Hurricanes' McClure Gets Kick Out Of Cowboys Grant

Jake McClure evolved from a middle school water boy for the East Hamilton High School football team to a Power 5 scholarship punter/kicker, and the fruits of his labor during that years-long journey paid off Wednesday when the 6-foot-4, 196-pound senior signed a scholarship with Oklahoma State.

Soak that in for a while.

Kickers are routinely asked to walk-on at colleges and universities around the country with the promise they’ll have a chance to possibly earn a scholarship at some point in their future.

For many, even the chance to walk-on comes late in the recruiting process. It’s not uncommon for kickers to agonize long after National Signing Day well into February or later for a college opportunity to roll around.

College teams, especially those from the nation’s top five conferences, first have to fill their recruiting needs before they get around to addressing wants in the kicking game. Running backs, receivers, quarterbacks, offensive and defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs are top priorities for almost every team.

That wasn’t necessarily the case with McClure.

“Usually, schools will ask kids that are kickers to walk on with a chance to compete for jobs and see how they do,” McClure said. “But they had a scholarship to offer. That’s the reason I took advantage of going out there to one of their camps. Coach (Mike) Gundy is a straight-forward guy. When I walked on campus and into his office I felt at home. He offered me a scholarship and I didn’t waste a second before accepting.”

Admittedly, McClure was a bit surprised the offer happened so quickly. He had always thought about kicking at Tennessee. He had a full-ride offer at Colorado State – thin air was a definite draw there – and opportunities to kick at East Tennessee State and UT-Chattanooga.

There was, however, something special about becoming a Cowboys punter/kicker.

“Once they offered I wanted to go there,” he said.

Gundy has made it his practice to award kicking scholarships since his arrival in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 2005.

His philosophy is simple: Oklahoma State values special teams, so Gundy and his staff will pursue the country’s best possible special team specialists. And they’re not shy about handing out precious scholarships to land them.

Like they did for Dan Bailey, who won the Lou Groza Award in 2010. Or Quinn Sharp, a three-time all-American and Matt Fodge, the 2008 Ray Guy Award winner. Ben Grogan, the Cowboys’ all-time points leader, just graduated.

As an athletic department spokesman said in an e-mail, “Special teams are important to us, so we act like it’s important to us by awarding scholarships to specialists.”

So, OSU is a perfect fit for McClure and vice versa.

“I can’t explain how great this feels,” McClure said of his signing. “I can’t thank God enough for this. I committed my life to football and told my parents I would do whatever it takes to get a scholarship whether it was to a DI or DII school. I just wanted to play at a high level. It was a big deal to me for Oklahoma State to offer a scholarship.”

A perfect example of McClure's scholarship Oklahoma State as compared to other schools is Farragut's Joe Doyle, an Under Armour All-American punter. Doyle did not sign on Wednesday. He hopes to sign by the end of this month and is waiting for a possible scholarship to come his way. Doyle has Power 5 opportunities, mostly as a preferred walk-on.

The relentless pursuit of McClure's college football dream started as a sixth-grader at East Hamilton. He was the varsity team’s water boy. He steadily progressed and eventually earned a roster spot on coach Ted Gatewood’s varsity squad.

He played several positions – receiver and safety and cornerback in the secondary – and handled the kicking duties the past two years.

There’s no escaping the fact that a background in soccer enhanced McClure’s impressive successes on the football field.

In particular, during his final season with the Hurricanes.

According to statistics provided by the school, McClure made 24 of 25 extra points and 11 of 12 field goals, ranging in distance from 20 yards to a school-record 56 in a game at Cumberland County.

McClure put 28 of 38 kickoffs into or through the end zone for touchbacks. He had eight punts die inside the 20-yard line, six inside the 10 and four inside the 5. His longest punt was a 67-yard bomb and he averaged 40.2 yards in 2016.

“The thing with Jake is, number one he’s a football player and a kicker,” East Hamilton coach Ted Gatewood said. “We utilized him in a lot of different areas on both sides of scrimmage. His kicking was tremendous and he could really flip the field with his punting.”

McClure said his recruitment as a kicker “really took off” when he began attending college camps across the country after his sophomore season. Following his junior year, McClure picked up the camp pace and he was then considering kicking his “day job.”

“I traveled the U.S. going to camps last summer and Oklahoma State invited me to theirs,” he said. “I went out there, fell in love with the place and got to compete against other kickers in front of coaches.”

He was also starting to pile up postseason awards

McClure also began reaping postseason rewards for his hard work on the field, snagging a Tennessee Sports Writers Association Class 4A All-State honor as a kicker. He was on the All-Region 3-4A team and a semifinalist for the TSSAA’s Class 4A Mr. Football Kicker of the Year award.

McClure earned a third-team spot on the KohlsKicking All-America squad as a punter.

A decision to work with James Wilhoit proved beneficial in terms of exposure to college coaches at various kicking camps for the youngster with the strong right leg.

Wilhoit, a high school Parade All-America kicker at Hendersonville High School who went on to kick at Tennessee, helped McClure kick more consistently and happens to be “tight” with the Oklahoma State special teams coordinator.

“James made sure I was in the right camps and being seen,” McClure said. “He worked with me in Nashville and pretty soon I’ll be going up there about every weekend and kick with him at Brentwood Academy where he’s teaching and coaching.

“I wouldn’t be in this position had I not learned to kick the way I do and that was all coach Wilhoit. He’s the best kicking coach in the southeast. You can’t find one any better.”

There were times when Gatewood didn’t actually have to watch to be sure McClure was working during practice on his specialty.

“When you hear the ball come off his foot you know who kicked it,” Gatewood said. “It sounds like a gun going off.”

That distinctive sound will soon be originating from the Midwest plains.

Owls’ Strawter Beats Adversity

On Wednesday afternoon, during a ceremony in the Ooltewah High School theater, defensive tackle Tyree Strawter did something that seemed impossible only two years before.

The 6-foot, 222-pound Strawter signed a college football scholarship with Carson-Newman University.

There was not much doubt about his gridiron talent. There was, however, consternation about his academic standing.

And that was the sticking point.

“I had a problem waking up late, being lazy, procrastinating with my homework and that really put me behind in school at the beginning,” said Strawter, one of five Owls to sign grants – a sixth player has committed to East Tennessee State as a preferred walk-on player.

Strawter’s classroom turnaround wasn’t easy, but with the help of teachers and a higher power he stopped being lazy, got up on time and hit the books.

“Last year I had a 3.0 (grade point average) and it’s 4.0 for this year. My overall GPA is a little low, but I had a 3.0 at the nine-week mark.

“As a college student, I plan to be on top of my grades early and often so I can be successful overall as a young man. Today means a lot to me and I want to thank God for what he’s done for me. My coaching staff really prepared me and changed me into a man. From now on academics are always going to be my number one goal.

At Carson-Newman faith is number one, academics number two and football or anything else number three. My professors are all believers in Christ and Christianity is always all around you. Another thing is the weight room is top-notch, man.”

Strawter was instrumental in the Owls’ drive to another postseason berth in 2016.

Ooltewah suffered a season-opening loss against Riverdale and won 10 of the next 11 games to earn a quarterfinal matchup against Farragut in Knoxville. The Owls built a 28-0 lead, saw Farragut rally to tie the game with less than a minute left in regular and then win 56-49 in overtime.

Farragut went on to beat South Doyle in the semifinals and knock off Independence for the Class 5A state championship.

Ooltewah finished 10-3.

Coach Mac Bryan said of Strawter, “Tyree is a hard-working kid and he’s going to be an excellent football player in college. He’s got all the intangibles to do that.”

There’s still a chance that one of the area’s best wide receivers, Cleveland’s Skyler Davis could land at some college in the future. Davis has not passed the ACT.

Note: E-mails were sent to many coaches and athletic directors on Sunday requesting names of players that planned to sign on Wednesday. Here is a list of players from schools that responded or that Chattanoogan.com compiled on its own. Several schools did not return our e-mail. If any coach wants to add to this list, see contact information at the end of this story:

East Hamilton: Jake McClure, Punter/Kicker, Oklahoma State

Ooltewah: Tyree Strawter, DL, Carson-Newman University; Josh Myrick (OL) and Avery Black (OL), University of the Cumberlands; Cameron Turner (RB) and Kendel Robinson (FS), Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College; Collin Thurman (QB) committed to East Tennessee State as a preferred walk-on; DL Will Whitson is hopeful of earning preferred walk-on status at Tennessee Tech.

Soddy-Daisy: Jaden Holcombe (WR/DB), Berry (Ga.) College

Walker Valley – Bryce Nunnelly (WR/LB), Tennessee at Chattanooga; Cooper Melton (WR) will be a preferred walk-on at Tennessee.

Bradley Central – Cole Copeland (QB), Tennessee at Chattanooga

Chattanooga Central – McClendon Curtis, OL/DL, Tennessee at Chattanooga

Baylor – Cole Johnson (FB), Tennessee at Chattanooga

Rhea County – Jared Edward (TE), University of Memphis

McCallie – Giovanni Hightower-Reviere (DL), Purdue; Robert Riddle (QB), Mercer University

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)