Statesboro High School
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BFS First Team All-American Tony Grant Box Squatting with Seven Big Plates on each side — 700 Pounds On The Bar!
By Greg Shepard Coach Steve Brooks was in his fourth footbal! season at Statesboro High School last fall. He took time to write me a note during that busy season. Coach Brooks was excited. Statesboro is a larger high school in Southern Georgia, an area where some of the best football in the country is played. Coach Brooks had been on the BFS Program for two years and had some great success stories to share.
When Coach Brooks arrived at Statesboro, only one player could break 4.8 in the 40 yard dash. Now they have many. The Statesboro athletes work hard on weights, sprinting, plyometrics, stretching and the dot drill. Coach Brooks reported that $80,000.00 was spent on the weight room facility which was built from In Coach Brooks’ first year, not one athlete received a scholarship. Last year, five athletes were awarded football scholarships and nine total in other sports. The kids and the community have been sold on the total program offered at Statesboro. Coach Brooks wrote specifically about Tony Grant, an exceptional young man, who we have honored as a first team BFS All-America.
Tony is now in the track season of his junior year. Last year, Tony placed second in the state in the Shot Put with a throw of 54-6. He also runs the sprints and relays. It was a great year athletically but a very difÏcult year for Tony personally. His mother died from cancer and he now lives with his aunt and uncle. Tony played as a running back and noseguard in football while achieving a 4.53 Forty, a 275 Bench, a 650 Dead Lift and a 700 pound Box Squat.
Plyometric Box Jumping is big at Statesboro. Six days after his first letter, Coach Brooks wrote power, but the bar slipped out of his right hand. Tony again. Tony Grant scored the winning touchdown on a tried it again but that weight also slipped. Afterwards, 73 yard burst up the middle to clinch a 13-6 victory over we felt if Tony had put massive amounts of chalk on his EfÏngham County, the defending South Georgia AAAA hands, he would have broken the record. Perhaps he can Champs. The Statesboro Blue Devils were a team on the on another day. verge of being a great team. They finished the season [ stayed overnight at Coach Brooks’ home. He has a with six wins and four losses.
But Coach Brooks and his wonderful family with wife Carol, daughter Stephanie, players want to move up a notch or two next season. and two year old son Craig. A true Christian spirit They've always worked hard and now they wanted to see if they could do things a smarter.
A BFS Clinic was scheduled and I came to Statesboro two months ago. The town of Statesboro is wonderfully beautiful. A great place to live and raise a family. It lies about 45 minutes out of Savannah. The high school was neat and picturesque. The weight room facility, I feel is one of the finest in the nation for high schools. It is used for team meetings, films and, of course, lifting weights.
Coach Brooks stated, “Our weight program helps us find people who are willing to pay the price to wear the blue and white and to be a Blue Devil.” Coach Brooks is totally comitted in helping every person reach their Information. fullest potential.
Tony Grant turned out to be just as great a person as Coach Brooks said he’d be. Tony was very polite, humble and quietly confident in his abilities. [ had Tony come down for the Power Clean and Dead Lift. I was wowed. After teaching him the technique, which he Demonstrated by Coach Rowbotham! Stick Figure Drawings Are Not Used. Written for Coaches in an Easy to Understand Style! picked up very quickly, he Power Cleaned 300 pounds! Tony is not only super strong, he is super quick. He To order write: made me look like a great coach. The Dead Lift was amazing. Tony pulled 650 pounds with plenty of power to spare.
We put on 710 pounds for his final attempt which would have been a new national BFS Clinic Record. Tony just barely missed. I think he had the
From BFS Magazine — Spring 1989. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
