We really enjoy writing about high school football players as they commence their matriculation into the world of college and college football. So many times some schools get all tied up in “the measurables” that these schools forget many of their finest teams were built on players who had an even more important trait…the intangibles.
Football players with heart, courage, and a strong work ethic will generally float to the top of the centrifuge, like the cream separates from the clabber. Players who hustle, who are willing to work on “the little things,” who go the extra mile, discover their efforts turn their talent and natural gifts into “great, big things.”
These are the guys who are the true all-staters. These guys come in all different kinds of frames, some less marketable than others.
In the end, it is what they are willing to do to be all they can which becomes the true measure of greatness. That is true in football or on any other field of battle.
Take Cade Goebel for instance. He’s a fine example.
We like his frame just fine. There have been myriad LBers who have been big-time stars who were 6-1, 225-pounds, just like he is. We love his intangibles even more.
Cade runs track. We were able to determine from Mile-split that Goebel competes in the 55-meter and the 400-meter sprints. Now for those of you who are wondering why I called the 400-meter a sprint, it is know in the track-world as the dreaded long sprint.
The 400-meter is the race nobody wants to run. It requires speed endurance in addition to speed. It requires the same drive phase or acceleration out of the starting blocks as any other sprint. It requires “explosion,” also necessary to play linebacker.
Now in the 55-meters, we believe Goebel clips this off in 7.84-seconds. His 400-meter time is 1:05.70.
The 55-meter sprint can be formulated into a 40-yard dash. If you use the following formula, 55m time/1.09361 X .7272, it should give you a laser 40-time of around 5.1 to 5.2-seconds. Track times are all laser-timed, just so you know. Hand-held, the kid is clipping off the 40 in about 4.9 or so seconds.
So while his frame is very good, his running speed is one which may put the kid out of category for teams looking for linebacking talent at the next level. However, it definitely shouldn’t. Here’s why.
This kid has excellent speed endurance. We aren’t guessing here, we know it to be true. If you’re curious, this is why we are saying this?
If you take his 55-meter sprint time and compute it to his 400-meter time, his first 55-meters is run similarly as fast his final 55-meters in a time eerily consistent with his 55-meter sprint time. That means he’s in excellent shape. That means he has upper-level speed endurance.
Upper-level speed endurance means he won’t quit on you in the fourth quarter. He will have the endurance to make plays (for the college coaches reading this), and muster up full-throttle performance, late in games similar to his play in the first quarter. His first 55-meters and last 55-meters are consistent. That is important to know.
There are other intangibles, like on-field performance. Goebel lead the Bourbon County defense in ’20 in TFLs. He was 4th in QB-sacks. He was tied for second in fumble recoveries.
So he gets down-hill and makes plays for you in the offensive backfield and on the quarterback. Plus, he’s always around the football. Hmmm…I want linebackers exactly like that, how odd.
There are lots of teams who have shown interest in this ’22 linebacker and, not too coincidentally, these coaches work for some of the area’s most prestigious academic institutions. Wait, you mean he’s smart too? If his list of suitors is any indication, it would certainly appear so.
An early “leader in the clubhouse” for this linebacker might be Centre College. Coach Frye has ably demonstrated the Colonels will take a back seat to no one regardless of the recruiting competition’s level of play. No program recruits in-Kentucky any more ably nor effectively than Coach Andy Frye and staff.
The Colonels have before struck gold recruiting the rich veins of football talent in Bourbon County. Justin Roe played for the Colonels, after starring for Bourbon County, and memory serves that the Colonels were well pleased with Roe’s efforts.
Players who get to play their college ball in Danville, Kentucky are among the most fortunate in the commonwealth. Players from all over the southeast both do and should leap at the opportunity.
We have some connections around that way. From what our sources tell us, the admiration society between the Goebel family and Centre Football is very much a mutual one.
This should be a fun recruitment to watch blossom. It’ll be fun to see how this one settles.
This is HB Lyon reporting for Kentucky Prep Gridiron reminding you that WE’RE JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!
If you enjoyed this article and wish to gain full-access to the site, then subscribe monthly to Kentucky Prep Gridiron by following the prompts!
© The information contained on this site is the copyrighted intellectual property of KPGFootball. Any unauthorized dissemination of this material without the author’s express written consent is strictly prohibited!
Leave a Reply