He confidently walks down the hallway to the coaching office. As he opens the door, he is greeted into a room he sees his high school coach sitting next to a Division I college coach. As he takes his seat, he anxiously waits to see what the conversation has in store for him. 

Junior Casey Poe has received over 20 offers from Division I schools from all over the country. Poe plays left tackle on the offensive line. 

“Everytime I get an offer it’s just a blessing,” Poe said. “People are recognizing all the hard work we put in around here. It is nice to know that we are showing up to work and it’s paying off.”

Poe grew up playing baseball but began playing football in junior high. Many of his family members, including his father, cousins, and uncles played football and introduced him to the sport. 

“I have multiple coaches throughout my family, and my dad even had the opportunity to go D1,” Poe said. “It always looked fun when my family played, and I eventually decided to join.”

Poe received his first offer at the end of his freshman year from Austin Peay State University. Then during his sophomore year, he received around eight or nine more offers.

“After I got my first offer freshman year, a lot of other schools began to recognize it, and I received more offers,” Poe said.

In order to stand out from other football players, he communicates with different colleges and their coaches. He also excels in other areas such as academics and track and field, including winning the state championship in shotput his sophomore year.

“He plays extremely hard and practices extremely hard,” head football coach Chris Cochran said. “That’s another thing, we practice hard so our games feel much easier, and Casey puts in a great amount of practice.”

Poe has heard from universities such as Alabama, Texas A&M, Louisiana, Auburn, Texas Tech, Baylor, and many more. He will pick his top five schools and have a visit to each one of them, and then he will choose what school he wants to commit to.

“It has been a lot of fun watching him accumulate these offers,” Cochran said. “He’s handled this the same way from the first offer until now when he is getting these big time offers.” 

Poe currently has not committed to a college or university. However, he plans to coach football in the future.

“Me and my coaches have a great relationship. I feel like they are a second family to me,” Poe said. “Being able to give back in return and get back into that lifestyle would be great.”