From time to time, I like to gig some of the people I work with that Maryville must have had a very good recruiting year. I have never seen them play.
Here's what little I know and what I think. They have a very good program and when I say program they run it like a college program. Very, very good coaching. Jimmy Gaylor left a head coaching position to be an assistant at Maryville.
Kids from 6 years old on up are indoctrinated and are largely running the same plays, sets, etc. as they will run for the Rebels when they are older. They don't have a history of great athletes but that results in flawless, flawless execution. Far better than say Tennessee had last year.
They work at it. I have seen Maryville kids on tv talking about the three a days during the summer. I can't tell you if their summer program is legal or not but I can tell you they get after during the summer.
On occasion parents will want their kids to play at Maryville and will move to the city of Maryville just so their kids can play football there when they are in high school.
Aaron Douglas played for years in the Farragut/Cedar Bluff system and then his parents moved for his high school years. During those same years they had a quaterback I believe whose family did the same and as a youth player I think his family lived in Powell. I think this is legal but certainly helps a winning program continue down that path.
Again I see a small town that embraces their team and program and some very, very good coaches. They just seem like good people as well when I have seen them.
Their head coach has turned down the job at Hoover in Birmingham and I am pretty sure that job payed $125,000 or so when you include benefits.
So, technically I would say that they do everything legally but they have created such a good program that some families have targeted Maryville as a good place to live and for their sons to go to high school. Not many likely, but two or three exception athletes added to an already deep program can make a huge difference.
I saw Aaaron Douglas two weeks ago at a UT practice and let me tell you - he is a beast and barring injuries will be playing on Sundays. Just threw that in there.
