Burnet football’s Stires signs NLI with Austin College
CAPTION: Burnet senior lineman Cameron Stires signs his National Letter of Intent to play football for Austin College as he’s surrounded by his parents. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
Burnet High School senior lineman Cameron Stires will play college football at Austin College after signing his National Letter of Intent during a signing ceremony May 2.
Stires’ signing is the result of hard work and unwavering commitment, especially during an unfortunate incident after playing a tennis match last fall.
On the way home with his parents, he told them he didn’t feel good. They rushed him to the hospital.
“Essentially you’re getting hot and dehydrated,” said offensive coordinator and line coach Tyler McIntosh. “There’s acid in the body. You’re working yourself so hard that your body can’t process everything it’s trying to get rid of at the time. They were doing blood work to make sure they ran everything out of his system.”
The result was missing many District 13-4A Division I games.
“We had to scramble and move players around,” McIntosh said. “He had … to stick to the process and ended up getting to play.”
But when the Bulldog did play, opponents had to game plan for him.
“He played the whole non-district schedule at center,” the coach said. “He’s got a really good football IQ. Cameron has been a smart player. He watched football a ton. He immersed himself in it. I had a really smart kid who understood football.”
Colleges really liked what they saw on film, McIntosh said, and Stires attended different football camps so staffs could met and see him in person.
As a result of what happened to him during the football season, Stires got a head start on what to consume in order to ensure his body is in peak performance. And that’s not limited to how he trains his body, McIntosh pointed out.
“He does a good job of balancing,” the coach said. “Cameron has really good grades. He wants to be a coach and teacher. He had the opportunity to play football, and he jumped on it.”
Stires is the second Burnet offensive lineman to sign to play college football. Kaleb Maynard signed to play for Sul Ross University March 24. Another teammate, wide receiver Braden Ellett-Clark, signed to play for McMurry University Jan. 26.
McIntosh said he’s happy to see his players reach their goal of playing college football.
“Go chase the college football dream,” he said. “We’re super proud of Cameron. He’s getting the opportunity to go play. He’ll be a great teacher and coach. He’ll be a good one to have in education once he gets done.”
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