There’s a new era being ushered both in and around Paris, Kentucky. It marks a new beginning for the Bourbon County Colonel football program. That new era is most embodied by new head man, Dave Jones.
Jones is a developer and molder of young men. Jones is accustomed to getting the absolute most out of what talent walks the hallway of whatever school has employed him to coach football. Alex Cummins is a class of 2021 prospect we expect Jones will get something special out of right away.
Cummins is 5-7 and weighs around 145 pounds and is the kind of kid we believe to be a late-bloomer physically and ahead of the game mentally. He’s only 16 years-old so we can’t possibly pretend to know what he will grow to be. After talking with Strength & Conditioning Coach Bryan Short of Bourbon County, we can tell you this is a player willing to do whatever it takes to fulfill staff expectations.
I was on the last staff, so I am a hold-over with Coach Jones’ regime. I can tell you this much about Cummins, who has added an inch in height and 15 pounds of muscle since last year, he’s the only player on the varsity, in 2018, who watched every play of every game on Hudl, on his own. Short went on to add that Cummins takes the mental reps seriously. Cummins wants to know, he wants to be the smartest kid out there.
His study of the film in 2018 impressed us, truthfully. It is difficult to get the regular, every-down guys to take film study seriously on many teams and here’s a guy who knew his contributions on Friday nights last season would be minimal and yet he was willing to go the extra-mile to be ready when his number was called. KPGFootball loves kids like this. They are what wins championships every bit as much as the star players.
With Alex’s work in the weight room, there is no reason to believe he won’t significantly factor into Coach Jones’ plans going forward in 2019. Though only weighing 145, Cummins power cleans 225 pounds and squats 255. Power-clean is a lift one has to be a good athlete to perform well.
Any lifter, weighing what Cummins weighs, is doing it right if he’s sliding under 225 pounds and front-squatting it to the vertical, chest-position. Back-squat is a lift which measures both raw power and low to high tackling explosion. Cummins, on just the squat, has a 1.759 coefficient lift ratio.
Cummins was once quoted as saying, to a recruiting site, that his goal is to be the top DB in the nation. As he matures, strengthens, and lengthens, there is no reason he shouldn’t approach his goals, particularly the way he works and prepares mentally. Looking at his highlights, linked here, Cummins looked to have a nose for the football and appeared to tackle well in space. On special teams, he was also the first one down covering kicks, demonstrating his hustle and motor, both of which were first-rate, from what we saw on film.
Truth is Alex Cummins has tremendous up-side, tremendous promise. He has a new coaching staff, with some hold-overs, who have made careers out of helping kids reach their promise. Cummins has made a tremendous promise to both his team and community by setting his sights on being the very best at where he is deployed. Alex is working tirelessly, in both the weight-room and film-room, to make the promise a reality. It is accurate and safe to say that, in 2019, Alex Cummins fully intends to keep that promise. We look forward to seeing that.
Reporting for KPGFootball, this is F.W. Long, reminding all of you ballers out there to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE.
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