Pro Vision Academy gives high school football players clear view of potential

It was a classic case of 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration, but Greg Peach didn’t know it yet.

In August 2005, long before he won the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in FCS, Peach was an 18-year-old kid from Vancouver, Washington, sweating out his first football camp at Eastern Washington.

In short, he didn’t know what he didn’t know.

“If I had, I could have been on a full scholarship or gone a bigger school,” said Peach, who went on to a seven-year career in the Canadian Football League.

But the path should have been easier, reckons Peach, who found another “Aha!” moment soon after retirement, as an assistant coach last fall at Mead High School.

He respected the coaches’ abilities, but noticed that “they’re really limited, with too many kids. At some places they have one coach with 10 to 15 kids, trying to teach them the details that really help.

“But they don’t have enough time.”

From that observation sprang the idea for Pro Vision Academy, a private football tutoring service Peach opened this year in Spokane Valley while still holding down a day job at UPS.

“I’m putting in a few hours,” smiled Peach, who graduated from Eastern in 2009 with a degree in business management.

Several nights a week and on weekends, Peach and several other former EWU stars help young players focus on the little things often overlooked at the high school level – the little things that can make the difference between a full-ride college scholarship and something less.

Last Monday, former Eagles defensive backs Zach Bruce and Jake Hoffman – both from the Spokane area – worked with several high school athletes. They previewed the night’s lessons, which might include the nuances of Cover 4, the intricacies of defending the play-action pass or just a slight adjustment in footwork.

Pro Vision’s 90-minute classes include something even more important, Peach said.

“We give them championship challenges, things that get them out of the bubble they’re in,” Peach said. “We teach them not to be just good football players but good human beings.”

They key is 1-on-1 teaching. No class has more than six students, most of whom are highly motivated.

Bruce can relate. In the fall of 2013, injuries to other players catapulted him up the depth chart and onto the field for a big game at Montana.

“I wound up doing all right,” said Bruce, who went on to be a first-team all-Big Sky Conference safety as a senior in 2016. Still, he wonders …

“If only I’d known some more things as a freshman,” Bruce said. “Like when (the offense) is going to run a sprint-out – those are the kinds of things that separate high school players.”

That’s the selling point at Pro Vision, which has pro-level teachers at several positions. In only its first year, Pro Vision has about three dozen high school-age clients and another at the junior level. Prices vary, but average about $20 per hour.

On the defensive line, there’s Peach – a two-time all-American at EWU and twice a team captain with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers – and Dario Romero, a two-time All-American for the Eagles at tackle.

For aspiring linebackers, the teacher is J.C. Sherritt, a Buchanan winner in 2010 and one of the top ‘backers in Big Sky history. Sherritt recently signed a two-year extension with Edmonton, but still finds time to teach with Peach.

“These guys are passionate about coaching the kids,” Peach said. “Because there’s a huge need for this.”

On the other side of the ball, former EWU All-American Luke Fritz helps coach offensive linemen.

This weekend offered a special treat: Winnipeg quarterback Matt Nichols, the leading passer in Eastern and Big Sky history.

“When your kid signs up here, he’s getting the highest level of training you can get for a position,” Peach said.