VINTON, Va. – “Lineman are the tip of the spear for every team.”
While many college players were anxiously awaiting to get a call of a lifetime during this weekends NFL Draft, locally about 150 high school football players were hard at work getting better at William Byrd High School.
Head football coach Brad Lutz hosted the “Gary Chilcoat Memorial Lineman Camp.” He’s hosted the event in the past but Saturday was the first time it’s ever been local to Southwest Virginia-- at William Byrd. There were upwards of 2 dozen high schools represented including those from Roanoke, Lynchburg and even some coming from the Richmond area. It’s purpose? Three-fold.
“Number one: give the players in the Roanoke area and the state of Virginia a chance to come out here and get coached, learn some fundamentals and get away from the weight room for a day and have some fun,” Lutz said.
“Number two: we had a chance to bring some coaches out here that love football and they’re invested in it and come out and have a chance to invest in the kids, whether a college coach or high school coach. Number three: It was kind of a reunion for a lot of people in the sense that Coach Chilcoat passed away 3 years ago to brain cancer. It’s been a tough 3 years without him. He was a mentor to a lot of young men and coaches so it was a chance for us to get together and do something in his honor.”
Coach Lutz, who formed a relationship with coach Chilcoat at Varina High School in Richmond, hopes to make this an annual event. All the money raised through registration will be donated to the Cancer Society.