By Thomas Dozier
Some people come into your life and you just know you will never be able to replace them if they left.
Shedrick McCall III, a rising senior at L. C. Bird, knows this all too well. After his recruiting train had left the station with an offer from Old Dominion University, he received two more offers – Norfolk State and Morgan State – it was then he realized he was happy with the first offer he received from the Monarchs and decided to do something about it.
On Monday, even though he had to work his summer job, he decided to dance with the one that brought him to the recruiting table.
McCall, a 6-1, 247-pounder, verbally committed to play football at ODU for head coach Bobby Wilder in Norfolk.
“ODU was the first to offer,” his father Shedrick McCall Jr. said. “He loved the environment, the coaches, the quality education, and they are going to let home play running back and H-back.”
According to McCall, the Monarchs staff made him feel at home.
“The [associate head coach]offensive coordinator coach Brian Scott was up front and made me feel wanted,” McCall III explained. “Running back coach [Charles] Bankins said I will be a super back, meaning I will run, catch, block and I liked that.
“And coach [Chris] Malone, my recruiting coach made me feel at home, and I love that they have a TV deal, new stadium coming and will be playing ACC schools over the next four to five years.”
McCall, a power running back, rushed for 900 yards last season and recorded 16 touchdowns while averaging 10.5 yards per carry.
He became the second Skyhawks player to commit, the other being linebacker Rayshard Ashby, who committed to Virginia Tech.
Also, he becomes the fourth player from the class of 2017 in this state to commit to the Monarchs.
ODU, a Conference USA team, posted a 5-7 record last season. The Monarchs have eight players on their roster from the Central Region, including redshirt-freshman Denzel Williams from Dinwiddie, Gemonta Jackson from Petersburg, and Nick Clarke from Atlee. Manchester’s Darius Garcia and Jonathan Duhart earned enhanced roles last year.
McCall will be called upon at Foreman Field to run with power inside and speed on the outside, and, use his ability at catching the ball out of the backfield.
The good news for McCall who runs a 4.68 40-yard dash, benches 325 and squats more than 500 pounds is he can now devote all his attention to getting better and helping his team win.
Over the past year, McCall had also drawn increased interest from Illinois, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, UNC Charlotte, James Madison, and Army.
Of late, he had received even more interest from Villanova, North Carolina, N.C. State, Maryland, Virginia, Purdue, Delaware and Richmond.
Through the years, there have been great ball carriers playing for the Chesterfield County school including Jason Snelling (NFL-Atlanta Falcons), Yahkee Johnson (Hampton University) and Jason Vineyard. There were also such standouts in recent years as Anthony Harris (NFL- Minnesota Vikings), Earl Hughes, and Paul Robertson.
As a result of this formula, L.C. Bird captured its first state title in 2012 when the Skyhawks won the VHSL Division 6 state championship with a 14-0. Then came realignment and the Skyhawks repeated in 2013 with a 15-0 record in Class 5A and then claimed their third state crown in 2014 in Class 5A with a 13-2 record.
Now, McCall will receive a heavy dose of the action and his numbers will certainly soar.
The football team, which cranks out premier running backs year after year, has posted a 73-6 record since 2009 including a 57-3 regular season record and a 16-3 record in playoffs.
