Friday Night Lights: Culver City HS

Welcome to another installment of Friday Night Lights. Every Friday from now until November, we will be posting an interview with a different high school coach. This series will highlight different high school programs around the country, with an attempted focus on high schools that are recruited by Mountain West Conference schools. The hope is that through this journey we all understand a bit about what goes into coaching at the high school level, what teams do similar and different from one another, and also learn more about the teams that recruits are coming from each year.

Culver City are the Centaurs, giving them top points for alliteration. They are located in the Los Angeles area (not too far off from Venice Beach), where football talent is plentiful. Last season, they went 11-2, including 4-1 in their league, losing a heartbreaking 57-56 OT shootout to Covina in the 3rd round of the playoffs. The Centaurs are coached by Jahmal Wright, who was gracious enough to answer a few questions for us.

How would you describe the culture or identify of your program? What do you think might make you unique compared to other schools?

The foundation of our program is built on competitiveness. From the classroom, to the weight room, to the football field. Compete, never give up, always fight. What makes our program unique, is that we have a diverse team from various socio-economic backgrounds, races and cultures.

What styles of offense and defense do you play?

Our style of play is an uptempo fast pace wide open style. Taking advantage of the speed and athleticism our players posses.

What are some specific ways your program develops players or helps them improve from freshman to senior year?

About 95% of our players are multiple sport athletes. I am the head coach of the Track Team as well, and a majority of our football staff coaches Track and Field also. The development that takes place in our athletes is derived from the concept of training the “whole athlete” year round.

What’s something about your team/program that not many people know about?

That we have a community that genuinely supports our football program.

How do you as a team balance the current high school season with players being recruited by colleges or how might you help a high school recruit with that process?

The balance is built into our football program, it is a perfect marriage between the football season and the recruiting process.

Who are some of the prominent players from your school who have gone to D1 programs and where have they gone?

I am entering my 10th year as head coach at Culver City, so there is a long list of players who have gone D-1 in that time. So here is a list of players in the last few years:

• Alex Smith -Wisconson
• Charles Ross- Nevada
• Deon Young- Wake Forest
• Mekhi Ware- Indiana State
• Lonnie Walker- Indiana State

Who are some of your top players this year getting D1 looks or offers?

2019:

• WR Kevin McGuire(1 offer)
• WR Jamal Glaspie (6 offers)
• DB Dominic Tatum (6 offers)
• DB Allen Smith (2 offers)
• OL Amir Hodge
• WR Tyler Luckett
• LB Cortez Wright

2020:

• DB Khary Crump 2 offers (Oregon & Arizona )
• WR Chris Miller

2021:

• QB Zevi Eckhaus

Want your team to be part of a future Friday Night Lights series? Contact @Mike_SBN or @MWCConnection on Twitter.