The Trench Corps Academy was created in 2019 to provide high-level competition for high school linemen to compete between the area's best high school linemen during the off-season. The TCE is open to all rising 10th, 11th, and 12the grade linemen.
Former NFL and D1 linemen as well as former North Carolina and South Carolina head coaches has collaborated with VTO Sports to bring to North and South Carolina an opportunity for top linemen to come together and train and most importantly compete and get better.
In the football world, 7-on-7 has become a leading off-season platform for skill players to compete and train. The lineman has become the forgotten player. The TCA will create a similar environment to 7-on-7 but tailored to offensive and defensive linemen. The biggest gap for linemen in off-season training is the lack of competition. By creating an opportunity for linemen across our state to compete against each other in one-on-ones as well as train and condition will improve the level of play on Friday nights.
The Trench Corps Academy is hosting a linemen-only combine from 9:00am to noon on Sunday, February 11th at Providence Day School in Charlotte, NC. It's open and welcome to all linemen. The top linemen from the combine will be invited to join the Academy for six weekly sessions starting the following Sunday, February 18th.
For more information, you can visit: www.vtosports.net.
To register for the camp, you can do so at the following link: TRENCH CORPS ACADEMY REGISTRATION
Roger Purgason is the Director of the Trench Corps Academy. Here is the history and purpose of the event.
What is the Trench Corps Academy?
"I created this in a necessity need," said Purgason. "I’m a former offensive lineman back in the day and played for Mack Brown at North Carolina and had a small stint with the Atlanta Falcons. When my son son got into high school, I realized he didn’t have the ability to…you can train all day long, but he didn’t have the ability to practice his reps against other defensive linemen. So, what we did was created and saw how big 7-on-7 were for skill players. But there was nothing out there for high school ‘bigs’.
So, I created this platform called the Trench Corps Academy and essentially what it is a concentrated period of time of seven weeks where we invite some of the best offensive linemen and defensive linemen in North and South Carolina and surrounding areas to come together and compete against each other, so they can practice their things that they are learning at the high school, or they need to sharpen the saw."
Who makes up the staff of the Trench Corps Academy?
"We got experienced Trench Corps coaches like Joe Jacoby of the Washington Redskins, now the Washington Commanders," said Purgason. "We got other guys like Jamar Nesbit who played in the league. So, we got plenty of guys that can come together and help train and really give these young men a platform."
How are the participants of the Academy selected?
"Primarily rising seniors and rising juniors come to start our Academy. And that’s going to last about five weeks from there and we will rotate from high school to high school to do so. Essentially, what we are is a platform where the best defensive ends, the best nose guards, and defensive tackles can come together and know that they are going to get the opposite similar treatment. They are going to get the best centers, best guards, and best tackles around so they can compete and get reps against their foes. We think it’s a great thing!”
When did the Trench Corp Academy start and what are the benefits of attending?
"We are the only true linemen academy in the country. I have not seen anything like what we do. So, we are unique and these high school players in this area are very fortunate to have such type of academy. We are just a good platform for competition."
