Hayfield ATH Scott Woods (Photo: Thomas Kinder/hayfieldpictures.com)
Scott Woods Proves He Is Destined for Big Things by Committing to Harvard
by Marc Goldstein, recruitNoVA
Hayfield ATH Scott Woods (2021 RB/DB/WR 5-8 190) is going into his senior season and has made waves for the surprising move he made recently. On Monday, he made a life-altering move to decommit from Davidson College, and to commit to Harvard, one of the premier colleges in the nation. Scott boasts a 4.2 GPA, impressive for any student, let alone a star athlete. He uses his intelligence inside and outside the classroom to his advantage, making sure to outsmart opposing teams in order to beat them.
His coach, Eric Henderson, details some of the importance that Scott has to the Hayfield program and to the world as a whole.
Coach Henderson characterizes Scott in many different ways, all of them glowingly positive. He says, “Scott is a charismatic, positive figure player who makes everyone feel important and included. He is a gregarious player and someone who is beaming with positivity.” He also talks about how all of Scott’s teachers have nothing but good things to say about him, demonstrating his incredible skills on and off the field.
Scott is a once in a lifetime kind of player, combining smarts with athleticism to make him into one of the most intriguing prospects for colleges. Coach Henderson believes that if Scott were taller, he would be a top of the line recruit. He thinks that his height is the only negative thing he can say about him, and that despite this obstacle, Scott makes up for it by being one of, if not the, fastest players on the field at all times. During the summer track season, he turned heads with his incredible performance with the way he ran.
Scott originally committed to Davidson in the spring of this calendar year.
While he did decommit from them, it is not because he didn’t like the school or the football program, it was just a matter of a better opportunity for him at Harvard.
Davidson holds a special place in his heart for many reasons. They were the first school to give him an offer, which will always mean something to him. Coach Henderson believes that even though Scott did not receive much attention because of his height, his injury mid-season last year that required screws and plates in his leg also scared many colleges away. Nonetheless, when Harvard called him, he became ecstatic about the opportunity waiting for him in Boston.
Harvard became interested after seeing a film from his summer track season that saw him beat personal records and turn heads along the way.
Harvard looks for multiple things in their players. One of them is intelligence, players have to be able to keep up with the rigorous curriculum that is at the university. The other is the ability to compartmentalize, due to the fact that there are many things that are going on in a players life from their sport to going to classes themselves. Finally, if they check both of those boxes, it is still important for a player to have the necessary talent to help the Crimson win. Players like Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has had a long, successful NFL career, is one of the most infamous Crimson football alumni, who also combined a tremendous amount of intelligence with talent on the football field. Fitzpatrick scored one of the highest ever scores on the Wonderlic test, a barometer for intelligence for football players.
When thinking of comparisons to Scott, it can be difficult to find the perfect match of intelligence and talent. When thinking of a football player that is similar to Scott, Coach Henderson thinks of two players in particular.
“When I think of people like Scott on the football field, I think of Steve Smith Sr., a shorter wide receiver that used his speed to break away from defensive backs, and Ryan Switzer of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who is used as a Swiss Army Knife, doing everything from playing in the slot, to returning kicks and punts to everything in between. Scott just does so many things well, and there are so many players like him on the field, but off the field, I have never seen anyone like him. I don’t think I have ever seen a player that was this smart off the field,” he explains.
Speaking of Scott’s on the field talent, he boasts a special ability to get away from any tackler in sight. He also can rip apart man to man defense, and forced a lot of teams to stop blitzing against Hayfield last season. “I think that in the beginning of the season, teams were blitzing us a lot and playing man to man, and Scott just torched them, but then they stopped blitzing and Scott still dominated,” Coach Henderson elaborates. Simply put, he is dangerous anytime he has the ball in his hands.
Scott’s intelligence levels are more than just his prolific GPA. He is very smart on the football field as well as generally in life. He is classified as a respectful young man who has a lot of maturity for his age, according to his coach. Coach Henderson says that the commitment to Harvard is all a product of Scott’s hard work and dedication on and off the field, and that the hard work and dedication comes from his parents that have instilled those values in him.
On and off the field, Scott Woods is headed for big things. He can do anything he wants on the field despite his size. In fact, he uses his height as a chip on his shoulder to assert his will onto opponents. Harvard seemingly got a good one, and whatever role Scott plays for them, he will have a tremendous opportunity upon arriving at Harvard. Scott is destined for greatness no matter what endeavours he goes into, and his coach will be eagerly watching for what happens next.
– Marc Goldstein
