With No High School Football This Fall, Some Young Colorado Athletes 'May Not Get Dream They Wanted'

(CBS4) - "I was disappointed. I was angry too." 

It was supposed to be a storybook ending. 

Palmer Ridge High School senior quarterback Luke McAllister was supposed to lead his school to their fourth-straight state title in 2020. 

But now that there's no football this fall, McAllister is instead making the most of his dream-turned-nightmare.


"Our team has a group chat, and the first thing everyone said was, 'I'm sorry.' This is what we've been grinding for. These guys are my day-ones," McCallister said. 


"We made the most of what we could and if we can't play this year, it is what it is. But we'd love to get out and play again," McAllister said.
 
For Tim Jenkins, founder of Jenkins Elite, the news of no fall football came as more than just a disappointment.
 
"I was pretty vocal. I thought it was a bad decision," Jenkins said of the decision to postpone high school football in Colorado this fall.

Since 2013, Jenkins has worked with hundreds of quarterbacks across the country, helping high school QBs land college scholarships and prepping college seniors for the next level. 


"I'm not a doctor, but I understand why we would push things back. My issue is that football has been pushed to spring, while other sports are still being played this fall. That's where I have a big beef with it," Jenkins said.

McAllister is one of the luckier ones. His talent got him noticed early, and he's already committed to play at Colorado State University. For many others, the situation is much different.


"We have a lot of guys on my team with high potential. They need this season to break out. If they don't get to play this year, they might not get the dream they wanted," McAllister said.

Jenkins knows firsthand how important this season is for so many hopefuls.

"I was an unoffered senior. So, I think about myself. I probably would have just got a degree and sold insurance or something. It's hard for the unoffered seniors," Jenkins said.


When I asked Jenkins what he would have done if this happened when he was a senior in high school, he said, "I don't know what I would have done. Hopefully wouldn't have got discouraged. I think a lot of kiddos are battling that. 

Jenkins has churned out some of the best high school talent in Colorado for the better part of a decade. He fears that the ripple effect of the decision will hurt Colorado football for years to come, in part because Colorado is in the minority when it comes to states where fall high school football is off.

"If I'm an SEC coach, the first thing I would say (to recruits) is, how seriously do they take football if they canceled a season. There's lots of negative recruiting stuff that could go on," Jenkins said. "So it's tough, yeah it's very tough."'