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Get Scouted Scouting CareersIt’s no fluke that four former National Scouting Report prospects will be playing in one of the biggest college football games of the young season Saturday afternoon, said Robert Cagle, National Director of Scouting for NSR.
No. 1 Alabama, featuring former NSR prospects O.J. Howard (senior tight end), Bradley Bozeman (redshirt junior center) and Matt Womack (redshirt freshman offensive tackle), will be trying to avenge back-to-back losses to No. 19 Ole Miss, featuring NSR alum John Youngblood (senior defensive end), when the teams square off in a Southeastern Conference showdown at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
Coincidence? Hardly.
“These four young men at all amazing athletes,” said Cagle, who, along with his wife, Susan, enrolled all of them with NSR. “I saw that when I scouted them during their high school careers. Their families wanted their children to have the biggest and best college opportunities. NSR does that for athletes.”
It’s all about relationships, Cagle said.
“We have relationships with college coaches,” said Cagle, NSR Area Director in South Alabama. “We can get prospects in front of college coaches at the level that fits their talent. If a kid, no matter the sport, wants the best opportunity to play in college, they need to be evaluated by a real college scout. An NSR scout is that real scout.”
Larry Perrin, National Football Director for NSR, agrees.
“NSR can assist athletes at any level,” he said. “When we are working with a blue chip-caliber athlete, we are giving that athlete and their family the benefit of our extensive network of relationships that we have developed and nurtured for 36 years. Our formula is still the same: great athlete, great grades, highest character, and undeniable desire.”
Many prospects, parents and high school coaches confuse NSR with college recruiting services, Cagle said.
“NSR is not a recruiting service,” he said. “We are a scouting and recruiting organization. NSR scouts work only with athletes whom they feel can play at the college level — no exceptions.”
Alabama’s Howard, Bozeman and Womack and Ole Miss’ Youngblood are four prime examples. Thanks, in part, to NSR’s 18-phase exposure program and numerous national contacts, all were heavily recruited by several major colleges. They have continued to excel in the powerful SEC.
Howard, a three-time, first-team All-State performer at Autauga Academy in Pratville, Ala., was named Offensive MVP of last year’s College Football Playoff National Championship after making five catches for 208 yards and two touchdowns in Alabama’s 45-40 victory over Clemson.
Many expected Howard to leave Alabama after his junior season and enter the 2016 NFL Draft. However, after Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban promised to make him more of a focal point of the offense, he decided to return.
“It was kind of a decision where I thought I have so much left on the table in college,” said Howard, who hopes to become Alabama’s first All-America tight end since Ozzie Newsome in 1977. “How can I mature on and off the field? It really wasn’t a hard decision at the end of the day.”
Bozeman, a former first-team All-State selection at Handley High School in Roanoke, Ala., came off the bench at offensive tackle in every game last season. He was promoted to starting center this season.
A former standout at Magnolia Heights School in Senatobia, Miss., Womack redshirted last season. He’s expected to see some action at offensive tackle this season.
Youngblood, an All-Northeast Alabama performer at Hewitt-Trussville High School, has appeared in every game the past two seasons for Ole Miss. Hard work has paid big dividends for Youngblood, who is expected to play a more prominent role this season.
Despite playing in the shadow of other defensive linemen, Youngblood has earned lots of respect from his coaches. He recently received the team’s Chucky Mullins Courage Award, presented annually to the Ole Miss player who best exemplifies the courage and character of the former Rebels’ defensive back, who was paralyzed in a 1989 game and died two years later.
“Being in the position I am in right now has made me practice harder, watch film more, prepare harder and become a leader,” Youngblood said. “I have always kind of stayed in the background until now, but I learned from the seniors before me and now it’s my turn to lead and sacrifice and do all the things the seniors before me did.”
National Scouting Report is dedicated to finding scholarship opportunities for athletes who possess the talent, desire, and motivation to compete at the collegiate level. We’ve helped connect thousands of athletes with their perfect college.
You go Cagels