Chattanooga area players pick academies and service

Friday, January 1, 1904

Less than two months ago Reed Allen was celebrating with his Calhoun High School football teammates in the Georgia Dome, teenagers in the prime of their lives cutting loose after winning a state championship.

Five months from now the 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive lineman will be alone in a wilderness, wearing combat fatigues and learning about survival. High school football and all its glory will seem like a lifetime ago.

Allen is one of four Chattanooga-area football players headed to a military academy this summer. Allen, Calhoun teammate Trent Frix and Chattooga lineman Luke Brantley have been accepted into the Air Force Academy, while Bradley Central receiver James Stovall will enter the Naval Academy.

Each knows a nine-year commitment awaits if he chooses to stick it out.

Allen's family has a military background, and he did not take the decision lightly.

"You commit for nine years, so that is something that takes a lot of consideration," he said. "I talked to my parents about what I wanted to do with my life, and so many careers open up when you go to a school like that, and I like having those options. It's so much more than about playing football, but the football is great. It's a Division I [FBS] program that's had a lot of success.

"Really, after looking at everything, I just couldn't refuse."

Allen was so enamored with the idea that he became a recruiter, enticing Frix to go with him for an unofficial visit to Colorado Springs. Once there, the linebacker/long snapper and his family were sold as well.

"It's a great opportunity to get a great education and play football at the D-I level," Frix said. "And when you get through you get to serve your country.

"When we went for the visit, it was incredible. The place is so beautiful and the athletic facilities are incredible. We went to the Air Force/Army game, and when it was over I knew where I wanted to go. My parents were sold on it because they saw how much I loved it."

Football, education, opportunity. The great majority of student-athletes headed off to major college programs this summer have cited those three factors as keys to their decisions. Most will immediately enter training camp, where they will be whipped into shape and prepared for the coming season.

While others are training for the sweltering days of camp, military football newbies will be in the middle of the most physically and mentally challenging time of their lives. For 38 days they will endure long runs in heavy gear, combat and survival training and the constant pressure of their superiors to prove themselves.

If they make it through basic training, the players then enter football training camp. There is no redshirt season for acclimation to college life. Once classes start, there are no athletically geared courses of education.

Cadets and midshipmen take full courses in subjects such as physics and engineering. What free time they have will be spent either studying or recuperating.

It will be, according to the man who recruits the Chattanooga area for the Air Force, a defining time in their lives.

"That first year is a shock, no doubt," Air Force assistant coach and Georgia native Clay Hendrix said. "Football is tough enough on this level, but when you add the Academy requirements, it's certainly difficult. For the first three months they will be questioning themselves, but we don't recruit a player that doesn't have high character or discipline. Once they get through that initial shock, they realize what a great opportunity they've been given."

Part of Hendrix's job is to prepare a recruit for what's coming, but he highly recommends the player talk to somebody who has been through the process. Allen and Frix did just that with Scott Peeples, who now lives in Los Angeles and works for the Air Force as an engineer. The Dalton High School graduate told them he lost about 40 pounds during basic training and held back nothing when discussing what is expected of a new recruit.

"You need to talk to somebody that's been there," Allen said, "And Scott Peeples was very honest about his experience. Trent and I both went to talk to him, and he explained what it was like to be a new recruit and football player. I also talked to a guy who went to Calhoun, Glen Moyer, who did not play football. He went into detail about basic training and what's expected.

"Then there are my granddads. One went in the Army, the other the Air Force. Neither went to an academy, but they talked about serving and the responsibility we have. My mom's dad is pretty old school. He believes every kid should go through basic training when they graduate high school. I think I did my homework and I'm ready."

Will Healy thought he was prepared when the former Boyd-Buchanan quarterback went to Colorado Springs for his initiation into the military life. He was wrong. Healy wanted desperately to play Division I football, so much so that he put that above everything. He soon realized his priorities were all wrong.

"I wasn't ready for it," said Healy, who transferred to Richmond and now is an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "It totally caught me off guard. Because I had no military background in my family or friends, the moment I stepped off the bus in Colorado Springs I knew I was in for something I hadn't anticipated.

"When I went for my visit, they didn't talk much about basic training. All I could think of was the D-I football, the packed stadium and the money they can get for you when you're out. It's an unbelievable education with intriguing career opportunities. But I was more interested in the football side of it, and you can't do that. You have to ask yourself how big a part do you want the military to be in your life. If you can answer positively, then it's for you."

According to Healy's advice, Allen is on the right track. He wants to play big-time football, but he insists he won't lose sight of why he's there. He wants to become a doctor, but if that doesn't work out he's open to exploring fields such as engineering, business or even becoming a pilot.

Allen also believes he's ready for the coming challenges.

"They're going to try to make you quit, because they're going to invest a lot of money in you [if you don't]," he said. "From what I've been told, if you can handle the mind games you'll be all right. Of course, I'll probably at some point wonder what I'm doing out here. I've never quit on anything in my life, so I have no doubt I'll stick it out."