His Olentangy Orange football teammates cheering him every step — or stride — of the way, Brock Fisher powered through one of the more pressure-packed 40-yard dashes he's ever run.
Never mind that approximately 70 college coaches, representing schools from the Big Ten to Division III, and about two dozen fans were watching Fisher on Monday afternoon during Orange's 45-minute portion of a Columbus area-wide College Showcase Day .
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior linebacker is eight months removed from having torn his right ACL, LCL and meniscus as well as a hamstring on the same play against Olentangy Berlin. His speed is approaching pre-injury levels — he clocked a 5.00 in the 40 on Monday, 0.4 of a second shy of his previous best — and the only visible evidence of his injury is two scars near the knee.
Expecting to be fully cleared by July, Fisher and 28 of his teammates concentrated Monday on displaying their skills in the hopes of playing at the next level.
"There's stuff on the line to run for," Fisher said. "I am pretty good with pressure, so I wasn't too nervous about it."It's just a matter of gaining confidence and doing everything at the 100% level. It was definitely a boost of confidence running the 40 and a 4.4 in the 5-10-5 (agility drill). I just want to be able to build from there."
Ten central Ohio high schools participated in the College Showcase Day, which was sponsored by the Central District Football Coaches Association. Fifteen more will host similar sessions Tuesday and Wednesday, in addition to five City League schools holding their own prospect showcase Wednesday.
Olentangy began the day with a session from 6 to 7 a.m. Westerville North was the final stop more than 12 hours later.
Agendas varied, but the camps generally included 40-yard dashes, agility and one-on-one drills and some position-specific work, such as passing sessions and shuttle drills.
Many players received invitations to summer camps, and some landed offers, such as Westerville South linebacker Quan Rhodes-McKee . The 6-foot-1, 210-pound junior, a first-team all-state honoree who had 136 tackles, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries last fall and ran for four touchdowns, was offered Monday by Tiffin and Wheeling.
Rhodes-McKee also holds offers from Ashland, Davenport and Notre Dame College.
"I wanted to show people I can move," he said. "I'm a big linebacker so people expect us to be slower. I wanted to show my speed and that I can be fluid."
Worthington Kilbourne coach Michael Edwards estimated that 60 coaches watched about 80 of his athletes. One of them, freshman offensive tackle Ben Culver, earned his first offer, from Kent State.
Culver expects to play his first varsity season as a sophomore.
"This is my first showcase," he said. "I had rugby last year and couldn't make it. I wanted to show what I have. I can definitely improve. I'm only a sophomore, so this season I'll get my varsity film. I feel like I'm going to pop out this season."
Ohio State running backs coach and run game coordinator Tony Alford found himself in a dual role at Dublin Jerome . He got to watch son Braydon, a junior receiver for the Celtics , while recruiting.
"This is great exposure for them," coach Alford said. "The good part is as a coach, you're always coaching someone else's kids, you're watching someone else's kids, spending time with someone else's kids in relation to football. Now it's fun that I can come out here and I'm working, but I'm watching my son."
Another player who received attention was 6-6 Celtics junior lineman Dane Wleklinski, who holds 20 Division I offers.
"It feels good, but it also gives you a little chip (on your shoulder) to work for some stuff," Wleklinski said. "I still have a long way to go. I still have a senior season. I'm just trying to work through it."
Orange quarterback Levi Davis admitted battling some nerves Monday. The freshman, who passed for 1,273 yards and six touchdowns last fall, said he prepared for the event for several weeks with school and private coaches and got advice from his older brother, Bowling Green quarterback LaBronz Davis.
"Of course I wanted to be impressive, but I didn't want to overdo it to the point where everything was looking crazy, it wasn't looking right," Levi Davis said. "I wanted to seem as natural as possible and still be impressive."
That echoed the business-like approach of teammate Owen Klein, a junior offensive lineman.
"You show up and do your thing, regardless of whether it's 50 college coaches or 6,000 people here on a Friday night watching you play your rival," Klein said. "You have to perform. You have to do your job."
Frank DiRenna contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio football players showcase skills for college coaches
