Ohio High School Football Hopes Deshaun Watson's 7-on-7 Tournament Thrives, Grows

The Cleveland Browns and quarterback Deshaun Watson hosted a 7-on-7 tournament that has a chance to be valuable for high school football in Ohio.

Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns hosted a 7 on 7 tournament for 16 high schools in Northeast Ohio. The tournament took place at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, a school the Browns had previously donated a turfed practice field.

The tournament started small, but Watson hopes to expand the field, which could be valuable for high schools across this region. Watson threw out the number of 32 or 48 teams for next year.

#Browns Deshaun Watson talks about hearing how good the state of Ohio’s football was as he hosted his first 7-on-7 tournament at Hoban HS in Akron pic.twitter.com/KmmRpE5PHa

— Fred Greetham (@FredGreetham9) July 11, 2023

There had been a number of colleges that were able to host massive 7-on-7 tournaments in the area in mid to late July, which was an ideal time to have them. The University of Akron is a notable example, able to get teams to show up from all over Ohio, a few from Pennsylvania and even Michigan, giving them a massive field.

But because of the changes in the recruiting calendar, those bigger universities were forced to move those tournaments to earlier in the calendar, hosting them in June. While helpful, there are a ton of teams that don't have much organized football activities beyond their lifting programs at that time, so it limits the field of teams who want to participate. This is especially true of smaller schools who have some of their best athletes participating in baseball and track into the start of June.

Watson and the Browns hosting this type of tournament with the hopes of growing it could fill that void. Either this time in July or even a week later is ideal since teams will be putting on pads and starting two-a-days at the end of the month. Teams are going to be far more prepared, allowing the potential for a more compelling and entertaining event.

Even as 7-on-7 football is growing in the state of Ohio, there are people like Ohio State head coach Ryan Day who are pushing for it to become more prevalent so it can be on par with states like Georgia, Texas and Florida to help not only quarterbacks but wide receivers and defensive backs rapidly develop as they hope to pursue football at the next level.

The bigger the tournament, the more accessible it is and the more athletes get to be showcased. Watson alluded to the fact there were more teams interested in participating and there are absolutely high school coaches all over this state who desperately want this type of tournament to be successful and grow as it's valuable reps for teams in preparation for the season. 

So long as there are enough fields, there will teams who want to participate. Venue will become a bigger question as this grows. It's not always easy to find a location with four or more viable fields to use even if they are split in half.

This is a great idea to have the Browns and Deshaun Watson driving this event. If they can grow it, it has a chance to be the unofficial start to the high school season in Northeast Ohio.

If that wasn't enough, this is what the teams are playing for in the tournament.

quite the prize on the line 🏆 pic.twitter.com/HiR5DziqZV

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) July 11, 2023

Hoban, who finished as the Division 2 runner-up this past year defeated defending Division 4 champion Glenville to win the belt.