RINGGOLD, Ga. - Martez Eastland officially became the biggest football recruit in Ringgold High School history Wednesday.
Eastland, the school's all-time leading rusher with more than 4,000 yards, signed scholarship papers to continue his education and football career at the University of Mississippi. But while most Ole Miss fans will see a 6-foot, 225-pound running back heading their way and Ringgold folks will stick their chests out with pride over their first SEC football signee, only a few know what went into making the moment happen.
This time a year ago, something clicked in the versatile athlete's head. He finally realized that achieving his dream of playing big-time college football meant he would have to hit the books harder than he ever hit another player.
In recruiting terms he was a "non-qualifier," which raised red flags at some of the high-end programs that had expressed interest. SEC schools are judicious about offering scholarships to student-athletes who may not get into school, and Eastland's dream of playing with the big boys on Saturdays was quickly fading as players who were already qualified were collecting all the major offers.
Robert Akins knew he had a rare athlete when he took the Ringgold head coaching position three years ago. Eastland had the obvious size to compete at the next level, and he was unusually nimble for one with such a big body. But he was not, according to the veteran coach, very motivated to do his schoolwork.
"When he first came up here from the eighth grade, he was full of himself and thought he ruled the roost," Akins said. "A lot of kids do that when they're such good athletes. You have to get them humbled. I kind of dug my spurs in because I saw what potential he had. It was just something that had to be done."
A three-tier plan was put into place. Eastland had to raise his grade point average, he had to complete more core classes and he had to make an acceptable score on the ACT. To accomplish all that, Akins knew something had to be sacrificed.
"We even took him out of weightlifting, even though it was important to him, because we knew he had to concentrate on his core classes," Akins said. "He's had to sacrifice a lot of the things he could do to improve athletically so he could get well academically. From an ACT perspective, he went into the Apex lab for an hour to an hour and a half each day for two months working on that test. He took it in December of this year and made a 20."
Learning he passed the college board was the proudest moment in Eastland's life.
"I nearly cried, it felt so good to get qualified," said Eastland, whose father recently was released from prison. "My mom always told me she could die in peace if I made it to college. She really motivated me to go to college because nobody in my family has gone off to college.
"When I was in middle school, everybody used to tell me I would never amount to much, so I hope I'm proving them wrong. I'm really proud of making it, and I know I can't let my family or the community down."
Eastland hopes his story can help motivate kids who think they can get by on their athletic ability alone.
"I nearly missed out on a SEC scholarship," he said. "My advice for young kids would be schoolwork, schoolwork and schoolwork. Do it. That's all I would say."
He also understands that if not for a caring coach and a school full of teachers who went the extra mile with him, he would not be in Oxford, Miss., this fall.
"Coach Akins has been like my dad," Eastland said. "Whenever I got into trouble, he's always been there for me. He would come to my house when I didn't do my homework. If it wasn't for Coach Akins, I would never be qualified."
Young and old can learn from Eastland's story, Akins said.
"The main thing is, when you go into the ninth grade, you better be ready academically," the coach said. "If you have any goal of playing at the next level, you have to start there. The parents have to get involved because a freshman really doesn't have an idea of what's happening.
"What these kids and families need to understand is, the second thing a college coach will ask after he determines a kid can play is, 'Is he qualified?' If you're not, you'll miss out on some great opportunities."