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The first summer of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s new transfer rule is seeing two Wilson County starting quarterbacks moving to other schools within the county.
Blake Waldorf, who passed for over 3,000 yards as Watertown’s starting quarterback for a season and a half, has enrolled at Friendship Christian and is participating in team activities while Luke Sellars, last year’s QB at FCS, has moved on to Lebanon, coaches at both schools confirmed.
Both players are awaiting final approval from TSSAA for eligibility.
Waldorf will be a junior this fall. Since becoming Watertown’s starter midway through his freshman season, he completed 264 of 428 passes for 3,364 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 16 games. He threw for 2,668 yards and 26 scores in 10 games last season.
Sellars, a senior who also played baseball for the Commanders, was a two-year starter at FCS where he completed 122 of 218 passes for 1,753 yards and 14 touchdowns with eight interceptions. He quarterbacked the Commanders to a state runner-up finish in 2023, a year after being a freshman backup on their Division II-A state championship team.
These moves likely wouldn’t have been made as recently as last year when student-athletes who transferred had to sit out a calendar year from the date of their last contest in that sport unless there was a change of address. The TSSAA Legislative Council made an amendment in March, saying in the summary of that meeting:
“The first time the student transfers to another school due top a significant academic, social-environmental or mental health need. The sending school’s administration must attest that the move is not for athletic or disciplinary reasons.”
The Council will meet again Tuesday in Mt. Juliet where it is being asked by TSSAA staff to finalize language of the new rule and approve the time a school has to respond. The proposed language reads:
“The first time the student transfers to another school due to a significant academic, social-emotional, environmental or mental health need provided that the sending school’s administration does not attest that the transfer is for athletic or disciplinary reasons with seven days of notification of the transfer.”
Just because a student at a new school is participating in team activities does not mean he (or she) is eligible to play in a regular-season contest. Friendship coach John McNeal, also the school’s athletic director, said that after three days of preseason practice (the official first day of fall practice for 2025 is July 28), the names of players on the roster will be submitted to TSSAA. The former schools of transfers will then be notified and the seven-day window will open to respond. If there is no response, or the former school says the student didn’t transfer for athletic or disciplinary reasons, the student may then be declared eligible. If the former school objects, then the student and their parents would have to go through the hardship process.
The regular season kicks off Aug. 22.
McNeal, without discussing his former and potentially new quarterback specifically, said he has heard more chatter than in the past about students transferring, both into and out of schools.
“…Because of the new rule,” he said. “It goes both ways.
“This first year is going to be interesting. Nobody knows until we get through this first year what this really looks like… There’s a whole lot more freedom than what it was.”
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Blake Waldorf, who passed for over 3,000 yards as Watertown’s starting quarterback for a season and a half, has enrolled at Friendship Christian and is participating in team activities while Luke Sellars, last year’s QB at FCS, has moved on to Lebanon, coaches at both schools confirmed.
Both players are awaiting final approval from TSSAA for eligibility.
Waldorf will be a junior this fall. Since becoming Watertown’s starter midway through his freshman season, he completed 264 of 428 passes for 3,364 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 16 games. He threw for 2,668 yards and 26 scores in 10 games last season.
Sellars, a senior who also played baseball for the Commanders, was a two-year starter at FCS where he completed 122 of 218 passes for 1,753 yards and 14 touchdowns with eight interceptions. He quarterbacked the Commanders to a state runner-up finish in 2023, a year after being a freshman backup on their Division II-A state championship team.
These moves likely wouldn’t have been made as recently as last year when student-athletes who transferred had to sit out a calendar year from the date of their last contest in that sport unless there was a change of address. The TSSAA Legislative Council made an amendment in March, saying in the summary of that meeting:
“The first time the student transfers to another school due top a significant academic, social-environmental or mental health need. The sending school’s administration must attest that the move is not for athletic or disciplinary reasons.”
The Council will meet again Tuesday in Mt. Juliet where it is being asked by TSSAA staff to finalize language of the new rule and approve the time a school has to respond. The proposed language reads:
“The first time the student transfers to another school due to a significant academic, social-emotional, environmental or mental health need provided that the sending school’s administration does not attest that the transfer is for athletic or disciplinary reasons with seven days of notification of the transfer.”
Just because a student at a new school is participating in team activities does not mean he (or she) is eligible to play in a regular-season contest. Friendship coach John McNeal, also the school’s athletic director, said that after three days of preseason practice (the official first day of fall practice for 2025 is July 28), the names of players on the roster will be submitted to TSSAA. The former schools of transfers will then be notified and the seven-day window will open to respond. If there is no response, or the former school says the student didn’t transfer for athletic or disciplinary reasons, the student may then be declared eligible. If the former school objects, then the student and their parents would have to go through the hardship process.
The regular season kicks off Aug. 22.
McNeal, without discussing his former and potentially new quarterback specifically, said he has heard more chatter than in the past about students transferring, both into and out of schools.
“…Because of the new rule,” he said. “It goes both ways.
“This first year is going to be interesting. Nobody knows until we get through this first year what this really looks like… There’s a whole lot more freedom than what it was.”
Continue reading...