While not every major college prospect can play on a winning team, more often than not those prospects do play for winners. That is not the case, however, with highly regarded junior defensive tackle prospect Denzel McCoy of Northview High School in Duluth, Ga.
“My team is 0-9 … we’re having to rebuild,” the 6-3, 275-pound McCoy said. “We just got a new head coach, a new system.”
While the Northview team isn’t having a banner season, one of the few bright spots for the Titans has been the play of McCoy, who is rising up boards everywhere. In a recent 37-7 loss to Chattahoochee, he finished with five tackles, three of them for losses, and two quarterback sacks.
McCoy certainly has a great list of schools chasing him: Vanderbilt, Louisiana State, Florida State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Stanford, North Carolina State, Penn State, Alabama, South Carolina, Oklahoma State and Duke. A great list already, and yet the offers keep coming in.
It is not just McCoy’s size which has coaches intrigued. His hard work in the weight room has paid off in a big way, and the numbers that he has put up there have surely caught the eye of a defensive line coach or two. “My bench is at 335 pounds, my squat is at about 525 and I can hang 225 13 times,” McCoy said.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. “My dad is a strength coach,” McCoy added.
Now it all makes sense. But the hard work doesn’t end there. Being a top prospect in the state of Georgia, there are plenty of other resources around for McCoy to seek out some extra work. “I work out at the gym with a guy who trained (Gators freshman) T.J. Pridemore,” he said.
Being that McCoy already has a high number of offers, and interest from so many other schools, he is already starting to get out in an effort to see some of the programs.
“I’ve been to Clemson twice, Georgia twice and I’ve been to all the Georgia Tech home games because it’s so close to home,” McCoy added. “It’s right down the road.”
Not satisfied with just those trips, McCoy still has an incredible number of visits planned before the end of the season. “I know I’m going to Vanderbilt for the Tennessee game on Nov. 22,” he said. “I’m trying to get down to Gainesville, Columbia and Chapel Hill.”
With all of those visits lined up, Denzel McCoy pointed out, “Every Saturday is a game.”
Soon, he will be playing in them.
.