USF Proves Florida is tops in HS Football

Being from Ohio it's unthinkable for me to believe that any other state, be it CA, PA, TX or FL is more dominant than Ohio when it comes to High School football. Kirk Herbstreit is definitely on this same page. But what proves that both Kirk and Swope Blog are wrong is the emergence of the University of South Florida football program. They clearly prove that Florida is the dominant state in high school football.

The USF football program has only existed for three years and already they are one of the top programs in the country. There are hundreds of programs around the country that have been at it for hundreds of years and still can't compete with major football programs. Ohio has many schools that fit into that category including Toledo, Miami (OH), Akron, Kent State, Cincinnati (getting there), Ohio U, Bowling Green and more. But, USF does it in three years? They did it because of the talent right in their own backyard, something Ohio just doesn't have any more.

Programs are built, rebuilt and sustained with in-state talent. Florida is absolutely loaded with in-state talent year after year. Separate from all the recruits that stay in-state to play ball, take into account all of the players that leave Florida each year for major programs throughout the country. Ohio State lands just about all the 4 or 5 star recruits the state of Ohio has, with very few big time prospects left over.

USF is also competing against 3 major programs in-state for recruits in Florida, Miami and Florida State. Even after losing the best of the best to the big boy's in-state and throughout the country, they still have 97 players on their current roster that played high school football in Florida (not all active for games of course). Using The University of Akron as an example, they have 34 in-state players, but what's even more telling of the lack of talent in Ohio compared to Florida, is that Akron has 12 players from the state of Florida. The high school throw aways that Ohio State doesn't want are just that - throw aways. Ohio just doesn't have the talent and has no where near the deep talent pool that Florida has.

Florida may not have the same tradition that Ohio has with high school football, but one thing is for certain, Florida does have better high school football.