OCOEE, Fla. — One of the most explosive players around Central Florida so far through the high school season has been Ocoee's Michael McClenton. As a sophomore, he is putting up massive numbers on the stat sheet, averaging more than 20 tackles per game.

McClenton said he is working to create his own path in the game he loves.


What You Need To Know

  • Ocoee High School's Michael McClenton is averaging more than 20 tackles per game as a sophomore

  • His father played for the Dallas Cowboys and two older brothers played college football

  • Ocoee head football coach Buck Gurley played with McClenton's father and said he sometimes babysat the teen he was young. 

  • McClenton is in his first season at Ocoee after moving from Lake Mary High School

You've heard athletes say this when asked when they began playing their sport: "It's a funny question, because ever since I was a baby, since I came out the womb, I had a football in my hand," McClenton said.

But for him, it's the truth. 

"My dad was in the NFL," McClenton said. "All my brothers played in college, so its a big football family."

His high school coach Buck Gurley can even back it up. 

"This is what people don't know: We go way back," Gurley said. "I was actually Mike's babysitter. Mike, Big Mike used to bring him to practice all the time, so I used to sit there and push him around in the stroller. We knew he was gonna have a knack for football cause he was always around it."

Coming from a football family like his, McClenton was primed from a young age to compete with anyone in front of him.

"Very competitive ... I'm 5 they're 13, trying to hit them really got me tough," he said. "I'm falling on the concrete crying — they don't care, they are still telling me get back up lets do it again."

"If you know his dad then you're gonna know his personality,"Gurley said. "His dad is what we call a hard knocks coach, so of course he's gonna raise a hard knocks player. So thats pretty much what he's grown up to be, and it shows on the field."

In his first season as a sophomore at Ocoee, Michael has been dominant. Through his first few games he is averaging 21 tackles and about 7 tackles for loss per game.

"I can't sit here and say it's not possible, he's showing that it is possible. What I do like is he has a motor every play," said Gurley. "You don't catch too many guys that wanna run somebody down every play, and he does it."

McClenton is a leader on the stat sheet, and the rest of his Ocoee teammates have been receptive.

"I came in here, I'm fresh, I'm new, but I came in here and made my teammates feel like I am a leader," said McClenton. "I make them feel like I'm a leader, so I'm just absorbing to the guys, they're my brothers so I'm just having to step up and play the best I can."

Not only does McClenton hope to follow in his family's football footsteps, he said he's ready to forge his own path in the game. 

"I wanna be the No. 1 tackler in the nation and get a lot of offers this year," he said.