Ben E Lou
08-20-2004, 08:11 AM
QB's decision to transfer to Parkview plays out like a divorce
By CARROLL ROGERS ([email protected])
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/20/04
When quarterback Jeff Witt transferred to Parkview last spring to maximize his college recruiting chances, he struck a deep-rooted nerve.
What he intended to be a football decision — to help realize his childhood dream of playing college football — felt like betrayal to teammates he had played with since seventh grade. On the eve of his senior year, their leader and friend made the kind of football-oriented decision they saw a lot of in college and the pros. Wasn't high school different?
<!--endclickprintinclude--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=175 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/06/81/38/image_838816.jpg (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/ParkviewQB1.html)
Becky Stein/Special
(ENLARGE) (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/ParkviewQB1.html)
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>The Witts, Kathy (from left), Jeff, Patrick and Gene inside a flight simulator at Delta where Gene is a flight instructor. Jeff will have the chance to see his old teammates at the Corky Kell Classic — Chattahoochee plays after the Parkview game.
</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/04/80/38/image_838804.jpg (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/PARKVIEW_FOOTBALL_1.html)
VASNA WILSON/AJC STAFF
(ENLARGE) (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/PARKVIEW_FOOTBALL_1.html)
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=170 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=170 bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width=168 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=148>http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/08/26/62/image_262268.gifEMAIL THIS (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/20witt.html#)
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/03/27/62/image_262273.gifPRINT THIS (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/20witt.html#)
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/04/27/62/image_262274.gifMOST POPULAR (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/20witt.html#)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD width=5>http://www.ajc.com/shared-local/images/1pix_trans.gif</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--startclickprintinclude-->
"I understood it would be their initial reaction, but I thought once they got a chance to talk to me about it, hear what happened with coach [Terry] Crowder, it'd be OK," said Witt, who will start for Parkview Saturday at the Georgia Dome in the Corky Kell Classic. "I didn't think they would completely drop me as a friend."
His transfer played out like a divorce, with hurt feelings on both sides. Witt's decision has made him a lightning rod for issues of loyalty, conviction and the delicate line between personal goals and team sacrifice. High school football is important in Georgia, but moves like Witt's might take it to a new place.
It all started when former Chattahoochee coach Bill Waters left for the new Alpharetta High School.
[b]Too small for college ball?[/b]
As a two-year starter for a pass-oriented offense, Witt worried that a new coach, and a new scheme, might hurt his last shot to show recruiters his arm. His father, Gene Witt, called Chattahoochee weekly to check on the search. He wanted assistant Joe Moody to get the job and agreed to organize a dinner for him to meet parents.
But in late February, Chattahoochee hired Crowder, defensive coordinator from state champion Camden County, known for the run-oriented wing-T offense. Gene Witt invited him to lunch, bringing sons Jeff and Patrick, then a freshman quarterback at Chattahoochee.
Gene Witt said Crowder showed up an hour late, chewing tobacco, with a cellphone ringing constantly. He said he didn't like the response he got when he asked Crowder about his son's college chances.
"He puts his arm around Jeff and said, 'Jeffrey, you're too small to play college football,' " Gene Witt said.
Jeff Witt, 5-foot-11, is ranked 95th out of the top 100 Georgia prospects by recruiting expert Jamie Newberg. A 4.0 grade-point average has Harvard and Stanford interested, among others.
"I never said that," Crowder says. "I hadn't hired the offensive coordinator yet. I had just got the job. That's what I told Mr. Witt. 'I think to win a state championship you've got to run and throw, you've got to be good at both. That's what we're planning to do.' "
Gene Witt worried that his son might pay a price for his endorsement of Moody. Jeff Witt was worried he wouldn't know what the offense was until spring workouts in May, when it would be too late to transfer.
"He seemed a little too hesitant to me," said Jeff Witt, who said Crowder told him he wanted him to play defense too. "He didn't seem very welcoming, like he didn't want to be there. . . . What it came down to, I want to play college football. We didn't think coach Crowder would be the best salesman for me. I wanted to go somewhere where someone would stand up for me."
Initially, the Witts thought that would be Roswell coach Tim McFarlin, whom they had met at one of Patrick's JV games. The idea helped get them comfortable with the thought of moving.
"You wonder what should be done as a family," his mother, Kathy Witt, said. "Should you say, 'I'm sorry this happened to you your senior year, a rebuilding season and a new coach? Take what you can get.' Or, 'Wherever you want to go, we're behind you; we're willing to move for you to have the best opportunity.' "
Both of Witt's parents are pilots: Kathy a co-pilot for American Airlines, Gene a flight instructor for Delta. They moved five times before settling in Alpharetta nine years ago. They understood Jeff's drive. Their support of him had been interpreted by some as overbearing parenting, but that didn't deter them from making this a family move.
[b]'Heartbroken' friend[/b]
Jeff called 10 of his closest football friends to tell them he was leaving Chattahoochee. As tough as it was to face them, defending his decision helped.
"They say the best way to learn is to teach," he said. "The best way to strengthen your convictions is to stand up for them. . . . I [thought] I'd still hang out with my good friends on weekends, maintain our friendships. I'm changing schools. It's just high school."
Within a week, they stopped calling, including backup quarterback Justin Holloway, whom Witt considered his best friend.
"When he decided to leave, I was heartbroken," Holloway said. "We'd been together since seventh grade. Jeff had been our quarterback, our leader for so long. . . . A lot of people felt [even] more torn apart. He was leaving everybody behind. I was one of his better friends. I wasn't really sympathetic. I was more understanding. But I felt at the same time he had betrayed the team."
Saturday night after the announcement, the Witts got rolled. Gene and Kathy broke the news to Jeff over breakfast, knowing he would see the toilet paper streamers on his way to church. He got up and walked out, still in his pajamas, to survey the yard. His dad and brother had cleaned the shaving cream off the grass, cars and driveway, but still legible, bleached into the driveway, were words like "traitor."
"I'm not naive; I knew there would be hard feelings," Witt said. "But I couldn't believe they'd write the f-word in my driveway."
His parents noticed other parents shying away at school events. At school, teammates didn't say much to Jeff's face but did to Patrick, buzzing like a Roswell Hornet as they passed him in the hall.
It reached a low point in March when Jeff Witt asked Holloway what he was up to one Friday night. Holloway told him he'd call him after baseball practice. He didn't.
Witt rode with his parents to drop Patrick off at the Taco Mac in Alpharetta that night. He saw Holloway, and other friends, sitting on the patio eating.
"That was the time I felt most deserted by my friends," Witt said. "It was a feeling in my heart, a sadness, when I saw all my best friends there without me. The worst part about it was seeing my best friend. He was the one who told me he'd call me. . . . It hurt he didn't stand up for me."
Said Holloway: "We'd all been a close group, and [other guys] took it worse than I did. They didn't want to have any part of it. If he's leaving anyway, we might as well separate now. It was a weird situation. If I invited him, I'd get knocked on by the other guys."
Witt confronted Holloway later in a phone call. They seemed to smooth it over, but after a couple days, they stopped talking.
[b]'Recruitment' begins[/b]
Witt began to fill that void with new friends he met at a weekly leadership workshop for high school athletes in the area. They were asked to talk about what was new each week, so one Sunday Witt stood up and said he was planning to leave Chattahoochee for Roswell.
That got the attention of three friends — Stephen Gowland, Kyle Giella and Alex Aycockall — all Parkview football players. Parkview's quarterback was graduating.
Their "recruitment" started with text messages.
"I hear Parkview has an awesome tight end, No. 45," wrote Gowland, a tight end who wears 45. "He'd love to catch your passes."
Giella invited Witt to a Georgia Force game. They took him to a Mr. Parkview bodybuilding contest. They showed him the football stadium and the weight room.
"I told myself, 'If you don't want to go to Parkview, make sure Dad doesn't see the facilities,' " Witt said.
It influenced him. On the last night of the seminar, at the banquet, Jeff's parents met his friends and their parents. Gowland had brought two of his Parkview state championship rings, one for Witt to try on. The following morning Gene and Kathy Witt met with Parkview coach Cecil Flowe.
"It was love at first sight," Gene Witt said. "I knew with the first [Panther] paw I rolled over on the street. [Assistant] coach [Mark] Whitley met us in the parking lot with his big blue eyes and a big handshake, saying, 'Welcome to Parkview.' "
Gowland heard they were on campus and came to greet them in the fieldhouse.
"You look at all the pictures on the wall," Gene Witt said. "Why would you not want your kids to be here?"
"We were pinching ourselves," Kathy Witt said.
Gene Witt had the kind of reception he had been hoping for from Crowder. Flowe had a quarterback, and another one two years behind him. Patrick will be in position to take over next season.
"It's [divine] intervention is all I can tell you," Flowe said. "We feel like there's a reason they're here."
The Witts notified Roswell that Jeff had changed his mind and was headed for Parkview. "I had friends there already," Witt said. "And not only did they have awesome football, they had great academics and an awesome coach."
"I don't take those things personally," said McFarlin, the Roswell coach. "If they come, great, if they don't, that's just the way it goes. He's a fine young man and a good quarterback. If it's a legitimate move, you deal with it. If it's not, you discourage it. From all indications I got, they were making a legitimate move. . . . Going to Parkview probably makes it easier on Jeff and on all of us. Chattahoochee is one of our rivals. Sometimes it can put coaches close in proximity in difficult situations."
The Witts sold their house in six days. They bought a new one 14 miles away in Lilburn, with a pool, like Patrick wanted. They moved on Mother's Day, which added emotion to an already hard day, the thought of which can still choke Kathy Witt up.
"We had good neighbors," she said. "I thought we'd always be able to say, 'That's the house the boys were raised in.' . . . But you realize how happy we are in this house. Sometimes the Lord makes you stretch and grow. We don't look back and say we wish we lived there. Every group I've met has welcomed us with open arms."
Witt went on spring break with his Parkview friends. He and Patrick started school there the following week.
They met coaches after school to learn the offense. Parkview is traditionally run-oriented. Flowe never declared he would revamp the offense for Witt, though he did say recently: "I like our chances to throw it a little bit."
"It was, 'This is Parkview,' " Witt said. "I don't care what they run. I want to be a part of it."
The night before Parkview's first scrimmage, Flowe escorted the team from the practice field to the stadium. He paused in the parking lot, instructing players to button their chin straps and to walk onto the field properly, with respect.
Witt thought, "Wow, here we go."
Last Friday, Witt got a phone call from Holloway for the first time in five months. They talked for 10 minutes about their scrimmages.
"I finally got over it," Holloway says. "Things happen."
They won't have to call for that information Saturday. Witt will be starting for Parkview against Camden County at 2:30 p.m. Holloway will start at quarterback for Chattahoochee against Brookwood in the game after it.
By CARROLL ROGERS ([email protected])
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/20/04
When quarterback Jeff Witt transferred to Parkview last spring to maximize his college recruiting chances, he struck a deep-rooted nerve.
What he intended to be a football decision — to help realize his childhood dream of playing college football — felt like betrayal to teammates he had played with since seventh grade. On the eve of his senior year, their leader and friend made the kind of football-oriented decision they saw a lot of in college and the pros. Wasn't high school different?
<!--endclickprintinclude--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=175 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/06/81/38/image_838816.jpg (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/ParkviewQB1.html)
Becky Stein/Special
(ENLARGE) (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/ParkviewQB1.html)
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>The Witts, Kathy (from left), Jeff, Patrick and Gene inside a flight simulator at Delta where Gene is a flight instructor. Jeff will have the chance to see his old teammates at the Corky Kell Classic — Chattahoochee plays after the Parkview game.
</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/04/80/38/image_838804.jpg (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/PARKVIEW_FOOTBALL_1.html)
VASNA WILSON/AJC STAFF
(ENLARGE) (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/PARKVIEW_FOOTBALL_1.html)
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=170 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=170 bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width=168 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=148>http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/08/26/62/image_262268.gifEMAIL THIS (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/20witt.html#)
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/03/27/62/image_262273.gifPRINT THIS (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/20witt.html#)
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/04/27/62/image_262274.gifMOST POPULAR (http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/0804/20witt.html#)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD width=5>http://www.ajc.com/shared-local/images/1pix_trans.gif</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--startclickprintinclude-->
"I understood it would be their initial reaction, but I thought once they got a chance to talk to me about it, hear what happened with coach [Terry] Crowder, it'd be OK," said Witt, who will start for Parkview Saturday at the Georgia Dome in the Corky Kell Classic. "I didn't think they would completely drop me as a friend."
His transfer played out like a divorce, with hurt feelings on both sides. Witt's decision has made him a lightning rod for issues of loyalty, conviction and the delicate line between personal goals and team sacrifice. High school football is important in Georgia, but moves like Witt's might take it to a new place.
It all started when former Chattahoochee coach Bill Waters left for the new Alpharetta High School.
[b]Too small for college ball?[/b]
As a two-year starter for a pass-oriented offense, Witt worried that a new coach, and a new scheme, might hurt his last shot to show recruiters his arm. His father, Gene Witt, called Chattahoochee weekly to check on the search. He wanted assistant Joe Moody to get the job and agreed to organize a dinner for him to meet parents.
But in late February, Chattahoochee hired Crowder, defensive coordinator from state champion Camden County, known for the run-oriented wing-T offense. Gene Witt invited him to lunch, bringing sons Jeff and Patrick, then a freshman quarterback at Chattahoochee.
Gene Witt said Crowder showed up an hour late, chewing tobacco, with a cellphone ringing constantly. He said he didn't like the response he got when he asked Crowder about his son's college chances.
"He puts his arm around Jeff and said, 'Jeffrey, you're too small to play college football,' " Gene Witt said.
Jeff Witt, 5-foot-11, is ranked 95th out of the top 100 Georgia prospects by recruiting expert Jamie Newberg. A 4.0 grade-point average has Harvard and Stanford interested, among others.
"I never said that," Crowder says. "I hadn't hired the offensive coordinator yet. I had just got the job. That's what I told Mr. Witt. 'I think to win a state championship you've got to run and throw, you've got to be good at both. That's what we're planning to do.' "
Gene Witt worried that his son might pay a price for his endorsement of Moody. Jeff Witt was worried he wouldn't know what the offense was until spring workouts in May, when it would be too late to transfer.
"He seemed a little too hesitant to me," said Jeff Witt, who said Crowder told him he wanted him to play defense too. "He didn't seem very welcoming, like he didn't want to be there. . . . What it came down to, I want to play college football. We didn't think coach Crowder would be the best salesman for me. I wanted to go somewhere where someone would stand up for me."
Initially, the Witts thought that would be Roswell coach Tim McFarlin, whom they had met at one of Patrick's JV games. The idea helped get them comfortable with the thought of moving.
"You wonder what should be done as a family," his mother, Kathy Witt, said. "Should you say, 'I'm sorry this happened to you your senior year, a rebuilding season and a new coach? Take what you can get.' Or, 'Wherever you want to go, we're behind you; we're willing to move for you to have the best opportunity.' "
Both of Witt's parents are pilots: Kathy a co-pilot for American Airlines, Gene a flight instructor for Delta. They moved five times before settling in Alpharetta nine years ago. They understood Jeff's drive. Their support of him had been interpreted by some as overbearing parenting, but that didn't deter them from making this a family move.
[b]'Heartbroken' friend[/b]
Jeff called 10 of his closest football friends to tell them he was leaving Chattahoochee. As tough as it was to face them, defending his decision helped.
"They say the best way to learn is to teach," he said. "The best way to strengthen your convictions is to stand up for them. . . . I [thought] I'd still hang out with my good friends on weekends, maintain our friendships. I'm changing schools. It's just high school."
Within a week, they stopped calling, including backup quarterback Justin Holloway, whom Witt considered his best friend.
"When he decided to leave, I was heartbroken," Holloway said. "We'd been together since seventh grade. Jeff had been our quarterback, our leader for so long. . . . A lot of people felt [even] more torn apart. He was leaving everybody behind. I was one of his better friends. I wasn't really sympathetic. I was more understanding. But I felt at the same time he had betrayed the team."
Saturday night after the announcement, the Witts got rolled. Gene and Kathy broke the news to Jeff over breakfast, knowing he would see the toilet paper streamers on his way to church. He got up and walked out, still in his pajamas, to survey the yard. His dad and brother had cleaned the shaving cream off the grass, cars and driveway, but still legible, bleached into the driveway, were words like "traitor."
"I'm not naive; I knew there would be hard feelings," Witt said. "But I couldn't believe they'd write the f-word in my driveway."
His parents noticed other parents shying away at school events. At school, teammates didn't say much to Jeff's face but did to Patrick, buzzing like a Roswell Hornet as they passed him in the hall.
It reached a low point in March when Jeff Witt asked Holloway what he was up to one Friday night. Holloway told him he'd call him after baseball practice. He didn't.
Witt rode with his parents to drop Patrick off at the Taco Mac in Alpharetta that night. He saw Holloway, and other friends, sitting on the patio eating.
"That was the time I felt most deserted by my friends," Witt said. "It was a feeling in my heart, a sadness, when I saw all my best friends there without me. The worst part about it was seeing my best friend. He was the one who told me he'd call me. . . . It hurt he didn't stand up for me."
Said Holloway: "We'd all been a close group, and [other guys] took it worse than I did. They didn't want to have any part of it. If he's leaving anyway, we might as well separate now. It was a weird situation. If I invited him, I'd get knocked on by the other guys."
Witt confronted Holloway later in a phone call. They seemed to smooth it over, but after a couple days, they stopped talking.
[b]'Recruitment' begins[/b]
Witt began to fill that void with new friends he met at a weekly leadership workshop for high school athletes in the area. They were asked to talk about what was new each week, so one Sunday Witt stood up and said he was planning to leave Chattahoochee for Roswell.
That got the attention of three friends — Stephen Gowland, Kyle Giella and Alex Aycockall — all Parkview football players. Parkview's quarterback was graduating.
Their "recruitment" started with text messages.
"I hear Parkview has an awesome tight end, No. 45," wrote Gowland, a tight end who wears 45. "He'd love to catch your passes."
Giella invited Witt to a Georgia Force game. They took him to a Mr. Parkview bodybuilding contest. They showed him the football stadium and the weight room.
"I told myself, 'If you don't want to go to Parkview, make sure Dad doesn't see the facilities,' " Witt said.
It influenced him. On the last night of the seminar, at the banquet, Jeff's parents met his friends and their parents. Gowland had brought two of his Parkview state championship rings, one for Witt to try on. The following morning Gene and Kathy Witt met with Parkview coach Cecil Flowe.
"It was love at first sight," Gene Witt said. "I knew with the first [Panther] paw I rolled over on the street. [Assistant] coach [Mark] Whitley met us in the parking lot with his big blue eyes and a big handshake, saying, 'Welcome to Parkview.' "
Gowland heard they were on campus and came to greet them in the fieldhouse.
"You look at all the pictures on the wall," Gene Witt said. "Why would you not want your kids to be here?"
"We were pinching ourselves," Kathy Witt said.
Gene Witt had the kind of reception he had been hoping for from Crowder. Flowe had a quarterback, and another one two years behind him. Patrick will be in position to take over next season.
"It's [divine] intervention is all I can tell you," Flowe said. "We feel like there's a reason they're here."
The Witts notified Roswell that Jeff had changed his mind and was headed for Parkview. "I had friends there already," Witt said. "And not only did they have awesome football, they had great academics and an awesome coach."
"I don't take those things personally," said McFarlin, the Roswell coach. "If they come, great, if they don't, that's just the way it goes. He's a fine young man and a good quarterback. If it's a legitimate move, you deal with it. If it's not, you discourage it. From all indications I got, they were making a legitimate move. . . . Going to Parkview probably makes it easier on Jeff and on all of us. Chattahoochee is one of our rivals. Sometimes it can put coaches close in proximity in difficult situations."
The Witts sold their house in six days. They bought a new one 14 miles away in Lilburn, with a pool, like Patrick wanted. They moved on Mother's Day, which added emotion to an already hard day, the thought of which can still choke Kathy Witt up.
"We had good neighbors," she said. "I thought we'd always be able to say, 'That's the house the boys were raised in.' . . . But you realize how happy we are in this house. Sometimes the Lord makes you stretch and grow. We don't look back and say we wish we lived there. Every group I've met has welcomed us with open arms."
Witt went on spring break with his Parkview friends. He and Patrick started school there the following week.
They met coaches after school to learn the offense. Parkview is traditionally run-oriented. Flowe never declared he would revamp the offense for Witt, though he did say recently: "I like our chances to throw it a little bit."
"It was, 'This is Parkview,' " Witt said. "I don't care what they run. I want to be a part of it."
The night before Parkview's first scrimmage, Flowe escorted the team from the practice field to the stadium. He paused in the parking lot, instructing players to button their chin straps and to walk onto the field properly, with respect.
Witt thought, "Wow, here we go."
Last Friday, Witt got a phone call from Holloway for the first time in five months. They talked for 10 minutes about their scrimmages.
"I finally got over it," Holloway says. "Things happen."
They won't have to call for that information Saturday. Witt will be starting for Parkview against Camden County at 2:30 p.m. Holloway will start at quarterback for Chattahoochee against Brookwood in the game after it.