McCallie’s Corey McDonald has committed to Austin Peay.
Soddy-Daisy football coach Justin Barnes instructs offensive lineman Grant Cordell during practice last season. Cordell has committed to Tusculum.With less than two weeks remaining before national signing day, several area prep football players made commitments during college visits this past weekend.
McCallie’s JaVaughn Craig and Corey McDonald each committed to Austin Peay, and Soddy-Daisy’s Grant Cordell committed to Tusculum.
Craig (6-foot-2, 190 pounds) and McDonald (6-1, 290) were both members of the Times Free Press Dynamite Dozen this past preseason and committed to new Austin Peay head coach Will Healy, who developed a relationship with the pair while recruiting them as an assistant at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He took the job with Austin Peay after this past season, when UTC reached the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the second year in a row.
“The energy and enthusiasm surrounding the program is unreal,” Craig said. “The coaching staff is a world-class staff who is concerned not only about football but building life-long relationships. Coach Healy was the first person to ever give me a chance and believe in me, and I know he cares about me as a person.
“The people that make up the university are amazing and very supportive. It’s an amazing place, and it’s the place to be. We will win games. And we will win an OVC (Ohio Valley Conference) championship and eventually a national championship. That is the mindset of everyone in the program.”