Henderson’s Trae Hall Offered By Florida Atlantic
Boca Raton, Florida, could be in Trae Hall's future if he eventually decides to accept the opportunity that came his way Wednesday.
Florida Atlantic became the latest school to offer the rising senior Henderson athlete. Hall, who reported the news through his Twitter account, also owns scholarship choices from Alcorn State and Louisiana-Lafayette.
Hall (6-3, 185) was Henderson's primary quarterback last season, but he occasionally played receiver when the team went into the wildcat formation with TCU defensive back signee Lakendrick VanZandt. He completed 118 of 167 passes for 1,894 yards and recorded 24 touchdowns to just three interceptions.
Henderson could be argued as the best team in Class 4A Division I last season to not win the state championship. It lost to the ultimate state champion, district rival Carthage, by two points in the third round of the postseason.
Hall's squad defeated Carthage toward a regular season record of 9-1. Its regular season loss also came by two points, versus Kilgore.
Florida Atlantic made a splash in January with the hiring of Lane Kiffin as its next head coach. Kiffin had served as Alabama's offensive coordinator for three seasons after stints as head coach at Tennessee and USC.
Kiffin also has been a head coach in the NFL. Al Davis hired Kiffin, 31 years old at the time, to lead the Oakland Raiders in 2007 after seeing his work as offensive coordinator at USC during the Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart era.
Kiffin's dismissals and resignations have generated as much buzz as his hirings.
Davis fired Kiffin over the telephone four games into his second season with the Raiders.
Kiffin jumped to Tennessee and left the Volunteers after one year for USC.
USC, in turn, fired Kiffin five games into his fourth season and left him at the airport after a team flight back home.
Alabama hired Kiffin in 2014 to work under Nick Saban. Kiffin, who had already been named Florida Atlantic's next coach, left the Crimson Tide this past season between its national semifinal and national championship games.
For all the ire Kiffin has generated, he has an extremely personable side. He's very active on social media, frequently appears on national sports radio shows and loves to crack jokes during his media availabilities.
Kiffin's presence at Florida Atlantic propelled a program that went 3-9 last season into the national spotlight almost immediately. He recorded a low-energy commercial asking fans to buy season tickets, got ridiculed and turned the table by saying he knew the commercial would become a viral hit for the university.
Florida Atlantic competes in Conference USA and has one conference banner in its 16-year history.
Hall, like all college football prospects currently in their junior year of high school, will become eligible to sign with any school that offers him in December.
2018 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers
- Tre Allison, John Tyler, OLB, 6-0, 200 — committed to SMU; additional offers from Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Texas State, Tulane, ULL (7)
- Chance Amie, Tyler Lee, QB, 6-3, 190 — offers from Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Georgia State, Houston, Iowa State, North Texas, Rutgers, Southern Miss, Syracuse, Tulane, ULL, Virginia (15)
- Xavier Benson, Pleasant Grove, LB, 6-0, 200 — offers from Arkansas State, Army, North Texas, SMU, Southern Miss, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulane, ULL, ULM (10)
- Drake Centers, Tatum, OL, 6-4, 295 — offers from SMU, Texas State (2)
- Kris Dike, Van, OL, 6-6, 283 — offers from Colorado, Houston, North Texas, Oklahoma State, SMU, TCU (6)
- Dekalen Goodson, John Tyler, DE/OLB, 6-2, 215 — offers from Houston, Mississippi State, SMU, Texas State, Tulane, ULL (6)
- Trae Hall, Henderson, QB/ATH, 6-3, 185 — offers from Florida Atlantic, ULL (2)
- Conner Henson, Harmony, OL, 6-4, 250 — offers from ULL, ULM (2)
- Chasen Hines, Marshall, OL, 6-3, 340 — committed to LSU; additional offers from Arizona, Baylor, Louisiana Tech, Minnesota, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Rice, Southern Miss, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech (16)
- Tevailance Hunt, Texas High, WR, 6-2, 180 — committed to Kansas; additional offers from Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Iowa State, Louisiana Tech, Marshall University, Nevada, North Texas, Southern Miss, Tulsa (10)
- Keaontay Ingram, Carthage, RB, 6-0, 198 — offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Florida State, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, LSU, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, USC, UTSA (27)
- Malik Jackson, Lufkin, WR, 5-8, 165 — offer from Arkansas State (1)
- DeMarvion Overshown, Arp, S, 6-4, 196 — offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC, UTSA (30)
- Jonathan Shepherd, Kilgore, WR, 6-3, 196 — offers from Colorado State, Florida Atlantic, Kansas State, ULM, New Mexico, Oregon State, TCU (7)
- Tyree Wilson, West Rusk, LB, 6-5, 225 — committed to Washington State; additional offers from Kansas, SMU, Southern Miss, Texas State, ULL, ULM, Wyoming (8)