Arkansas Class of 2016 QB Andre Sale Talks Tennessee-Martin Commitment and CHS Rockets’ Football

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

When University of Tennessee-Martin landed Catholic High School’s Andre Sale, silent commit on Thursday and public on Sunday, they added a rare leader to their mix. The Little Rock native is everything a coach at any level would want. He’s a student of the game, determined, has a great arm, and he is willing to give up life and limb for his team to win a game.

The life and limb, or any other cliché resembling the expression, is not a joke with Sale. Sale had a gruesome injury in Week 2 of the Rockets’ season breaking his non-throwing elbow, tearing a ligament, and all the cartilage in his elbow. After missing three games, and with a big cast on his elbow, the 6’2”, 205 pound, Class of 2016 recruit stepped back on the field to lead his team to a 31-24 overtime win against Russellville.

The image painted about Sale’s return may not compare to Willis Reed walking back on the court for the Knicks in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals but something akin on the high school level. Little Rock Catholic won their first game of the season 32-25 against North Little Rock. In Week 2, when Sale was hurt, the team lost to Cabot 40-33 going on a four-game losing streak. Sale already had Division-I offers from UT-Marin and Louisiana-Monroe with Purdue, Florida Atlantic, and Southern Miss all showing heavy interest. There really was no need for him to go back on the field to prove anything, especially since doctors recommended that he sit out the rest of the season. But that is not Sale, and that is one of many reasons why the Skyhawks will be a different team in 2016.

To get an idea of the type of senior season Sale was and could still be on pace to produce, during the team’s scrimmage against Greenbrier he hit 10-of-13 passes for 141 yards and had eight carries for 36 yards and a touchdown in one half of action. In the Rockets’ Week 1 victory, he hit 16-of-25 pass attempts for 164 yards with two scores and had seven carries for 20 yards. In the game that could have ended Sale’s Arkansas high school career way too early, he connected on 21-of-35 passes for 203 yards with three touchdowns against one pick and added another 61 yards on the ground. After four weeks off, he hit up Russellville for 240 yards and two touchdowns.

CHS is now 2-4 but the Rockets still have a shot at making the playoffs with four games left against Siloam Springs, Conway, Greenwood, and Van Buren.

I caught up with Andre as he was buying his offensive linemen ice cream as a thank you for not giving up a sack over the weekend, especially due to his broken arm. In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview, I questioned Sale on his senior season, coming back from his injury, and how his commitment to Tennessee-Martin took place.

Interview

Andre, what were some of the things you worked on in the offseason that you wanted to improve upon for your senior year?

“I definitely wanted to work on my explosive throws and my middle throws. I’ve always been good at my deep balls with touch on it, but I wanted to get more comfortable with my quick intermediate throws on plays where I might have to get the ball out quick. I worked with Clint Stoener a lot on that. I worked on having more balance on my throws. I’m using my legs a lot more this year taking a lot of stress off my arm. I’m able to throw more in and after practice without my arm hurting because I’m using my core and my legs a lot more. I’m generating more using my whole body making me more explosive, I feel.”

From the way you spoke about Clint Stoerner (Arkansas Razorbacks/Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins), I’m guessing he’s been a quarterback coach for you?

“Yes, sir. He’s been working with me since I was in the fifth grade. I was one of the first quarterbacks he started working with. We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve been everywhere from a high release to side arm, and tried a bunch of stuff. It’s helped me over the years because now I can change it up. If I guy is blitzing I can do it over hand or fire one in pushing off my back leg and really fire it in there. We’ve worked on so many things. I just keep adding on because he’s been so good with me.”

With everything that you worked on in the offseason, are you seeing that success on the field?

“Yes sir. I definitely am. I can feel it in the way that I’m throwing. I’m a lot more confident throwing the ball in smaller windows when I have less time. I’m definitely seeing it in the way that I am playing.”

I know CHS has had a rocky start to the season so far, but do you think you guys will still make the playoffs this year?

“I was injured in Week 2. I broke my elbow. I broke my radial bone, tore a ligament, and tore all the cartilage in there. I was out three games and we lost all three of those games. Then I came back last week and we got a win over Russellville. I had a big ol’ cast on my arm. It’s still really fragile. I was supposed to be out for the season but I saw how badly we were doing and we had some other injuries on the team so I decided to come back. I came back last week and we got the win.

“I definitely think we’ll have some good momentum going forward for the rest of the season and into the playoffs. I think we just need to beat Conway or Van Buren and we are in. We just need to beat enough teams in our conference to make the playoffs. I think we can beat both of those teams.”

The hero triumphantly returns to the field to get the win. That’s a Hollywood storyline.

(Laughing) “Yes, sir. It was awesome to get the win.”

Did you take off running against Russellville?

“Yes, sir. I took off running four times in that game. It was instincts. When I took off running, my mom said the whole crowd was holding their breath until I finally got out of bonds.”

How many yards did you end up with?

“I had 24.”

Which schools have been showing interest in you leading up to your commitment to UT-Martin?

“Right now, it’s been kind of tough because over the summer I had a bunch of schools interested. The colleges were saying we’ll get back with you. Right now Purdue does not have a commitment at quarterback. I’m going up there to visit over Thanksgiving. Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss are showing interest. UT-Martin coaches now that and they said they understand if I de-committed for Purdue because it is Power Five Conference.”

That’s gotta give you a good feeling that if you do play your college ball for UT-Martin that the coaches are understanding of the process of a student-athlete.

“Yes, sir. The UT-Martin coaches are the best coaches I’ve ever been around. Coach (John) Bond, the quarterbacks’ coach, is great and one of the smartest guys. I’m just so lucky that I found Tennessee-Martin. I love those guys to death.”

What influenced you to commit to UT-Martin? I know you like the coaches but what else about the program excited you to commit?

“I think, there is such a great feel of Christianity on the campus and a winning feel. All the guys love football there. That’s the only thing on their minds. I’ll have no distractions there. I don’t want any other distractions. I live a disciplined life right now and I want to continue that in college without having the distractions of a big campus with a bunch of kids that want to party leading me in the wrong way. They have a very close family feel, the football team is always together and they’re always working on the game. I really like that. Coach (Jason) Simpson, the head coach, he’s actually a preacher. He’s a Christian guy and they are very open with their faith. You can just feel that they have such a good vibe around the team and around the city. Everyone is so supportive of each other. It just felt like a great place.”

How did the commitment take place?

Coach Bond calls me once a week. I took a visit to Louisiana-Monroe last weekend. It was between Louisiana-Monroe, UT-Martin, and Purdue. I took a visit down there. Tennessee-Martin called and said what are the pros and cons of going to UT-Martin over ULM? I ended up with a bunch more pros.

“The way everything it works out, ULM is not going to win a championship even if they went 12-0 just because of the money involved. At the FCS level, our conference sends three to four teams a year to the playoffs. The team with the higher record has the home game. They are competing for a championship every year. They are already winning seven games a year. The program is already doing really well. I see the program going nowhere but up.”

Who did you commit to?

“I called Coach Simpson and committed to him. I had talked to Coach Bond the night before. He had kind of spread the rumor around with the coaches. I committed Thursday night. All the coaches were tweeting me and direct messaging me that day before I committed. Saying how happy they were and stuff. I made it official with Coach Simpson on Thursday night and I made it official to everyone else on Sunday after I was able to talk to other coaches telling them what I was doing. Plus, I did not want to be a distraction before our game Friday so I wanted for the weekend.”

When you actually committed to Coach Simpson what was his reaction?

“He was very-very excited. He made sure that I prayed about it and that made a strong impression with my dad. He was so excited to get the ball rolling with a quarterback commit in place. He wants me to start – I’ve already started recruiting guys in the Tennessee and Arkansas areas. Where going to try to make this class really special.”

Which guys are you going after trying to get them to UT-Martin?

“Taylor Thompson (Columbia Academy), he’s a receiver from (Spring Hill) Tennessee. He’s already been offered by them. It’s between them and Jacksonville State right now. We went on a visit together a couple of weeks to Tennessee-Martin and became friends. Lance Harville-Thomas (6’1”, 220), our running back at Catholic. I took him to Tennessee-Martin a few weeks ago. He really liked it and they liked him. He’s a real good player. Dylan Hays (6’4”, 280), he’s at Little Rock Christian. He plays D-line and O-line. He’s a big prospect on their board. I run into him all the time here in town. I told him before anyone else that I was committing. I wanted him to commit with me but he didn’t. I’m hoping that he can get on board too.”

How did you feel at that moment when you verbally committed?

“It was a relief. I have a spot somewhere and I don’t have to worry about someone taking that scholarship from me. I got a full scholarship to go somewhere to play football. That’s been a dream of mine to play in college. It’s a good place for me to go and compete right away. I’m happy about that. I’m happy about the pro-style offense that they run. I’m happy with the amount I can do with checks, run checks, and pass protections. Coach Bond knows my goal and my goal is to play at the highest level and that’s the NFL. He’s going to do anything and everything he can to prepare me for that level.”

Are you going back to take any other visits to UT-Martin coming up?

“Yes, sir. I’m going to the (UT-Martin vs.) Arkansas game on the 31st. So I’ll go to that game. I’ll probably go after the season. In January I’ll take my official there. They’re going to get me there on a weekend with a bunch of guys on the verge and I’m going to try to recruit them down there.”

Education is important to the success of high school players hoping to play at the next level. Do you have a GPA you don’t mind sharing?

“My GPA is a 3.87 and I got a 26 on my ACT.”

Do you know what you want to major in while in college?

“No, sir. Not yet.”

Andre, thanks for your time today and good luck the rest of the season.

“Thank you.”

Photo credit: Andre Sale; Andre with UT-Martin head coach Joe Simpson

Photo credit: arkansasonline.com; No. 6 Andre Sale in action.

Photo credit: Neu Photos; No. 6 Andre Sale rolls out to pass.