PrepGridiron Posted May 16, 2018 Report Share Posted May 16, 2018 Coach Wilson should be joining us shortly First, we'd like to welcome Coach Wilson to Prepgridiron.com. Coach Wilson is the head football coach at West Toronto Prep, an academy for elite student athletes and the 1st American football high school program in Toronto. Coach Wilson played and graduated from the University of Connecticut before being drafted by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He had stints with several teams in the CFL before becoming the head coach at West Toronto Prep. In collaboration with PrepGridiron Logistics, coach has been kind enough to give us some of his time and answer several questions posed by the members of this board. As we have done in the past, we will be asking coach the questions and he will be responding in the thread. We will be asking coach five questions and expect to open up the floor to members. Feel free to respond and ask questions, note, however, that it will be at Coach's discretion whether he responds further. Lastly, we ask that you keep your responses civil and on topic. The thread will be heavily moderated so that we can encourage other coaches to come on in the future. Thanks again, Coach, and everyone enjoy. The first question will be asked at 8PM EST Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted May 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Looks like we are still waiting on coach. Hang tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted May 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Looks like coach is here. Thanks for joining us coach! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted May 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Coach, first question What are some of the challenges and advantages you have in your program compared to your American counterparts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 *The biggest challenge we face it that there are no home games and we have to travel every game. * One of our biggest challenges is building a football culture because none of my players have grandparents or parents who have played the game therefore they don't have the same support system as the US players. * One advantage that we have is that there is a large population here in Toronto therefore we have a lot to choose from. *Another advantage is that here in Canada we have summer league teams which is a full season in itself. It allows our kids to gain more experience. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted May 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Second one coach Approximately how many miles per season does WTP travel annually? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 -Last season we travelled a total of 2870 Miles -This season we are set to travel 7230 Miles 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted May 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Wow!! That’s a lot Number 3 You play a fairly ambitious schedule even for US standards; what are the goals of your program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Our ultimate goal is to prepare our kids for life and student athlete life in university. The reason why our schedule is so ambitious is because I am a strong believer that iron sharpens iron. Our guys need to experience top level football in order to become top level football players. We also need US recruiters to see that our players are capable of playing a high level. to get our kids a look. In our past experience recruiters would always bring up the same issues with our highlight tapes "yea it looks pretty good but that is vs Canadians". 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted May 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Question 4 Do you play under NFHS rules? If not, what are the high school football rule differences between Canada and the US? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 In Canada we follow Canadian football rules not the NFHS rules. The main rule difference are: -Field measurements (length) US=100 yards CAN= 110 yards (width) US= 53 yards CAN= 65 yards (length of end zone) US= 10 yards CAN= 20 yards (downs) US= 4 CAN=3 *4 down football encourages more of a running game verses 3 down football which is a faster paced game that has a lot of 2 and outs (players on the field) US=11 CAN=12 (slot backs) US=1 yard off CAN= get a running start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted May 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Do you see yourself in near future playing Royal Imperial Collegiate, Clarkson Football North, St. Joes Ottawa, etc. or any of the other Canadian teams that travel to the US? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted May 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Coach, thanks so much for your time! If you have some time, we can open it to the members. Again, thank you and good luck this season!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 We definitely wouldn't rule it out because rivalry type of games help feed the culture. Also the kids would be excited to play another Canadian team. It would also be good for those parents and family members who can't get the time to travel to games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbiafan Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 I have a question if you have time Do you all have any trouble adjusting with the American rules when you have to play under them? Also could a game against a FL school happen in the future? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Sure thing I will be available for the next little while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 @Columbiafan We typically have issues adjusting to the rules early in the season so to fix that I tell my guys to focus on watching more US college football. We would love to play a FL team we are actually searching for the best match up/ most hospitable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 @GardenStateBaller We get attention from D1 to D3 and Canadian schools as well which is pretty good seen how we are only going into our second season. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfaddict1 Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Coach, do you follow Josh Palmer’s career at all? He’s from Brampton and attended STA (St Thomas Aquinas, FL) and now at the Univ of Tennessee... looking fwd to seeing him see the rock more this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbiafan Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Follow up question Are any southern powerhouses calling you up for games or is it generally teams from northern states that you see calling? Also is your team made up of all Canadian players or do you end up having some American players on the team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 @GardenStateBaller I can give you a few names if you are in the mood to go youtube or hudl crazy. -Standout Khalil Wilson who just finished up with us will not have a problem finding a home. He currently going through the recruiting process. -I am most proud of my DB's Dantae Lee and Phonarlen Burrell. -OL Omari Hastings had a great off season 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 @golfaddict1 I'm very familiar with Josh Palmer and his family. I privately trained him at the WR position for a few years through my program "www.anotherlevelfss.com" Tennessee is very lucky to have him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 @Columbiafan We do have a game scheduled verses a Tennessee power house which will be our farthest travel to date. Our team is made up of all Canadians thus far but we are open to cross border players. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbiafan Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Thank you for your time Hopefully you all will sometime play a north Florida team and I might drive to check the team out (maybe Jacksonville area team like Bolles or Trinity Christian or maybe even a team like Raines) Also I wish you luck with your season and I'll be sure to keep a eye out for your team's results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Wilson Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 If anyone wants to keep up with us on social media you can find us on Instagram @wtpfootball and twitter @westtorontoprep 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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