Four-star OL carries on Buford tradition
There must be something in the water in Buford, Ga., because year after year the city has produced five and four star recruits. And this year is no different with 6-foot-6, 255-pound offensive lineman Trey Chandler leading the way.
Chandler already has earned scholarship offers from a who’s who in the Southeast. His first scholarship came from Florida State back in May and was quickly followed up with other offers from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Arkansas and Alabama.
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“I never expected any of this,” Chandler, who is already qualified with a 3.5 grade-point average and a 950 on the SAT, said. “I thought that I would get some attention, but I never thought that Florida State and Georgia and the others would offer me like they have.”
Chandler said he could attribute most of the offers to his hard work ethic that was developed by a rigorous training routine and his coaching.
“The whole team pushes us,” Chandler said.
“We have really intense summer workouts. We go three days a week. On Mondays, we go at 8 a.m. for an hour and a half. We go rotations and push each other. Then on Tuesday we go for an hour doing speed work on the track and then we work out. Then again on Thursday we do the same thing.”
It was a schedule developed by his coaches, including Buford’s head coach Dexter Wood, who played at Alabama.
“The coaches know what it takes to get the best out of you,” Chandler said. “With coach Wood pushing you and our linebacker coach also spending time at Alabama, they know what it takes to play in college and get you in the best position and coach you the right way.
“We also have great competition and won state last year. All of those things have helped me.”
Helped him earn an amazing array of scholarship offers. Florida State was the first school to offer him a scholarship after coaches came by the school and viewed him on film and in spring drills.
“That caught me off guard,” he said. “I didn’t expect to get an offer like that in the spring. (Former teammate) P.K. Sam talked to me about it and asked me when I was going to get down there with him and Lorne.
“I was tempted to commit, but I talked to coach Wood about it. He and I both agreed that if I Florida State offered that I would get plenty more.”
Chandler sure did.
“About a week later, the offensive line coach at Georgia cam to school and watched my tape,” he said. “They called that night and offered me a scholarship. Then all of a sudden Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia Tech did, too. I also got calls from Florida, Maryland, Tennessee and Clemson.”
Chandler said he grew up a Georgia fan and everybody in his family is rooting for him to end up a Dawg.
“My whole family is Georgia,” he said. “My cousin (Bill Harber) played for them in the ‘60s, and my dad is the biggest UGA fan in the world. He tells me all the time that Georgia is a good school. I just tell him “I know dad.’ ”
Chandler said he’s not ruling out an early commitment if he finds the right fit, but at this point he’s still looking for the right mixture of location, playing time and academics.
“I want to major in business,” he said. “I know that football isn’t going to last forever.”
But it might if you have the talent that Chandler does.