly white, and with P.J. being black, that allowed him to change schools,” said Patrick Hubbard, P.J.’s father. “We had several reasons for coming here. P.J. is a really good baseball player, and Soddy-Daisy’s baseball program is much better. Plus there are a lot more classes that he couldn’t take at Tyner.

“We did a lot of checking before we made any move. We had seen Coach (E.K.) Slaughter’s offense at Red Bank, and when he got hired at Soddy-Daisy we knew it would be the place for P.J. to come get more carries and show what he can do. We thought it would be a great fit for both sides.”

Whether it is for more playing time, disagreement with coaches or the belief that one school can draw more college recruiting interest, a growing number of players have begun using the area athletic scene like a buffet.

“It’s all across the state, from Memphis to Chattanooga to Knoxville. We deal with more and more transfers every year,” said TSSAA executive director Ronnie Carter. “People talk about recruiting, and I’m not naive enough to think we don’t have recruiting, but we have far more school shopping and swapping by parents than we do coaches recruiting.

“That’s not a violation. But they have some hurdles to clear before the kid is eligible. But what we’ve seen is that parents are more willing now to study the rules and find loopholes to make sure they get it done. It’s amazing with gas prices and the economy where it is that parents are willing to either up and move or drive the extra miles to take their kids to a different school.”

Baylor benefited when sophomore quarterback Charlie Wilson transferred from Dalton this summer, and Ridgeland got sophomore athlete Devin Bowman, who was Notre Dame’s leading rusher a year ago. Wilson is in the mix to become the Red Raiders’ starter, while Bowman is the brother of Panthers’ receiver Mike Bowman, one of the nation’s top-rated prospects.

Since private schools do not have zones from which to draw students, the TSSAA governs those member schools with a “20-mile rule.” If an athlete transfers from a school that is at least 20 miles from the private school, he is immediately eligible. Otherwise that athlete must receive written approval from the TSSAA.

When Tennessee Temple shut down its football program, most of its players wound up at rival Baptist private schools Grace Academy or Silverdale Academy. Grace has the highest influx of transfers with six. Walker Valley and Bradley Central each gained five new players, while Cleveland lost four, all to area schools.

“The bottom line is they were unhappy with playing time,” Blue Raiders coach Danny Wilson said. “They pay me to decide who should get the most playing time and at what positions. But a lot of kids are taught to think so long as you show up you should be rewarded. The reward is you’re on the team, wearing the jersey.

“It’s getting worse every year, no doubt about it. Society in general has gotten to where everybody thinks they should play or get a trophy. They don’t want to compete for those spots; they just expect to be given them.”

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