re: State of Texas 7 on 7 football championship this weekend.

quote:

---

This assumes Texas churns out 300+ pound beasts that run like the wind at the same rate as southeastern states do.

I don't believe that's the case, but if it were, how does 7-7 soften those players up if they aren't playing it? Is the theory that Texas takes those players and turns them into tight ends or what?

---

I just looked at the recruiting rankings. Tejas produces plenty of elite front seven talent, but the Southeastern states produce much more per capita. There are lots of elite DL and LBs from Georgia to Louisiana, and some in Tennessee as well.

I think the theory is simple: 7v7 shootout style football is "glorified" in Tejas HS football culture. It's not just in the 7v7 games, but in the actual Friday night games themselves. As a result, the players grow up playing and prioritizing a less physical style of football, which is the kind that generally wins in the Southeastern Conference. Although the wide open, air raid Big XII stereotype isn't necessarily true anymore, the players who play in that conference, most of whom hail from Tejas, have grown up playing in those systems their entire life. It's a cultural thing.