Chris Slade knows a thing or two about the recruiting process, and not just because he’s a high school coach.
Slade, who is the head coach at Pace Academy in Atlanta, Ga., went through the process himself as a high school player at Yorktown (Va.) Tabb in the mid-to-late 1980s. In fact, he was recruited by Clemson offense line coach Robbie Caldwell when he was the offense line coach at N.C. State during that time.
Now — after playing college football for Virginia from 1989-1992 and then playing nine seasons in the NFL with the New England Patriots (1993-2000) and Carolina Panthers (2001) – Slade has seen his share of players get recruited and go on to play college ball since he has been at Pace Academy.