Westmoore's Tyler Newton keeping options open

One of my favorite things to do last season when I would make my rounds to high school practices was to stop by Mustang and watch Billy Langford coach offensive linemen.

Langford was intense, but direct. He says and does things in a way that kids understand, and that’s why I think he’ll have some success at Westmoore. It’ll take some time as the school tries to rebuild from what it lost by the district addding a third high school, but Langford is a good coach, and he’ll get the job done.

And I think his leadership will pay dividends for Jaguar lineman Tyler Newton, who I got to visit with last week when he came to our office for our usual preseason photo day. At 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, Newton has begun to attract college attention as an athletic lineman prospect.

Newton will play both offensive and defensive line for the Jags, and because of his physical tools, he could play on either side in college.

So far, colleges have been split as to which side of the ball they’d prefer him on.

“I think it depends how my body develops,” Newton said. “Some teams have talked to me about playing defense and some have talked to me about playing offense. Some even talked about tight end.”

Langford believes Newton is athletic enough to play tight end, but Newton admits it would be a new experiment.

“I’ve never played tight end before, but I think I could do it,” Newton said.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com