HOW A FOOTBALL POWER ENDED UP AS A VILLAIN

Game vs. Florida power irks coaches who want tighter rules on transfers.

Grayson, the No. 1-ranked football team in Georgia’s Class AAAAAAA, is playing IMG Academy of Florida on Saturday in a game televised by ESPN2. To that audience, it’s two teams with top-five national rankings and 14 of the nation’s 250 best college prospects.

But to some of the local schools, which persuaded the Georgia High School Association this month to ban IMG from further contests against Georgia schools, it’s villain on villain.

IMG is a boarding school that recruits its student-athletes, sometimes with scholarships. Some Georgia players are on its roster, including Ohio State-committed safety Isaiah Pryor from Archer and Georgia-committed defensive end Robert Beal from Norcross.

Grayson didn’t make friends this offseason, either. The Rams are bolstered by four of the state’s 25 highest-rated recruits who transferred in, all from county rivals. And now, Grayson is granting IMG a stage in Georgia to showcase itself on national TV.

“I don’t like being the villain,” Grayson coach Jeff Herron said. “I don’t think anybody does. It’s hard for me to understand. I get the part about playing IMG, but I don’t get the part about the

transfers. If we haven’t done anything that’s breaking GHSA rules, then I don’t understand all the animosity.”

Herron, hired in March, has received the cold shoulder from a few Gwinnett County schools that have refused to schedule his JV or ninth-grade team. The GHSA recently established a committee to consider stricter eligibility rules for transfers.

As it stands, transfers generally are eligible immediately if they make bona fide changes in residence. Receiving schools are not allowed to exert “undue influence” to attract transfers, but that is difficult to enforce.

“We have to implement something with teeth that prevents what has happened over the last few seasons,” Northview coach Chad Davenport said.

Davenport took issue with a social-media post in May by a Grayson transfer that read: “GHSA can’t do nothing if everything legal and boys that grew up together wanna play with each other . ... Savages play with savages.”

“When kids go on Twitter and taunt the GHSA and say there is nothing they can do, it hurts our game,” Davenport said.

Grayson is not the only school benefiting from transfers. Of the top 100 senior prospects who played in Georgia last season, 13 have transferred in the past six months.

Roswell, the runner-up to Colquitt County in the highest class last year, got Westlake quarterback Malik Willis (committed to Virginia Tech) and Mays wide receiver Corey Reed (Louisville). Tucker got perhaps the three best players from archrival Stephenson. One is Alabama-committed defensive end Aaron Sterling.

“It’s really disturbing that these types of things are more commonplace,” said Decatur coach Scott Jackson, who lost two of his best players to Cedar Grove. “I guess it’s good for the schools that get them, but it sure sucks for those of us that lose them.”

Eric Godfree, coach of his alma mater Parkview, said the trend troubles him in ways that transcend football.

“Mainly, we need parents to grow up and help their children understand that they can make a great situation out of whatever their circumstances are in life and not make excuses,” Godfree said. “Winning in life is helping someone who can’t give you anything in return. That’s being a great teammate, not moving somewhere where you want to take advantage of a situation and be a ‘me’ person.”

Grayson’s Herron applauds that sentiment. He is not a fan of transfers. He agreed with the GHSA’s recent move to keep schools such as IMG off Georgia schedules. But Herron also is practical.

“I wish we could come up with a great rule and have kids be more loyal to their schools, but that’s not going to happen,” Herron said “This is America. You can’t start delegating to a parent what they can and can’t do for their kids. Those of us with kids know that. If somebody has a solution, I’m all ears.”

In the meantime, Grayson-IMG should be a good game. Pryor, one of the first Georgia transfers to IMG, is eager to compete against old friends and rivals. His home is just minutes from Grayson.

“I heard they’ve got a team over there that’s willing to be, trying to be one of the best in the nation,” Pryor told the Bradenton (Fla.) Herald.

Herron said his players have moved on quicker than the critics.

“The great thing is our kids don’t really care,” he said. “They don’t listen to all that junk. That’s the beauty of it. They’re high school kids. They accept each other and move on.”