(WSVN) - High school football players went on a road trip to some of the best college football programs in the nation. Rapper turned head football coach, Luther Campbell, made sure to use his connections to propel his players to success.
Commonly known as Uncle Luke, the now head football coach at Miami Edison, is ensuring the next SoFlo Pro has every opportunity to be discovered.
Campbell, along with his coaching staff, took the Red Raiders on a college road trip to remember.
“We’ve been doing this for over 15 years,” Campbell said. “I mean, we’ve taken from the likes of Amari Cooper to Devantae Freeman, you name it, on this particular tour. To be able to take these kids around the country and then teach them about history and places that they’re visiting and taking them to black colleges, it’s a beautiful thing.”
The best thing about this two week tour is that with Edison and Campbell, football wasn’t the only thing on the itenarary.
“Taking them to Tuskegee was the highlight of the entire tour,” Campbell said. “I mean, we went to 12 colleges in seven days. That was the highlight of it all because teaching these kids about George Washington Carver, that’s his grave right there and what he meant, and Booker T. Washington and what he meant to African Americans.”
“All I knew is Booker T. Washington in Overtown, that’s all I knew,” said Miami Edison wide receiver Nathaniel Joseph, “so it was great even to know that that’s a person and he had a lot to do with the Black people and had a big impact. That just helped my history, to grow my history as a young black man.”
By going on yearly college tours, Campell also exposed many of his players to football life outside of the tri-county area.
“I’ve never been out of the state of Florida, that was my first time, so it was a great experience for me and most of the other teammates,” said Miami Edison Offensive Lineman Roderic Smith.
From witnessing some of the best programs in the country to meeting arguably the top college head coaches, Campbell’s crew got some live experience.
“To be evaluated and talk to Nick Saban and hear Dabo Sweeny, hearing Dan Mullen speaking, it meant so much to them,” Campbell said.
One highly-touted Miami Edison wide receiver, even got the chance to have an exclusive conversation with seven-time national champion Saban, who compared him to a current Miami Dolphin.
“It means a lot to be in my shoes, to get compared to Jaylen Waddle who’s in the NFL and who was a first-round draft pick, so that was a great feeling,” said Joseph.
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