Clinton Smith's Hillcrest football program having big off-season week

Terry Pendleton of Atlanta Braves

I can’t remember Hillcrest High School’s football team ever having a bigger week in the off-season than they’ve had this week.

Coach Clinton Smith was named the state’s football coach of the year by the National Federation of State High School Associations, which is arguably the highest coaching honor ever bestowed on a coach in the county’s history.

I personally thought Smith got robbed when he wasn’t named the 3A Coach of the Year after leading Hillcrest to the state football title in 2017, and it’s great to see him finally getting some of the recognition he has worked so hard for. Smith’s a class act, and Hillcrest is lucky to have him. I hope he sticks around for a long, long time.

In addition to Smith’s national award, Hillcrest was visited by coaches from a number of major football programs last week, including Auburn, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Kansas, West Virginia, South Alabama, Troy and others. This attention is a testament to the crop of young talent that Hillcrest has nowadays, and it’s also a testament to the program that Smith and his coaching staff continues to build.

Some of Hillcrest’s players, most notably Cam Riley and Jacobee Bryant, are receiving major attention on the recruiting trail, and it’ll be interesting to see where they decide to play college football. It’ll also be interesting to see if any other major colleges come calling.

If Gus Malzahn’s visiting Evergreen, can Nick Saban be far behind?

----- 0 -----

I also saw this week where Terry Pendleton was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame on Saturday night. Pendleton played mostly third base for the Atlanta Braves from 1991 through 1994 and then again in 1996. Many will remember his memorable 1991 season, which saw him earn National League MVP honors and the National League batting championship.

The Braves began inducting past players into its Hall of Fame in 1999 and at one time you could visit this Hall of Fame at what was called the Ivan Allen Jr. Braves Museum & Hall of Fame at Turner Field in Atlanta. This museum was located inside the stadium and was named after one of Atlanta’s former mayors.

All of this changed when the Braves moved into their new park, SunTrust Park, in 2017. For some reason, the powers that be decided not to build a museum inside the new park. My understanding is that now all of the stuff that was in the old museum is now on display throughout the new park.

I’ve yet to see a game at the new park, but maybe I’ll take the time to go this season. Best that I can tell, Atlanta’s home opener will be on April 1 (April Fools Day) when they play host to the Chicago Cubs. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m.

This will come just a week or so after my birthday, so if you want to get me a nice birthday present, tickets to the game will suit me just fine. In the likely event that nobody gets me tickets, I’ll just settle for having to watch it on TV at the house, which won’t be so bad given all the creature comforts available at that venue.