It’s 9 in the morning on Thursday, and the practice fields just outside Florida International University’s Pitbull Stadium are alive with the scuffle of cleats. Hundreds of high school football players are running drills, practicing their throws and tackling each other. On the sides of the field, parents shout encouragement and college recruiters take notes.
Willie Simmons, FIU’s football coach, was out on the field too.
“To bring an event at such a large scale to campus was really important to us,” he said.
Simmons and hundreds of top football players came to participate in the 305 College Showcase, a two-day event hosted by FIU and sponsored by Adidas and the Sound Mind Sound Body football camp. Over 600 students were seen by recruiters representing more than 40 colleges, including Notre Dame, the University of Michigan and the University of Louisville. There was also a seminar for parents on financing and branding techniques.
“There’s a lot of talent out on that field,” said Vince Marrow, the executive director of football recruitment at Louisville, who flew in from Kentucky in the early morning to scout the players.
The Sound Mind Sound Body football academy is a year-round curriculum that offers physical training sessions as well as education aimed at ensuring students meet NCAA requirements and develop life skills. More than a hundred players have gone on to NFL teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills. Among them is Derrick Harmon, a Steelers defensive end who was named the team’s top rookie in 2025.
The SMSB was founded in Detroit in 2004 to increase the number of student athletes graduating from high school and earning scholarships in the metro-Detroit area.
Since then it has expanded to about a dozen cities, including Washington, D.C., Tampa and Los Angeles. More than 13,000 students have enrolled in the program, and of that number, over 10,000 have graduated from high school and 1,000 have earned college scholarships.
“Our hope is that we put forward more of these athletes,” said Curtis Blackwell, president and cofounder of the SMSB. “And they set an example for how it should be done.”
