When James Harvey resigned as head football coach at Columbia High School and Chip Bilderback accepted the position, I wrote a column about how Bilderback checked off the three boxes necessary to turn around the Wildcats: Young, energetic and innovative.
Bilderback certainly changed the narrative at Columbia, leading the Wildcats to a 10-3 season and the third round of the Class 3A playoffs in his first year. But there’s one extra element the uptick has generated that could ultimately make the biggest difference in his players’ lives: Exposure.
When any high school team starts winning and its players begin producing eye-popping numbers, college scouts begin to take notice. That has taken place in spades when it comes to the Wildcats.
There have been six players who have been offered scholarships in the past few months, and their lists are mighty impressive.
• Kentrel Bullock (committed to Ole Miss): Ole Miss, Memphis, Louisiana Tech, UAB, Arkansas State, Troy, Alcorn State, Jackson State, Jones Junior College, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Coahoma Community College, Pearl River Community College and Hinds Community College
• Jamison Kelly (committed to Louisiana Tech): Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Jackson State, Troy, Hinds, Mississippi Gulf Coast and Jones
• Jaheim Oatis: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Florida and Auburn
• Jordan Aaron: Pearl River, Hinds and Coahoma
• Jeremiah Haynes: Hinds and Coahoma
• Justin Lee: Coahoma
Outside of Oatis none of these players were receiving any sort of recruiting interest before Bilderback arrived. But they were able to shine on the field and get chances to showcase their skills at various camps where the offers began to flood in.
And even Oatis has benefitted from his arrival despite receiving offers from Alabama, Ole Miss and Mississippi State as an eighth grader. The massive defensive lineman started living up to his potential last year as a freshman with 57 tackles, 18 tackles for loss and six sacks and added five more offers from the SEC as a result.
The talent has been there at Columbia since I got to the area for this type of collegiate interest, and from what I understand it has always been there. However, not many colleges are going to spend too much time looking for talent on a 3-7 team.
There have been singular talents such as Fred Peters and Zach Jones that have been able to have success in college that got noticed, but they had to go to the junior college route when their talent justified Division I. They succeeded in spite of a stacked deck. Today these Wildcats are getting the chance to shine because the coaching allows them to do what they do best on a play-to-play basis.
Prior to Bilderback the best word to describe the Wildcats was unorganized. That is no longer the case, and a lot of young men are getting the opportunity of a lifetime because of Bilderback’s impact.
While nearly every coach, Bilderback included, will deflect having much of an impact and will instead place the success on the shoulders of the players. And obviously the players are the ones who ultimately have to do it on a down-to-down basis between the lines. But there’s no question the man at the top’s influence has trickled down to his players and has put them in a great position to succeed.
Quite honestly, this is likely only the beginning for Columbia sending players to the next level. Rising sophomore Omarie Johnson is likely to have a Bullock-like recruitment, and rising seniors Teshonne Franklin, Ethan Bond and Joey Croom could get looks as well.
What a difference a year makes.
