Georgia and Georgia Tech have increasingly fewer players from Macon
Back in the 1960s and 70s, Macon high schools were good feeder programs for the state’s two landmark football teams, Georgia and Georgia Tech. In those two decades, Macon schools sent at least 14 local products to Atlanta to play for the Yellow Jackets and another 21 to Athens to wear Georgia’s red and black.
In that 20-year span, Georgia Tech signed Lanier/Central products Ken Bonifay, Al Gerhardt, Sonny Swaim, Vance Bell, Steve Putnal, Donnie Robinson, Red McDaniel, Jack Cox and Michael Jolly. They also landed Derrell Parker and James Holland from Willingham and Cam Bonifay, Mike Kitchens and John Skalko from Mark Smith.
Most of the Georgia Tech signees were by Jerry Glanville, who was an assistant for the Yellow Jackets from 1968-73.
Georgia picked up nine signees from Lanier/Central. That group included Jiggy Smaha, Jim McCullough, Rex Putnal, Mixon Robinson, Chuck Heard, Ralph Clark, Steve Dennis, Al Pollard and Mack Guest and Bobby Kimsey.
The Bulldogs got Pete Gaines, Randy Wheeler, Mark Bowen and Steve Wilson from Willingham/Southwest, Tim Jackson, Ben Zambiasi and Johnny Henderson from Mount de Sales, Craig Hertwig and Bob McDavid from Mark Smith, Mark Farriba from Stratford and Jeff Harper from Monroe Academy. Monroe was in Forsyth, but Harper lived in Macon.
Starting with the 1967 season -- with the only exception being 1972 -- through their 1980 national championship season, Georgia featured at least one starter from Macon every season.
But since 1980, that has all changed. In the past 34 seasons, Georgia has signed five and Georgia Tech six Macon high school players to football scholarships. I am including current Yellow Jackets wide receiver DeAndre Smelter in that group, even though he actually signed a baseball scholarship with Georgia Tech and only switched over to football last season.
Other Georgia Tech players from Macon in that span are Southwest’s Charlie Simmons, who was a wide receiver and defensive lineman, Chris Simmons (played on the Yellow Jackets’ 1990 national championship team), Central wide receiver Correy Earls, standout Westside linebacker Julian Burnett and punter Durant Brooks from Tattnall Square.
Smelter and walk-on lineman Niko Anderson from Mount de Sales are the only former Macon high schoolers on the Georgia Tech roster this season.
The five Georgia signees in the post-1980 span include quarterback Joseph Dupree and defensive back Chris Wilson, who both played at Southwest. Dupree started his career at Georgia but finished at Georgia Southern and is now the head coach at his high school alma mater.
Linebacker Tony Gilbert from Central and George Foster from Southeast signed with Georgia after the 1997 season and both went on to play in the NFL.
Wideout Shakenneth Williams of Rutland rounds out the Georgia signees in the past three and a half decades. He is one of two former Macon players on the Georgia roster this season along with walk-on punter William Ham from Stratford.
Macon has not had a public school state champion since Central won the AAA crown in 1975 behind Michael Jolly, but it is difficult for me to understand how the city high schools have produced so few prospects that would attract the attention of Georgia Tech or Georgia.
It is true that some of the top prospects like LeKevin Smith of Stratford, Kareem Jackson of Westside, Larry Emery of Northeast and Nigel Bowden of Central were recruited by the Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs but signed scholarships with major colleges outside the state.
But Macon should still be producing players for Georgia and Georgia Tech like it did more than 35 years ago. I am not aware that there is one Macon prospect being recruited by either school this year.
Contact Bobby Pope at bobbypope428@gmail.com
This story was originally published September 22, 2014 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Georgia and Georgia Tech have increasingly fewer players from Macon."