USA vs. The World Saturday notes

AUSTIN, Texas - We touched down Saturday night here and high-tailed it directly to a lively welcome dinner for both teams.

Most of the World Team - made up of international players from 15 countries and four continents - arrived Thursday and finished with their second two-a-day practice schedules.

Most of Team USA's under-19 national squad arrived on Saturday and will practice for the first time Sunday. Both teams are staying at the same hotel.

The two squads will battle Wednesday night on National Signing Day for the second annual contest. Story.

On this night, though, Ninety large and very hungry teen-age boys donned in red, white and blue game-jerseys sat together, yukked it up and enjoyed tasty beef brisket - ummm a Texas tradition - a truly talented Westlake High School boy band "Loose Wheels" and numerous keynote speakers, including Scott Hallenbeck, the Executive Director for USA Football.

"You have a special opportunity to represent your countries," he said. "I hope you embrace it. ... Remember someone at home who supported you at church or school or in youth leagues and play for them. ... Remember you represent them."

USA head coach Darren Allman, the current coach at local Westlake (Austin) who before coached at Permian (Odessa), the famed "Friday Night Lights" school, gave a hilarious stereotypical self-effacing description of how most outsiders perceive backward Texans, including missing teeth and lack of general culture.

"Well, it's all true," he joked.

He then gave a much more sincere message about football and playing in the Lone Star State.

"It's a big deal around here - some say a religion," he said. "Everyone wants to win but just as important is playing football the way it's supposed to be played - tough and physical but with class and sportsmanship. ... You have a chance to be ambassadors for your sport. Take advantage of it, do it the right way and most of all have fun."

There was plenty of that as each table was mixed with USA and World team players. Though many players had trouble opening up, there were some obvious bonds, like between USA defensive end and Wisconsin-bound Jesse Hayes (Archbishop Moeller) and World team running back Steve Lumbala, of Canada.

This is Lumbala's third time playing against a U.S. team. He played for the World last year during a 17-0 loss in the inaugural game played in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

"(Lumbala) was a really cool guy and spoke iike four different languages," Hayes said of Lumbala. "He told me about how Canadians perceive Americans. It was real interesting. I'm sure we'll be friends for a long time."

This is the first time Hayes has stepped on Texas soil: "I really can't wait to practice and play against this level of competition."

Head World coach Greg Marshall, also from Canada, said the same thing. "We're really looking forward to Wednesday," he said. "Most of our players don't have the same opportunities in football as the U.S. players so this is a tremendous opportunity for our guys." 

Right now one of Marshall's biggest challenges is simply communicating. He has players from American Somoa, Austria, Finland, German, Japan, Mexico, Sweden as well as Canada.

"I don't speak all the languages so instead I just turn up (my) volume," he said. "I don't think that really helps."

With so many different languages, the World Team requires 18 different coaches, all of whom were introduced Saturday, along with the 12 USA assistants.

"It's kind of crazy out there with so many different coaches and languages," said World team receiver Jake Harty, of Canada.

Harty said he was pretty sore after a second day of full contact practice. The World team will get nine practices in before Wednesday's game. "I've been working out but it's not the same as hitting other guys," Harty said. "That soreness will go away once we get in the game."

Other notes.

* It appeared USA cornerback Jabriel Washington and linebackers Shannon Brown and Brent Calloway were swaying to the band's Lynyrd Skinner's version of "Sweet Home Alabama" more than the other 87 players. All three are Alabama commits.

* USA wide receiver Hakeem Flowers (Wade Hampton-Greenville, S.C.) just made his college choice of North Carolina State last Sunday. He picked the Wolfpack over Oregon and Michigan. "It was a tough choice but I'm glad I got it out of the way before coming down here," he said. "It's a big weight off my shoulders."

* All but four of the USA players have made verbal college commitments, with the exceptions being St. John's (Washington D.C) defensive tackle Kevin McReynolds, Columbia (Lake City, Fla.) defensive tackle Tim Jernigan, Pearl-Cohn (Nashville, Tenn.) offensive lineman Antonio Richardson and DeMatha Catholic (Beltsville, Md.) offensive lineman Cyrus Kouandjio. Kouandijo (No. 3), Richardson (No. 40) and Jernigan (No. 41) are all among the nation's Top 100, while McReynolds is ranked the fifth best defensive tackle in the country.

* All 45 are scheduled to sign together and wear their respective college jerseys during a ceremony at the Marriott South on Wednesday.

* USA assistant Mike Muschamp is the brother of new Florida head coach Will Muschamp,the former University of Texas defensive coordinator who was supposed the heir apparent to Mack Brown. Mike Muschamp coaches at Lovett High School in Atlanta. His team went 10-4 last season.

* Muschamp is one of five USA coaches from outside Texas. The others are Kevin Carty (Bound Brook, N.J.), Chris Merritt (Columbus-Miami, Fla.), Aaron Brade (Gonzaga-Washington, District of Columbia) and Dave Peck (Bingham-South Jordan, Utah).

Carty, considered an offensive guru, has been blown away by the Westlake facilities including Chaparral Stadium and Ebbie Neptune Field which seats more than 10,000 fans. "They do football right in Texas," he said.