By Ross Johnson

Sports Writer

Don’t try telling the founders of the Bright Futures Football Academy that their organization is a camp.

It’s much more than that.

The academy, in its inaugural year, was started by former LaGrange High football players Dialleo Burks, Marcus Blandinburg and J.R. Revere with the intention of giving Troup County youngsters the football knowledge necessary for college and beyond.

With the academy having wrapped up Thursday at the Griggs Recreation Center, Burks said they’ve accomplished what they wanted - and they’re looking forward to next year.

“It’s been great. We’ve been giving the guys a lot of information,” said Burks, who helped LaGrange High win a state title in 1991 before becoming a standout wide receiver in the Arena Football League for years. “We’ve been drilling everything into them.”

Other instructors included Rob Dicks, Cane Bradfield and Anthony Freeman.

Burks and Blandinburg are coaches at LaGrange College, and Revere is a former coach at the college.

The academy gives young football players ages 7 to 15 a chance to work specifically on their positions under the guidance of several coaches who know what they’re doing.

Every coach has played college football, and some, including Burks and Revere, played professional football.

The program also focuses on different aspects of the game, such as watching game film, getting good grades, the importance of community service and even having good media relations.

“Really, this is designed for high school players, but for now we’ve got a lot of guys in middle school,” said Revere, who led Georgia Southern to a pair of national championships as an option quarterback “During the season, coaches are too busy to teach them these things. This is designed to give them an idea of what to expect after high school.”

This was the first summer Burks, Blandinburg and Revere were all in LaGrange at the same time.

The academy wasn’t on their radar until a few months ago, and Revere said it was the perfect time to start it.

“We just decided to go ahead and do it,” said Revere. “With pretty much no advertising, we still had a good turnout. These kids are getting a quality camp at a good price.”

Burks and Blandinburg are on the LaGrange College football staff, and both teach the same positions at the academy as in their regular jobs.

Blandinburg, in his first year coaching the cornerbacks full-time for the Panthers, said the academy’s participants are grasping concepts well.

“For most of them being pretty young, they’re catching on to a lot of stuff,” said Blandinburg, who also coaches linebackers at the academy. “They’ve learned about three coverages in three days.”

While many children already know what position they want to play, Blandinburg said he and the other coaches can tell which position some should play strictly by watching them in warm-ups.

If a player has good speed and feet, he’ll go in the secondary. If another has good feet and closing speed, he could be a linebacker.

The coaching staff is able to break down every player’s strength and weaknesses, and the one-on-one instruction will help their game.

“One area we really wanted to focus on was the line,” said Burks, who coaches wide receivers at the college. “You have a whole bunch of summer camps for wide receivers, quarterbacks and defensive backs. You rarely see linemen camps. That was our main target.”

The final day of the camp concluded with a non-tackling game, but it wasn’t a usual flag-football scrimmage.

The game focused on proper techniques, including stance and footwork.

“It’s just like a regular game, except no tackling,” Burks said.

With this year’s Bright Future Football Academy a success, the founders look forward to bringing the community another one next summer.

“Next summer, I’d like to focus more on the special teams aspect of the game,” Burks said. “It’s a huge factor of the game. Even when I was playing professionally, I wished I knew more other than hustling down the field. We just want to maximize everybody’s chances to get on the field.”

Troup County has a knack for putting out a plethora of college football prospects, and the academy will only help future players’ chances of success after high school.

“With all the wealth of talent here, we’re just putting some knowledge with that talent,” Revere said.