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Programs & Events

Participation is the first step towards building a relationship with our coaches. By presenting exciting and helpful programs & events we show them first hand who we are and what we do.

These annual programs are all direct responses to the felt needs of our coaches. The programs are also great opportunites to show new coaches what we are all about as well as the community resources that are there to support them…through Coach’s Corner.

Many of our players at Marietta are now able to go to college and continue to play football. For many of them, they are the first in their family to attend college. They could not do it without their football scholarship, and they would not have gotten their scholarship without the exposure they received at the Expo.
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Rus Rainey
Marietta High School Football Coach

College Recruiting Expo

FACT: Every year over 1,000,000 young men play high school football. Out that many only 35,000 make it to the collegiate level. Out of that 35,000 only 230 make it to the professional level.

History

Eighteen years ago our staff asked our community coaches …How can we help you?

They answered by saying that the bigger colleges had overlooked many of their athletes who were qualified and wanted to play at the collegiate level. Coach’s Corner Sports Ministries headed by Coach Bobby Lankford, initiated the first College Recruiting Fair in 1993.

A dozen high schools attended and a number of colleges also came to the first event held at a local hotel, The Marietta Conference Center. After helping coach Lankford with his annual programs, Ex-NFL New York Jet running back, Steve Harkey, established, with Coach Lankford’s permission, Coach’s Corner of Metro Atlanta, Inc. an IRS Qualified 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization in 1995 and has been a key part of the College Recruiting Expo ever since. As the numbers grew it became apparent that more space was needed and the event was moved to the Cobb Galleria Centre and is co-sponsored by the Georgia High School Association along with some other local and national businesses and organizations including the MacEachern Foundation located at MacEachern High School.

Each year more colleges ( from the over 800 colleges in the US with football teams) were contacted and more high schools attended (over 100 at its highest level ) the one event each year that addressed this problem of student athletes who wanted to play at the college level but were overlooked by the bigger schools.

Today

Coach Bobby Lankford was asked to be a part of the University of Georgia’s football staff in charge of Character Education and Coach’s Corner of Metro Atlanta’s CEO, Steve Harkey, took the leadership of this event until the last few years when the MacEachern Foundation and the Cobb County Athletic Department liked the results so well that they agreed to take financial responsibility for the entire program. To date over $100,000,000 in college scholarships have resulted over the last 18 years.

Passing League

Coach’s Corner has hosted the Summer Passing League for 14 years. Two nights a week football players and coaches from over 30 high schools gather at six different locations in the Metro-Atlanta area to practice, scrimmage, and perfect their skills in this 7 on 7 non-contact atmosphere.

Special Events

In addition to The College Recruiting Expo and the Passing League we host other exciting events like our Total Person Banquet in 2002 and last year’s 2005 Coach’s Kick Off, featuring nationally known motivational speaker and preacher Coach Joe Ehrmann. We are currently planning more great events like these for this upcoming year. We will keep you up-to-date.

Gridiron Golf Winners make it to "Super Bowl of Golf"

The Ed Voyles Team ( Don Marlowe, Pete Richards, Greg Floyd, Mike Stellmach)(Photo on the website) and their NFL Celebrity teammate from the New York Jets, Steve Harkey are going to the Super Bowl of Golf at the world famous La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California, host site for the PGA’s prestigious US Open.

Tournament date: April 18, 2008