Connections and championships: How Christ School football became an N.C. recruiting hotbed
Chapel Fowler
The Fayetteville Observer
Zack Myers started his summer recruiting circuit at Mercer’s Mega Camp on June 1, a rangy freshman wide receiver and defensive back anxious to prove that he belonged at some level of college football.
Two months later, he kicked off his sophomore season as a four-star recruit and the No. 33 overall player in the nation, with 11 Division I offers including N.C. State, Ole Miss and Tennessee to his name.
And Myers, 16, credits the Christ School football program for helping him get there.
“If I had the same season at one of these public schools in the area last year, I’d just be another high school athlete,” he said. “Christ School is the sole reason everyone here is getting recruited so well.”
Indeed, Myers is far from the only surefire prospect who’s passed through Christ School’s idyllic 500-acre campus tucked in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains south of Asheville in recent seasons.
Current N.C. State cornerback Aydan White headlined a four-man class of 2020 for the Greenies. Five 2021 seniors from Christ School’s state championship team last fall are on Division I rosters. The team’s starting quarterback, three-star A.J. Simpkins, leads a group of 2022 seniors with offers or interest, while Myers and safety/linebacker Cayden Jones (five offers) are already Power Five darlings in the 2024 class.
Add in that long-awaited championship — before routing Harrells Christian 55-21 at home last November for an NCISAA Division II crown, the Greenies hadn’t won a title in 109 years of football and had lost five in a row dating back to 2012 — and the all-boys Arden boarding school has had quite the breakthrough.
“It’s been really cool to see,” head coach Chad Walker said.
Using connections
Christ School hired Walker, a former all-conference tight end and assistant coach at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, as its coach in May. He replaced Nick Luhm, who returned to defensive coordinator duties after two seasons as the Greenies’ head coach, and immediately recognized the tall task ahead of him.
Not only had Luhm delivered on the field — a 12-6 record, consecutive title game appearances and the 2020 championship — but he’d produced Christ School’s top two recruiting classes of the internet era.
In the 2020 class, three-star cornerback White (N.C. State), two-star quarterback Navy Shuler (Appalachian State) and two-star offensive tackle Will Buchanan (Liberty) all signed with FBS Division I programs. A fourth player, offensive lineman Kade Chapman, signed with Division II UVA Wise, while a fifth, linebacker/long snapper Read Sunn, took a preferred walk-on spot at Wyoming.
In the 2021 class, three-star tight end Charlie Browder (UCF) and three-star safety Langston Long (Virginia) were the top prospects while wide receiver Cade Mintz (Charlotte), wide receiver Painter Richards-Baker (Dartmouth) and offensive lineman Ian Adams (The Citadel) found Division I homes.
How has Walker tried to follow up on that red-hot recruiting stretch? By adding his own laundry list of college football coaching contacts to the mix and making sure they know his players are very available.
“I have a pretty large database I’ll send film to, and I do feel annoying sometimes,” Walker said with a laugh. “But if we have a kid that can perform at their level, we’re going to make sure they tell us no. It’s using my connections and embracing that with Coach Luhm’s connections and the Christ School name.”
Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson, Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, UNC defensive coordinator Jay Bateman, Michigan State defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton and Ole Miss co-defensive coordinator Chris Partridge are among the many Division I recruiters that Walker’s forged connections with over his college playing and coaching career (much of it in the FCS Patriot League).
And it’s often cyclical. Longtime coach Bob Heffner, for example, recruited Walker to Lafayette in the early 2000s, and he’s now recruiting Simpkins, Walker’s Christ School quarterback, to Northwestern. Simpkins officially visited the school this month and “is on the top of their (2022) list,” Walker said.
“I really owe a lot of it to them,” Simpkins, 18, said of the Greenies’ staff. “I came to Christ School with zero offers, and now I have 11. They helped get my name out there and bring some attention to me.”
Loaded team
Exposure with tangible benefits, a rigorous academic environment and the flexibility to re-classify — an increasingly important option for prospects in a new NCAA era of one-time transfers and immediate eligibility — have drawn many a recruiting hopeful such as Simpkins (formerly of Hopewell High School in Huntersville) and Myers (formerly of Carolina Day School in Asheville) to Christ School’s program.
And the overall preparation they’ve received for their football careers has been worth the hefty price of admission, the players said. (Christ School’s tuition, room and board for on-campus students starts at $58,935 a year, though merit-based scholarships and need-based financial aid can reduce that cost.)
Chapel Fowler
The Fayetteville Observer
Zack Myers started his summer recruiting circuit at Mercer’s Mega Camp on June 1, a rangy freshman wide receiver and defensive back anxious to prove that he belonged at some level of college football.
Two months later, he kicked off his sophomore season as a four-star recruit and the No. 33 overall player in the nation, with 11 Division I offers including N.C. State, Ole Miss and Tennessee to his name.
And Myers, 16, credits the Christ School football program for helping him get there.
“If I had the same season at one of these public schools in the area last year, I’d just be another high school athlete,” he said. “Christ School is the sole reason everyone here is getting recruited so well.”
Indeed, Myers is far from the only surefire prospect who’s passed through Christ School’s idyllic 500-acre campus tucked in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains south of Asheville in recent seasons.
Current N.C. State cornerback Aydan White headlined a four-man class of 2020 for the Greenies. Five 2021 seniors from Christ School’s state championship team last fall are on Division I rosters. The team’s starting quarterback, three-star A.J. Simpkins, leads a group of 2022 seniors with offers or interest, while Myers and safety/linebacker Cayden Jones (five offers) are already Power Five darlings in the 2024 class.
Add in that long-awaited championship — before routing Harrells Christian 55-21 at home last November for an NCISAA Division II crown, the Greenies hadn’t won a title in 109 years of football and had lost five in a row dating back to 2012 — and the all-boys Arden boarding school has had quite the breakthrough.
“It’s been really cool to see,” head coach Chad Walker said.
Using connections
Christ School hired Walker, a former all-conference tight end and assistant coach at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, as its coach in May. He replaced Nick Luhm, who returned to defensive coordinator duties after two seasons as the Greenies’ head coach, and immediately recognized the tall task ahead of him.
Not only had Luhm delivered on the field — a 12-6 record, consecutive title game appearances and the 2020 championship — but he’d produced Christ School’s top two recruiting classes of the internet era.
In the 2020 class, three-star cornerback White (N.C. State), two-star quarterback Navy Shuler (Appalachian State) and two-star offensive tackle Will Buchanan (Liberty) all signed with FBS Division I programs. A fourth player, offensive lineman Kade Chapman, signed with Division II UVA Wise, while a fifth, linebacker/long snapper Read Sunn, took a preferred walk-on spot at Wyoming.
In the 2021 class, three-star tight end Charlie Browder (UCF) and three-star safety Langston Long (Virginia) were the top prospects while wide receiver Cade Mintz (Charlotte), wide receiver Painter Richards-Baker (Dartmouth) and offensive lineman Ian Adams (The Citadel) found Division I homes.
How has Walker tried to follow up on that red-hot recruiting stretch? By adding his own laundry list of college football coaching contacts to the mix and making sure they know his players are very available.
“I have a pretty large database I’ll send film to, and I do feel annoying sometimes,” Walker said with a laugh. “But if we have a kid that can perform at their level, we’re going to make sure they tell us no. It’s using my connections and embracing that with Coach Luhm’s connections and the Christ School name.”
Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson, Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, UNC defensive coordinator Jay Bateman, Michigan State defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton and Ole Miss co-defensive coordinator Chris Partridge are among the many Division I recruiters that Walker’s forged connections with over his college playing and coaching career (much of it in the FCS Patriot League).
And it’s often cyclical. Longtime coach Bob Heffner, for example, recruited Walker to Lafayette in the early 2000s, and he’s now recruiting Simpkins, Walker’s Christ School quarterback, to Northwestern. Simpkins officially visited the school this month and “is on the top of their (2022) list,” Walker said.
“I really owe a lot of it to them,” Simpkins, 18, said of the Greenies’ staff. “I came to Christ School with zero offers, and now I have 11. They helped get my name out there and bring some attention to me.”
Loaded team
Exposure with tangible benefits, a rigorous academic environment and the flexibility to re-classify — an increasingly important option for prospects in a new NCAA era of one-time transfers and immediate eligibility — have drawn many a recruiting hopeful such as Simpkins (formerly of Hopewell High School in Huntersville) and Myers (formerly of Carolina Day School in Asheville) to Christ School’s program.
And the overall preparation they’ve received for their football careers has been worth the hefty price of admission, the players said. (Christ School’s tuition, room and board for on-campus students starts at $58,935 a year, though merit-based scholarships and need-based financial aid can reduce that cost.)
