Tyler Swafford, who threw for 2,457 yards and 28 touchdowns as Brentwood Academy advanced to the Division II-AA semifinals last fall, announced Monday night that he will sign a football scholarship next month with Eastern Kentucky.
Swafford took over as the Eagles’ starting quarterback following the departure of Max Staver, a 2012 Tennessean Dandy Dozen selection who signed with Florida but recently announced he will transfer to East Mississippi Community College.
“Only starting one year, it was hard to have a lot of options; I hadn’t been ‘the guy’,” said Swafford, who was named to The Tennessean’s all-Midstate first team at quarterback. “But I had the best season I possibly could, and I felt there would be some solid options there at the end.”
Swafford selected Eastern Kentucky over Missouri State. He also received recruiting interest from Butler, Davidson, Dayton and Stetson – all members of the non-scholarship Pioneer League – and had discussed joining the Vanderbilt program as a preferred walk-on.
“It really was between Eastern Kentucky and Missouri State,” he said. “I really liked the coaching staff at Eastern Kentucky. We hit it off from the get-go. Coach (Dean) Hood is a great Christian man, he has great Christian values, and they’ve been traditionally a very successful Ohio Valley Conference team. They’ve got a great future ahead of them. I felt comfortable with the staff and with the school in general.
“This is a big relief. It’s been a long time coming.”
