By Zach Abolverdi
Correspondent
Last Modified: Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 11:51 a.m.
As an undersized, raw athlete in high school and college, Vernell Brown shocked many with his success at Gainesville High and Florida during his playing days.
He’s now turning heads as a 7-on-7 football coach.
Last year Brown established Elite Athletic Performance, a non-profit organization aimed at helping kids through athletics.
In January he formed Gainesville’s first 7v7 team for local and area players. EAP placed second in last month’s IMG Southeast Regional, the biggest annual 7v7 tournament in Florida that features 30 teams competing from around the state.