Woods' transfer doesn't feel right

By JAMAL THALJI

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 1, 2001

DADE CITY -- Donnie Woods could be right.

But does it feel right?

Woods was one of the county's top returning lineman -- right up until the last day of school, when he told Pasco High coach Ricky Thomas he was transferring to Jefferson.

Woods is there now, taking a summer class and lifting weights with his future teammates.

Woods is up front about it. He made the call. He made it despite the hardships of spending two hours a day on the road, driving back and forth to a strange school in a town he doesn't know, socializing with kids he didn't grow up with, playing ball in a stadium he never dreamed of.

Woods said Jefferson will better prepare him academically for college, offering a magnet program Pasco doesn't.

The family downplays, but doesn't deny, the obvious football implications. At 6 feet 5, 275 pounds and with his junior and senior seasons ahead of him, it's no stretch to say Woods held more potential to play at the next level than any lineman in the county.

In the end, Woods believed Jefferson held better opportunities for him in every aspect, that it can better prepare him for college -- on and off the field.

You know what? He could be right.

But does it feel right?

Let's be clear here. In the era of school choice, Woods can attend whatever school he wishes for a variety of reasons -- except solely for athletic reasons. It's a weird loophole, one maintained to bolster the illusion that kids still play for their neighborhood schools and that some programs don't magically, mysteriously attract far more talent than others.

Yet it also forces athletes to obscure their true intentions while everyone else is free to take advantage of the system. So don't blame the athletes.

I choose to take Woods at his word. Why not? Why question the veracity of a 17-year-old in as tough a bind as a good kid can be in Dade City? He believes to better himself, he must leave his hometown team for the big city, inviting all the ardor only a small, football-obsessed town can generate.

But let's discard the false notion that Pasco is academically inferior. State wrestling champion Tye Reedy left for West Point on Saturday. Realize, however, that it is an intensely competitive world we live in, and the minimum age to join the rat race plunges every day. If Woods, at age 17, believes this is what he has to do to succeed, so be it.

It's a shame, sure, but so be it.

And don't underestimate Woods' dream of playing on Saturdays. Does anyone here want to tell him playing for Jefferson, where former pros coach, won't improve his chances? Does anyone want to guarantee that if he stayed at Pasco, Woods would even block another 250-pounder every Friday night?

Thomas preaches that college recruiters find talent no matter where it is. See Chapter One, "The Hambricks." Thomas is absolutely right. But some truths are truer than others. Woods is betting his future that he is more right. It is his risk to take.

He could be right.

But does it feel right?

To me, Woods was the last kid who would ever leave Pasco. That is why I'm so baffled.

Woods embodied what it means to be a Pasco Pirate. Born and raised here, he shared every kid's dream of playing in W.F. Edwards Stadium.

I've known Woods since he started as a freshman two years ago, and he's as good a kid as they come. But even then, he was as insufferably arrogant as any Pirate about wearing the red and black. He talked the trash just like every good Pascoite should and lived to back it up on Friday nights.

When Woods asked me during spring football who I thought would be the county's best team in 2001, he bristled at the answer (Hint: It wasn't Pasco). He railed endlessly. He even mocked me online. And then, on the last day of school ... he's gone.

If he completely dedicated himself to his grades and football, whether at Pasco or Jefferson, I don't think Clemson will care if he was a Pirate or a Dragon. But is he really going to be better off at Jefferson than Pasco?

To their credit, almost a dozen Jefferson seniors signed scholarships this off-season to schools such as Florida Atlantic, Alabama A&M, Northwood, Kentucky State, Concordia (Mich.) College, Hinds Community College (Miss.) and Dodge City (Kan.) Community College.

Hey, it's great any time a kid moves on. But don't tell me those schools couldn't find their way to Dade City just as easily as they did to Tampa. But if Woods succeeded in Dade City, he could play on Saturdays and still be a legend in his own hometown, not somebody else's.

Woods is adamant he made the decision in consultation with his parents -- that no one pressured him into it.

That includes his brother, Brian, whose name comes up a lot in Dade City these days.

Brian Woods coached former Pasco junior varsity quarterback Matt Glavich in 1998, after which Woods and Thomas ended their rocky relationship.

The Glavich family believed their son's prowess as a passer would be wasted in Dade City, so Matt transferred to Tampa Catholic and was a varsity starter in 1999. Woods was to join him there but ended up as the offensive coordinator at Lakeland Kathleen.

When the entire Tampa Catholic coaching staff quit and most joined the Jefferson staff for the 2000 season, Glavich and several TC players went with them. Now Brian Woods also is at Jefferson, hired this summer as the quarterback and secondary coach.

To sum up, two brothers joined the same program within weeks of each other. Brian Woods emphatically denied he influenced his brother. Donnie Woods said neither his brother nor anyone else at Jefferson factored into his decision. Even if Donnie Woods wants to be with his brother, the rules do not allow him to say so. End of story.

All that can be done, all that should be done, is to wish Woods the absolute best. For who wishes failure on a child?

But I do hope it really was his decision, and I curse anyone who influenced him just because of football. I hope he succeeds and that success outweighs the price he will pay for leaving his hometown and the school colors he once bragged about.

In the end, Woods could be right.

But does it feel right? No, it doesn't.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright