NCAA Profile: Jacksonville University Guard Billy Peach

The CFC looks in on 5th year Guard Billy Peach and his play at Jacksonville University.

Billy Peach

Positions
Guard,OL

Height/Weight
6’5″/ 300 Lbs

Hometown
Kingston,Ontario

About to begin his 5th year, Jacksonville University’s Billy Peach is a Canadian player with big aspirations. But in order to get to where he wants to go, the journey has proven to be hard work. “When I moved from Canada down to florida my senior year of High School, the speed of the game was the biggest transition to overcome. The overall speed of the game is way faster,” the 6’5 guard says. “Then coming into College the game got even faster. The adjustment wasn’t such such an easy one at first but with more reps and playing the you learn to adjust to the difference in the style of the game.”

In order to get to University, Peach’s had to start his path at a high school level, but what separated him at a young age, was his size and willingness to compete and be better.
“Growing up I had frequently traveled to Florida multiple times a year as my Grandfather was living down here. I went to lots of games in the area from high school to college and had fallen in love with how talented the level of play was down here and how serious football was taken in the US.”

Living in Kingston at the time, Peach played football for Frontenac High School. “I had started looking into various options of playing football in the US from prep schools to getting sponsored and boarded. I was always the “Bigger” kid in high school and had been told you have the size and opportunity to do something with football. From hearing that throughout the years and ran with it. I moved to Largo, Florida my senior year of HS to play.”

The next step in his career was to make the move that might one day prove vital in a stellar career. “I came down and enrolled at the school and went in and talked with the coaches and let them know I would be transferring in to play. As a primarily run offense I played right tackle in a power “I” offense. We went 12-1 and loosing in the State Semi-finals to the #4 ranked team in the country. I had been talked to my more than 25 scouts during my senior year and still didn’t have a significant D-1 offer.”

With determination in his mind and the idea of playing in the NCAA one day, it was time for Peach to make a big decision in his life. “Signing day was approaching I had a few D1-AA offers but was holding out for more. I had my mind set I was going to attend Fork Union Military Prep in Virginia. I took a visit there and just didn’t feel like it was a great fit for me. Jacksonville University came along and had offered me a great opportunity to help build and up and coming program. They had just hired Kerwin Bell as their Head Coach and him being a CFL alum with multiple former pros on the coaching staff it was a great choice in the end for me. Playing NCAA football was always a dream of mine that I wasn’t going to be denied.”

Now that Peach is in a position that he has dreamed of his whole life, his message to youth players across Canada is this. “If I give any advice to younger players wanting to play football in the US, its not easy. It takes all the blood, sweat and hard work you could imagine. Never give up chasing the dream. I wanted it more than anything and had been denied a couple times.” Never giving up and following the dream, Peach found exactly what he was looking for. “I never got to the D1 school that gets 80,000+ crowds a week but I wouldn’t change that for anything. Just work had toward what you want and for those that work harder than the rest good things will happen.”

With the upcoming season on its way, Peach and the rest of his JU Dolphin teammates have some business to take care of. “Last year falling short in the conference championship game. At JU we have a great Senior class coming back. We are looking forward to getting back on the level of success we had in 2010 going 10-1 and finishing ranked 19th in D1-AA polls.”

With one year left, its not to crazy to think what’s next for Billy Peach. “Coming up after college, I am looking forward to the CFL draft and see what that has in store for me. I would love to continue playing football after college.” As a player, Peach has earned two championship rings at Jacksonville University, something that does not happen to a lot of Canadians. “Coming back to the CFL and playing would be yet another half of the dream come true. The CFL is a great league and gives the Canadian football community a great opportunity.”