A special skills football development camp is being held in Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga on Sunday, April 15, at the Ridgeland High School in Rossville.
The Elite Georgia Showcase is organized by Derrick Tatum and the Elite Football Talent Academy. The over 300 athletes expected to attend comprise top football talent from Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio, Alabama and Florida.
“The middle school camp has been scheduled right before the high school camp,” said Derrick Tatum. “We have 35 of the top 100 middle school players in USA coming here. This has turned into a national showcase with the best competitors from Alabama, Fla, Tennessee, the surrounding states and beyond.”
The overall goal of the camp is to help participants get an edge in the upcoming recruiting season. Players compete and are evaluated by coaches and recruiting services. Over 150 student athletes will have received scholarships after attending the camp.
The camp is for middle school players grades 6-8th and high school football players grades 9-12.
Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. on April 15. The middle school camp will be from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and the high school camp from 12:30-4:30 p.m. at Ridgeland High School, 2478 Happy Valley Road.
For more information visit www.elitetalentfootball.com, email elitetalentfootball@gmail.com or call Derrick Tatum at 404.220-9633.
Coaches and some of the key players attending this year include:
Derrick Tatum- Played at UK and played for Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks
Calvin Middleton - Played and Jacksonville State and played for St. Louis Rams
Gerald Riggs Jr - Played at Tennessee and son of Gerald Riggs who played for Falcons
Wesley Tankersley - Head football coach Ridgeland High School, played football at UTC
Kip Klein- Assistant Head Coach of Ridgeland Hight School, played football at East Tennessee State University
Bill Oliver - Head Middle School Coach of Chattanooga Valley Middle School, played football at Carson Newman
Here is a list of just a few of the dozens of football players participating in this years’ camp and competitions (name, record, city, high school) from the Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga area.
Luke Shiflett QB
6’2” 180 pounds GPA 4.0 Class 2018, Northwest Whitfield High School
2016 STATS: 2334 passing yards, 24 TDs, 8 INTs, & 190/296 | 140 rushes for 710 yards and 9 TDs Class of 2018 247 Ratings: 263 National | 11 Dual Threat QB | 22 overall in Georgia
Offers from Georgia Southern, Troy, Kennesaw State, Troy, Georgia State, Mercer, Columbia
Markeith Montgomery HS-DB/SB
Class of 2018 Ridgeland High School, Rossville, GA
Navy, Austin Peay, Jacksonsville
Dustin Pope OT
6'6 300 pounds GPA: 3.8 Squat: 500 Bench: 405 Power Clean: 285 Dead Lift: 525
Class 2018 Chattooga High School
Austin Peay
Sam Stovall, OL
6-4, 285 Class of 2018
Notre Dame School, Chattanooga
Appalachian State, Western Kentucky, Memphis, Florida Atlantic, Mercer, Texas
San Antonio
Cameron Wynn, DB
5'11 170 pounds Class of 2019
Notre Dame School, Chattanooga
Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida Atlantic, Texas
San Antonio
Sleeper Recruit - Jalyn Shelton, RB
5'11 215 pounds
Class of 2018 Ridgeland High School
Over 2700 yards rushing the last 2 seasons.
Jalen Alexander CB
2019 Grayson High School, Loganville, GA
Auburn offer
Willie T Lee DB
5’11” 165 pounds
2020 top 2020 Athlete, Chattahoochee (Alpharetta, GA)
the only 8th grader (2020) on the Pro Impact 7on7 team
UNC Charlotte, University of Central Florida, UCLA offer
The Elite Talent Football Academy was founded by Derrick Tatum to help mold athletes and help them become better players and members of the community. He is known as one of the best trainers of defensive backs in the country. He was born in Cleveland and played football in high school in Ohio. He was All-State in two positions, Safety and Running Back and High School All-American. He went on to play at the University of Kentucky. He also played in the NFL for Tennessee Titans, and Seattle Seahawks, and Arena Ball For New York Dragons and the Georgia Force. He has been coaching for the last seven years.