Brains & Brawn

This year’s Bryant High School football team boasts an extraordinary number of senior student athletes with higher-than-average grade point averages, giving their team a truly unique advantage on and off the field. As the team heads into the upcoming season and school year, they are optimistic about the positive impact these dedicated seniors will make not only on the school, their football season record and the Bryant community as a whole.

To give some perspective on just how these seniors are doing with their studies, it’s helpful to know that the median average grade point average for members of the Bryant High School senior class is 3.0, according to Dr. Jay Pickering, the Principal of Bryant High School. The senior football players with 3.8-4.0 grade point averages are Ben Bruick, Hunter Fugitt, Kyle Lovelace, Zach McConnell, Steven Murdock Jr., Conner Chapdelaine, Jimbo Seale, Brandan Warner, Alex Denker, Ryan Reynolds-Hall and Drew Tipton.

“Extracurricular activities success and classroom success go hand in hand,” shares Dr. Pickering. “I’m a firm believer in the structure of extra curricular activities in young people’s lives.”

As we take a look at the upcoming Bryant football season, the obvious question is just what kind of advantage does intelligence give the Bryant team? And how far will that intelligence take them? Bryant High School Football Head Coach Calley, his response was two-fold. “This intelligent team allows us to be more versatile with our game plan; makes it easy as a coach to be able to tell a player something one time and then watch him make it happen on the field. That’s very valuable in my book.”

Coach Calley adds “Also, it allows us to make offensive adjustments on the fly. With the number of plays we have, you’d think it would be too much for the players to learn, but they have exhibited the ability to execute a tremendous amount.” He also states, “Defensively, it lets us mix things up and run different blitz packages.”

Calley explains how important it is not only to be a good athlete, but have a high level of intelligence on and off the field by saying, “I tell the players all the time that if you take care of business off the field, such as being a good student, son, and a community volunteer, the business on the field will take care of itself.”

He and the other coaches constantly encourage the student athletes to prioritize their studies above all else. According to Coach Calley, “Everyone has the opportunity to earn an academic scholarship, but not an athletic one. Athletes should focus on their academic future. At some point the air will come out of the ball, so they must have academics to fall back on. I will work with any athlete to obtain an athletics scholarship, but the main focus with us will always be academics.”

Coach Calley demonstrates his point further by sharing a story about one of the current members of the team. “For example, one of our Bryant offensive linemen, Caleb McElyea, could be considered by some standards too short and not fast enough for college football. But he has an ACT score of 29, which has already gotten him offers to play college ball, based on his academics. Colleges are willing to take a chance on an athlete who is there mainly on academic basis.”

Dr. Pickering complements the entire athletic program for placing a high priority on academic performance from the athletes. “The high-achieving seniors are a great reflection of the entire coaching staff—it shows their attention to detail off the field in encouraging the players to go the extra mile with their studies.”

Coach Calley was quick to note the positive influence that comes with being a part of a team. “Some things come easier mentally to others. When players see performance in the classroom, it encourages them and others to try harder. Some of the guys with good grades lend assistance to others on the team who need it in certain subjects such as geometry and algebra. We encourage team members to help the others succeed.”

“Football is just one of many activities students can choose to be involved in,” reminds Dr. Pickering. “Bryant High School offers so many different ways for students to be involved outside of the classroom, things like band, choir, ROTC, Model UN, Quiz Bowl, Student Government, not to mention the many athletic teams. So many students involved in these activities also have higher than median grade point averages. Having these extra people involved in the lives of students goes a long way in developing the holistic child, which is our goal.”

As the standout seniors look ahead to their final high school football season, the entire Saline County community can come together and take a lot of pride in their hard work as they prove that it takes both brains and brawn to succeed!