JOURNAL SPORTS
“Who are the best players you’ve ever seen?”
That’s again this week’s Shreveport-Bossier Journal Coaches Roundtable.
We got plenty of excellent insight from local head coaches, so many that Part I ran last Thursday and this is the second round of replies.
The question asked coaches to cite the best high school players they’ve seen, who are not on their current team. The question goes back to their playing days, if they want, although most cited those they game-planned against or coached.
STACY BALLEW, Byrd: “I’ve got three, starting with Ja’Marr Chase at Rummel. We had heard about him and how good he was. We went out to warmups, and I asked one of my other coaches, ‘where’s he at?’ And my coach said, ‘just keep looking.’ And over with the wide receiver group, as I looked over, there was a dude. He looked like he could have played linebacker, running back. He was just heads and tails different, bigger, stronger than anybody else on the field. I really don’t remember specifics about the game but I remember he lit us up pretty good. He’s lighting up NFL teams now.
“Trey Quinn was a receiver at Barbe, who was a national recruit (signed with LSU, starred at SMU as a senior) and played for several NFL teams. We couldn’t stop him the whole game. They had a pretty good quarterback, not a big-time recruit, but man, he could throw the out. Quinn wore out our corner. Every time they needed a first down, or they needed yards, they did that. And we couldn’t stop it, no matter what we did.
“Cam Robinson was at Ouachita High School as a junior offensive tackle. Then right before his senior year, he transferred to West Monroe. They were our first game. The LHSAA was investigating to see if he would be eligible or not and the ruling was supposed to come out on Friday, game day. Just our luck, that Friday game, because there was a storm coming, got changed to Saturday. And he got ruled eligible.
“Robinson played left tackle, and we had a pretty good defensive end, who played at Southern Arkansas on a scholarship. We won that matchup nearly every week, but that game, he just dominated our defensive end. There wasn’t anything we could do. Whatever we tried, it didn’t matter. Yeah. Any time they needed some yardage, they ran right behind him.
“He was ranked number 1 in the nation at offensive tackle, went to Alabama, started as a true freshman, and played for a long time (nine seasons) in the NFL.”
COY BROTHERTON, Parkway: “Deion Jones was a linebacker at Jesuit (New Orleans) who we played when I was the O-line coach at Airline. He was a sophomore that year and I knew then he was different. (Jones was a Butkus Award finalist in 2015 for LSU, and played 10 years in the NFL, making the 2017 Pro Bowl).
“Dak (Prescott) at Haughton, Pop (Houston) at Evangel, (Elijah) Haven at Dunham are all quarterbacks that right away, you can tell they are just different.
“Most of the time when you coach against guys like that, you know them before the game. One year we played Westgate early in the season. Kayshon Boutte was a sophomore receiver and was starting for the first time. We didn’t know him before the game but a few weeks later he had four stars and most of his highlights were against us. (Boutte starred at LSU and is in his fourth NFL season)
“As far as players I’ve coached, talent-wise and being different than anyone else, I would have to say (2023 senior, four-star recruit) Aeron Burrell and the way the ball sounded when he kicked it. Nobody else I’ve ever seen can do that.”
GARY COOPER, Booker T. Washington: “The most impressive teammate I had was Edward “Tiger” Clark. Tiger was my running back my junior year at BTW. He had the perfect blend of size (6-1, 220), speed, power, agility and overall football knowledge to play on Sundays. He was an absolute grown man in high school.
“The best I’ve coached: Morris Claiborne. Morris was the quarterback/athlete at Fair Park my first year coaching. Morris could play any position on the field. He was an absolute stud!!! A three-sport athlete who was amazing in all three sports. (Claiborne starred at LSU, was the 2011 Jim Thorpe Award as the country’s best defensive back, and played eight NFL seasons)
“Best player I’ve coached against: Lamar Brown, University Lab (now at LSU). His ranking as the top (Class of 2026) defensive lineman in the country was the truth. Wild thing is he also played offensive line, and was really good!!”
RODNEY GUIN, Calvary: “We (Haughton) played Leesville when Cecil Collins was there. Hands down, he is the most dominant running back we have ever played, at Haughton or Calvary.
“One who’s not well known who was an incredible high school player was Brock Matherne, the quarterback and safety at Belle Chasse who led them to the state title in 2008. They beat us in the second round because he refused to let them lose. He’s now the head coach at (7-1) East Ascension. What a warrior he was!”
STEPHEN DENNIS, Benton: “I coached against Devin White when he was a freshman running back and linebacker at North Webster. You could tell even as a freshman what was coming down the road! (White was an All-America linebacker and the 2018 Butkus Award winner at LSU, has been Pro Bowl and All-Pro player who helped Tampa Bay win a Super Bowl, and is in his eighth season in the NFL in Detroit.)
“And, not just because I coach at Benton now, but Garrett Hable was one of the best high school quarterbacks I have ever coached against. He started at Benton for four years (2014-17), and led them to three district championships (a 38-8 record), and threw for a ton of yards (almost 9,000). He was such a competitor at the QB spot!”