- September 6, 2024
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It took me a solid hour to make my choice.
Committing to rebuild a college football program is no small matter. You have to win, of course, but you also have to plan for the future.
I always start as a coordinator and work my way up the coaching ladder. What school would give me the best opportunity to advance my career? Should I win with already established players — the easy way — or go to a small program and make more of a name for myself?
I chose the latter, and I chose Troy University. The Trojans are a Sun Belt Conference team, a conference I adore for its typically all-gas-no-brakes style of play, and they had a strong 2023, finishing 10-2. But they lost a lot of senior leaders, and 2024 will be a test to see if last year was a fluke or if the Trojans are actually on the rise.
That's where I come in.
Welcome to "College Football 25," the long-awaited video game from EA Sports, which releases this week on Playstation and Xbox consoles — July 15 for those who purchased the deluxe edition (me) and July 19 for everyone else. I do mean long-awaited: the last edition of the franchise released 11 years ago. It was a staple of my childhood and millions of other childhoods. It was the reason homework assignments went uncompleted and the reason we were tired each morning, after staying up until 1 a.m. putting the finishing touches on our recruiting class.
In no small sense, it is a reason many college football fans love the sport the way they do. The game puts the pageantry unique to college football front and center.
The reasons for the delayed release are worth a search, but they are not what we are here to discuss. We are here to celebrate, to reminisce, and to make new memories — even some involving names you will know from the Sarasota football scene.
Riverview High offensive coordinator Brody Wiseman is a fan of the University of Florida. Always has been, he said. He's been playing this franchise since the days of the original gray Playstation, trying to resurrect the Gators to glory; Sony is on to the Playstation 5 now. Wiseman has played EA Sports' "Madden" NFL game over the years, he said, so his digital football skills were relatively sharp when he played the game on the July 15 drop date.
Without those formative childhood gaming experiences, who knows where he would be now?
"It was a lot of my interest in football, other than playing," Wiseman said. "When it comes to coaching, I always enjoyed the strategy of it. When you're growing up, you're spending a lot of time playing (video) games and for someone who is getting into football, I think the game is a good way to catch their interest in that (coaching) side of things."
The game is designed for fun, but it can also be a legitimate learning tool. Wiseman said that while the execution of various plays is different than how they would work in real life, the concepts behind the plays are real. Wiseman said he's instructed his quarterbacks to flip through the game's playbooks to find the same concepts the Rams plan on running this fall. It's a way to ingrain that knowledge in them while having a different kind of fun, Wiseman said.
For any locals who grab a copy of this year's game, you'll be able to play as several of Sarasota's gridiron stars. Cardinal Mooney High graduate Zy'Marion Lang is a freshman at the University of Toledo; he's rated a 64 overall (out of 99), an average rating for a young player. The CFB25 development team clearly likes his deep-threat and red zone potential, though: his speed is a 91, tied for second best among Rockets wideouts, and his 89 jump rating is also second best.
At Central Michigan University, you can find former Booker High wide receiver Josiah Booker rated a 65 overall. The 5-foot-9 target has been given 88 speed and 91 acceleration, plus a 78 awareness rating, surprisingly high for a freshman. The EA Sports team must know that Booker stays cool in the most pressure-filled moments. You'll want to get him the ball late.
The wideout duo is hardly the only Sarasota athletes in the game. Former Riverview High and Venice High cornerback Charles Brantley is on the Michigan State University roster (76 overall), for instance. But there are also players missing, perhaps because they chose not to opt into the game via their Name, Image and Likeness rights. Brantley's Spartan wide receiver teammate Jaron Glover, a Riverview alum, is not present. He caught 14 passes for 261 yards in 2023.
For these players and their friends, family and coaches, it must be a surreal feeling. If college football fans didn't know their names before, millions of them soon will.
As for me, I'm turning 30 next month, but right now I feel 15 again. Troy Trojans, we ride. Why? Well, the Trojans' quarterback is named Goose Crowder, and one of their wideouts is named Mojo Dortch. Those are two of the best college football names I've ever heard. It helps that the team runs a wide-open passing attack and has some serious athleticism for the Sun Belt level. We may not win the National Championship in year one, but a solid bowl game is on the table.
Goose, Mojo and I won our first game 22-14 over the University of Nevada at home. But now things will get tough. Road games against the University of Memphis, a sneaky good and fast team, and the University of Iowa, a black hole of a defense, await.
We'll probably get our behinds handed to us. I'll love every second of it.
