NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — It's no secret that being a student/athlete requires plenty in terms of time and effort. Now imagine doing that with a job at say at Newport News Shipyard. Such is the case for the football team at the Apprentice School.
At media day on Saturday, the Builders come off their best season in school history with a 9-1 record under head coach Vincent Brown. For him and his players, having such success comes down to a few things.
"We're working on one of the biggest and best aircraft carriers that the world has ever seen as a group", he said. "One man couldn't do that job. It's a team effort. So we take that mentality and bring it to the football field."
Junior Punter/Kicker, Jeremiah Morgan, who went to Portsmouth Christian added, "It's different from any other college culture", he said. "You don't have your typical college campus experience. Everything we do is different from what everyone else does in the country."
Quarterback, Mason Tatum noted, "What you're going to put in, you're going to get out."
Brown's coaching staff is one that adds to the makeup of the team as well. Three of them have high level experience at the college and professional level. Assistant head coach Elton Brown is in his 5th with the Builders. He played his high school ball as a Hampton Crabber and went on to college at the University of Virginia. Brown would get drafted in the NFL by the Arizona Cardinals in 2005 and would retire from the game in 2010.
Wide receivers coach Scorpio Brown was an all-state tight end out of Warwick High School and went on to play at Hampton University. He would play nine years in arena football.
Then there's first year special teams coordinator Lynden Trail. If he sounds familiar, he played in college at Norfolk State after transferring from the University of Florida where he was there for a year. Trail would go on to earn All-MEAC honors. He played about five seasons in the NFL that included a stop in Washington.
"Knowing how to grab their attention, but also coach on the run. Coach from film. That's a lot of our preparation", says Brown. "I've been pleased with what I'm seeing."
The Builders open their season at home on September 2nd at 1pm against Averett.