Hogan Whitmire took his high school football team to a state title. Landon Curtis led his to a state final. Zac Barnard got deep into the playoffs, Cameron Tallent became his school's all-time passing leader and Josh Morgan set northwestern Georgia passing records.
All are seniors and proven leaders as quarterbacks, yet among them there is one commitment -- to an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision school -- and one other solid scholarship offer with national signing day three days away.
Calhoun's Curtis has accepted an offer from Austin Peay. Signal Mountain's Whitmire likely will reject his offer from Division II member Indiana University at Pennsylvania.
"Right now he's going to Austin Peay," Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said of Curtis, who picked the Governors over Division II West Georgia. "Austin Peay's a good program, but I really thought Landon might get a few more offers along the lines of a mid-major Division I school."
In 15 games, the first-year starter threw for 33 touchdowns and led the area with 2,734 yards.
"MTSU came in on him late, but then they had a kid that decommitted from Vanderbilt and came back [to MTSU]," Lamb said. "I don't really think it hurt that he was a one-year starter, because he had a really good year."
Whitmire got an offer last week from IUP coach Curt Cignetti, previously the recruiting coordinator at Alabama.
"That is probably something that won't happen," said Rob Whitmire, the player's father. "It's unrealistic because Hogan would like to stay within driving distance to home."
Whitmire, who led Signal Mountain to 25 wins in the school's two varsity seasons, is visiting Division III Birmingham-Southern on Tuesday with the idea of accepting an academic scholarship while continuing his football and possibly basketball careers. He has a 3.8 grade point average.
"Hogan is a very good student, and Birmingham-Southern has really intrigued him," Signal Mountain coach Bill Price said. "He has been working hard to improve his ACT score a point or two [from a 26] in order to get some more [scholarship] money."
There have been no offers for North Jackson's Barnard, Rhea County's Tallent or LaFayette's Morgan.
"It's all about good fits," Price said. "Some teams are spread [offenses] and want a quarterback that runs the football. Some are straight dropback, and some want a combination. Quarterbacks will filter down more than any other position. There's a lot of moving and shaking that goes on over the last three weeks [of recruiting season].
"With Hogan the big thing is going somewhere that meets his needs. He wants to be a doctor, and Birmingham-Southern becomes a good fit."
Whitmire, Curtis or Morgan might have landed at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga if not for coach Russ Huesman landing a commitment from his son Jacob, the Best of Preps all-city player of the year.
Morgan might also have landed at BSC.
"Some people are waiting to see if they can get another guy. We're talking anywhere from Presbyterian to LaGrange to Birmingham-Southern," LaFayette coach Tab Gable said. "Those are the ones I have talked with."
Morgan is the best-looking of the area quarterback prospects because he's 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds.
"He has the arm, the intelligence and he's coachable," Gable said. "He does the leadership things but he doesn't run really well, and everybody wants a Cam Newton. Josh can run and keep things alive, but he was coached earlier in his career to not run but get rid of the football."
Still, Gable has been surprised by the lack of attention his quarterback has drawn.
"Josh can throw the deep out. His arm is strong enough, and he can make all of the throws," Gable said. "As far as a highlight film, he puts the ball where it needs to be and he can arc it when he needs to. I didn't know if he'd go big-time, but I thought he would have a lot of interest."
Like Curtis, Barnard was a one-year starter in high school. According to North Jackson coach Shawn Peek, Barnard will have more scholarship opportunities in baseball as a pitcher and catcher.
"He doesn't have the size (6-1) that a lot of those [recruiters] are looking for," Peek said, "although his numbers were unbelievable [2,321 yards, 26 TDs, three interceptions] and his arm strength is really good."
Tallent threw for more than 5,200 yards in three years at Rhea County.
"I'm surprised he doesn't have any offers, but then very little shocks me when it comes to recruiting," Rhea coach Jason Fitzgerald said. "It's a funny game and one that's hard to understand. I would have thought Cameron would at least have some Ohio Valley Conference-type offers."
The 6-1 Tallent is a dropback passer, which limits his marketability in this era of wide-open offensive schemes. Still, like Whitmire he is a solid student and could wind up at Sewanee.
"There's something to be said for that -- a great education and he could play football and baseball," Fitzgerald said.
Recruiting remains an ever-evolving science. Whitmire, for example, didn't pursue the various one-day summertime camps or the sometimes costly sophomore and junior combines.
"Hogan's original thoughts weren't so much on college recruiting as winning that state championship," Rob Whitmire said. "He spent more time working with his teammates on that goal than the combines. He wanted it to be a natural progression. He had talked about going to a bigger university and just enjoying being a student, but there was something about Birmingham-Southern that intrigued him."
Looking back, the elder Whitmire wondered if should have taken his son to more camps and/or combines.
"We didn't get out and pursue it but, yeah, I'm surprised he didn't get more interest," he said. "I think maybe it's changing with the combines and camps being similar to basketball guys playing AAU in the spring and summer. I guess maybe you need to be a little more proactive with combines and the like."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-5765.