2010 athlete pulling double duty

At 6-foot-4, 296 pounds, Columbus (Ga.) Hardaway 2010 prospect John Herndon has the size to play a lot of places on the line of scrimmage. For his high school team, Herndon has been doing just that helping his team to a 2-1 record at this point in the season.

"I've been going on both sides of the ball," Herndon said. "I've been playing offense and defense. I started out on defense. We lost one game but it wasn't a region game. After that they switched me over to offense because we needed more help."

Herndon enjoys playing on both sides of the ball but the transition has taken some extra work.

"It requires me to do a lot more conditioning like running sprints," he said. "It required me to do a lot more work but now that I've gotten in better shape I'm doing a lot better."

At this early stage in the recruiting process, Herndon has gaining heavy interest from a few different programs.

"I'm getting things daily from colleges like Clemson, Duke and USF," he said. "I've gotten a couple letters from Georgia and I've gotten some hand written letters from Auburn. I've gotten around tow hand-written letters from the offensive line coach at Auburn, Coach Nall."

Herndon's two-way effort has opened up the possibility of playing either position on the next level though at this point he doesn't know where he will end up.

"I've spent most of my life playing on defense but it's like if they need me to play on offense I will," he said.

When offers do start coming in for Herndon, there will be a couple of factors that he will be keeping in mind.

"First thing I look at is how things have been the past couple of years," he said. "Are they a winning program? And what kind of players do they produce? I'll probably look at some other things that other athletes don't look at like what's their graduation rate? That shows how hard they work with their athletes."