As bittersweet as the end of a football season may be for most teams, it does signal the beginning of one of my favorite times of the year — recruiting season. For many senior players, this time of year is the transition period between high school and college careers, and that is an exciting time for everybody involved.

This year was different for players signing national letters of intent; it was the first time an early signing day was held in December in addition to the February National Signing Day. Kirby Smart and the University of Georgia had a historic day, adding seven 5-star athletes to the 2018 signing class that was ranked No. 1 by both Rivals and ESPN. Clemson, Ohio State, and Miami also had great results from the early period.

Over the course of the last month, Bradwell was fortunate to talk to a plethora of college coaches, promoting the hard work and athletic abilities of our players. Staff members attended three recruiting events — two days in Atlanta, one day in Macon, and one day in Camden County — presenting stats and video of our players to more than 100 coaches. In addition to these conversations, we also had many coaches visit our school to talk to our players face-to-face, including Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Elon, Western Carolina, Wake Forest and Kennesaw State.

At Bradwell, we didn’t have any players sign on the early date, but we do have several players who will sign at the February event. Opportunities to play at the next level are hard to obtain, and these players have done their part athletically and academically to become eligible to extend their playing careers in college.

Leading the way for the Tigers is defensive end K.J. Milner. Standing at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Milner developed his already formidable skill set into a dominant defensive force. Finishing the year as the team’s leading tackler, Milner also earned recognition as IN THE GAME magazine’s scholar athlete, a member of the Blitz Border Bowl GA/SC All-Star game, and the Border War GA/FL All-Star game. Milner was a Region 2-AAAAAA All-Region first team member. Because of his hard work, Milner has earned offers from Western Carolina, Tusculum and LaGrange.

Curvontae Bryant is another Tiger defensive player to earn a chance to play at the next level, picking up an offer from LaGrange. Bryant was named IN THE GAME magazine’s defensive MVP for Bradwell Institute, as well as a participant in the Blitz Border Bowl GA/SC All-Star game and the Border War GA/FL All-Star game. Bryant was also a Region 2-AAAAAA All-Region first team member.

Over the next few weeks, we expect several other Tigers to earn scholarship offers as conversations with coaches and recruiters continue. This is truly an exciting time for these players and the Bradwell football program.