PG East: Milford a Gateway to grades
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Chris Siegel faces an unusual recruiting challenge. He tells players that if they come to his school, they will only be there for a semester.
Siegel, a former high school player at Shaler, is now an assistant coach at Milford Academy, a prep school located in New Berlin, N.Y. Milford enjoys a national reputation as a football powerhouse and a training ground for future Division I players.
Chris Hanna hopes to be one of those players.
Hanna was an offensive tackle at Gateway, and was recruited by Division I programs. However, his test scores weren't high enough to get admitted into college, so he will spend a semester at Milford to work on both his schoolwork and his football.
"I'm coming here to get my grades up and retake the SAT so I can play college ball," he said.
He said he is probably going to play in college for either Illinois or Pitt.
Siegel said that if he has a good year, he expects to turn himself into one of the country's elite prospects. That's part of the appeal of Milford, which finished last season with a record of 9-2.
"Chris will end up at a very high-profile school," Siegel said. "If he plays to his full potential, he could very well go to one of the top 20 schools."
Hanna's teammate from Gateway, Farren Mason, will also be playing for Milford in the fall. Mason, however, is still only a senior in high school.
They are joined by two other players from the Pittsburgh area: Aundre Wright of Perry and Layton Dunn of Duquesne.
The four players have spent the past week at summer practices, where the coaches run the players through three practices a day, at 6:30, 10:30, and 3:30.
"It's more up-tempo than high school," Hanna said. "The speed is faster, but the practices themselves aren't too much different."
When they're not practicing, the players are at school, working to get their grades up and become eligible for NCAA football. The opportunity to bring up grades while showcasing football talent does not come cheap; Milford's tuition is $18,000 a year.
Siegel said that 80 percent of the football players at Milford only stay for a semester. When the football season is over, they enroll in college in time for spring football.
Of the others, almost all leave Milford by the end of their first year there. Athletes are eligible to play until they turn 21 years old, and time spent at a prep school does not count against NCAA eligibility.
"Instead of going to a junior college and giving up two years of their career, this gives them a chance to play and to get their grades up," Siegel said.
The academic side of the school includes seven full-time teachers that teach the students as well as help prepare them for standardized tests like the SAT.
The school is approved by the NCAA, and Siegel said that because of the school's strong football program, it is monitored more closely than other, similar schools.
"We hold the kids extremely accountable for their academics," he said. "I would say about 90 percent end up with a college diploma."
Siegel himself is one of those players, having attended Milford before playing college football at Cincinnati.
Milford head coach William Chaplick said that to have a former player come back and coach is a great honor. Currently Siegel is working as the passing coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He also helps recruit, a necessity because almost all the Milford players will leave in December.
"We don't have the luxury of keeping kids for four years like a college," Chaplick said.
First Published July 27, 2006 12:00 am
