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Stephen F. Austin’s football coaching staff returned to Tyler on Thursday for its “Camp of Champs” at Tyler Legacy High School.

The Lumberjacks held a camp last year at Tyler High School.

“Some of the best players in the entire state and some of the best coaches and programs are out here in the Piney Woods,” SFA head football coach Colby Carthel said. “This gives us a chance to come up here north a little bit and work in the Northeast Texas region. They have great facilities in this great town. It’s a perfect place to run camps. We’ve got a great turnout, and we expect some similar results from last year, when we signed some players out of this very camp.”

SFA has upcoming camps scheduled in San Antonio, Austin and Houston from June 5-8 and will host their elite camps in Nacogdoches July 7-9.

“We do three camps in Houston, three in DFW and three in East and Central Texas,” Carthel said. “We had a top five class in the country this year, and every kid we signed was from the state of Texas, and every one of them worked with us in camp.”

New Tyler Legacy head football coach Beau Trahan, who spent several years at the collegiate level at Baylor and Tulsa, knows the benefits of these camps and said it was good for his many players who were in attendance.

“I think it’s great for the kids,” Trahan said. “Here at Tyler ISD, we have great facilities. It makes it really easy on the colleges to come in and make it a one-stop shop and get out in three hours. I think it’s a great place for the entire East Texas to come and get noticed.”

One of the Legacy players in attendance was quarterback Luke Wolf.

“It’s great,” Wolf said. “We’ve got a lot of our team here. And I know these receivers so well, so it helps throwing to them.”

Grace Community’s Simeon Garner was the Defensive End MVP at the camp. Lindale’s Christian Pettway was the Offensive Line MVP. Chapel Hill’s Jayvin Mayfield was Defensive Back MVP and earned an SFA offer at the camp. Chapel Hill’s Darrius Dean was the Slot Receiver MVP. Other camp MVPs included West Rusk defensive lineman Kason Reed, North DeSoto linebacker Brian McMillian (Gatorade MVP), Mount Pleasant quarterback Mason McMinn, Cooper running back Markell Smith, Tenaha receiver Ja’Tyrian Moore, Parkway offensive lineman Dolan Williams and Parkway defensive back Camaro Mayo.

Tyler Junior College head football coach Tanner Jacobson and some of his staff were in attendance working the camp, along with coaches from East Central University, Midwestern State University and the Centenary College of Louisiana.

SFA went 6-5 this past season and won the Western Athletic Conference.

SFA had multiple East Texans on its roster this past season — Aaron Sears (Tyler Legacy), Marje Smith (Marshall), Dalton McElyea (Kilgore), Luke Watson (Gilmer), Korbyn White (Liberty-Eylau), Max Quick (Lufkin), Chris Campos (Nacogdoches), Clint Lapic (Hallsville), Keshon Williams (Pine Tree), Carl Williams (Lufkin) and Ky Thomas (Elkhart).