A&M-Commerce head coach Colby Carthel addresses high school football players at Camp with the Champs football camp at Brook Hill.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL | TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE CAMP

BULLARD — Texas A&M-Commerce head football coach Colby Carthel knows how to win.

Carthel’s program has won 49 games in his five seasons, including a 14-1 mark and an NCAA Division II national championship in 2017.

Carthel also knows the importance of recruiting in East Texas. After coming to Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium last year, the Lions’ staff returned to East Texas for another camp, this time making a stop at Brook Hill’s Herrington Stadium for Camp with the Champs on Sunday night.

“It’s awesome to be back,” Carthel said. “This is home to us. A&M-Commerce is our name now, but it was East Texas State University, so East Texas is our home. We always want to do a good job recruiting out here. That’s why we come out and do a camp right in the heart of it, because there are some great athletes, great kids and great coaches in this area. It’s really good to be back and see what Beast Texas has to offer.”

Texas A&M-Commerce had multiple East Texans on its roster last season, including John Tyler’s Pierre Leonard and Ken Holmes. The Lions have more East Texans on the way this season, including four who were offered at the 2017 camp.

Dozens of East Texas athletes were at the camp, including Tyler Lee receiver Zaylon Walker, Brook Hill quarterback Khalan Griffin, John Tyler quarterback Devlen Woods and Jacksonville defensive end Jermichael Calhoun.

“It’s an honor to come out here and work with these coaches,” Woods said. “I know they have recruited some people down in East Texas like Pierre, who went to John Tyler, so I’m just trying to learn and get better.”

“This is a good chance to come out here and get better and get some exposure,” Calhoun said. “I want to get better on my technique and learn as much as I can.”

After the campers got loose, they went through testing. Carthel said the results would be shared with 46 Division I programs.

“It’s great for us in recruiting, but we can’t sign all of these players,” Carthel said. “Our locker room is not big enough. But we hope every kid that comes out here gets better at the game of football.”

Following the testing, the campers split up into their positions with Texas A&M-Commerce’s position coaches and ran numerous drills.

“What these camps allow us to do is really get to know these kids,” Carthel said. “These kids also get to know us and our coaching style. You’ve got to find the right fit in recruiting. This gives us a chance to find out if we want to coach them for four or five years, and they find out if they want to be coached by a staff like us for four or five years. I think that’s the real benefit in all of these satellite camps.”