During his freshman football season at Jacksonville’s Terry Parker High School, Sam Barrington played wide receiver. So on the first day of spring practice for his sophomore season, Barrington came out and headed to the wide receiver line.
His football career was about to take a dramatic turn.
Then head coach Greg Stanton saw Barrington in line with the wide receivers and told him to go work with the linebackers.
A story was about to be born.
Barrington caught on to his new position quickly. He recorded seven solo tackles against a Jacksonville Sandalwood team that featured standouts Marquis Boone and Jacoby Monroe. Soon, he was the type of player who was drawing the attention of college recruiters.
Now, the 6-2, 212-pound senior is set to make his five official visits and he is planning to come to Florida on Jan. 16. The Gators may have come into his recruitment late, but Barrington says his top five schools are even at this point.
“I like Florida and I feel that I can go there and compete,” said Barrington, who most project as an outside linebacker. “There’s a lot of competition there and when you go there, you better be ready to compete.”
Aside from Florida, Barrington will visit Illinois (Nov. 15), South Florida (Dec. 6) and Clemson (Jan. 9). His first official visit was last weekend to Purdue. As for making an unofficial visit to Florida to take in a game, Barrington said he and teammate Tavadis Glenn could head to Gainesville for the Citadel game on Nov. 22.
Terry Parker (6-2) has a big game tonight against 5-4 Jacksonville Ed White to determine the Class 5A-District 2 runner-up to Neptune Beach Fletcher, which features standout Class of 2009 wide receiver Lamar Scruggs (6-3, 212). Terry Parker’s rise to a possible playoff berth has been due to a team effort.
“We have some guys stepping up and making plays,” Barrington said. “We had some seniors and then we got some transfers from a couple of schools. We’ve been blessed. We knew we had what it takes and we have been taking it in stride.”
A 21-13 loss to Fletcher left the Braves scrambling, but a victory over Ed White and the program’s goal for the season will be reached.
“We didn’t play our game against Fletcher,” Barrington said. “We’ve set a goal … to make the playoffs. That’s been our goal ever since (new head coach Jim) Scible stepped through the door.”
Earlier this season, Scible replaced Stanton, who took the head job at first-year Creekside High in St. Johns County. The new Parker coach led Kissimmee Osceola to a Class 5A state championship in the 1990s and helped produce many major college players.
When he came to Parker, Scible saw the tremendous talent he had in Barrington and decided to get him some carries at running back. For Barrington, it was his first time playing running back since the eighth grade.
So far, he’s responded in grand fashion. Barrington has rushed for 905 yards and scored 14 touchdowns while playing offense on about 50 percent of Terry Parker’s snaps. His unselfish attitude has rubbed off on his teammates.
“Sam Barrington makes me a better player,” said Glenn, who will be one of the top defensive line recruits in the country for the Class of 2010. “He’s a great leader. He has that way of talking and getting his point across. When he talks, people listen.”
The time at running back has pleased Barrington and made a difference in the Braves’ offense, which has opened up more after operating out of the Wing-T last season.
“I’m a linebacker at heart, bit I like playing running back,” Barrington said. “Sometimes when you play defense, it makes it hard when the other team runs away from you. But when you are playing running back, you bring the play to the defense. It’s a lot of fun.”
Whichever school gets Barrington will get a player who can perform on and off the field. He has benched 305 pounds and squatted 465. Barrington has a 2.8 grade-point average and has scored 920 on the SAT.
Before all of this, Barrington, who had as many as 26 schools calling him daily during the spring, will try to help Parker reach its ultimate goal of making the postseason.
“We have some guys in the right places that have made things happen,” he said. “Our goal is to make the playoffs. That’s what we have been working toward.”