EventsCFC INSIDER
#CFC100 newcomer, RB Aidan O’Neal, first came to our attention when we realized that there was this kid out on the East Coast putting up ridiculous numbers on the ground. When we looked further, we found that this 5’8, 170 athlete was indeed, the real deal. O’Neal, a starter on the #CFC50 No. 31 Nationally ranked Tantramar Regional High School Titans, started playing football in grade 5, but football has always been around in life. This year, Aidan was a part of a fantastic season with the Tantramar Titans. They went 10-0 and beat out Leo Hayes, 30-20, in the 2016 New Brunswick Provincial Championship.
O’Neal, a starter on the #CFC50 No. 31 Nationally ranked Tantramar Regional High School Titans, started playing football in grade 5, but football has always been around in life. This year, Aidan was a part of a fantastic season with the Tantramar Titans. They went 10-0 and beat out Leo Hayes, 30-20, in the 2016 New Brunswick Provincial Championship. He has also been named on Canada’s U18 National team.
More recently, Aidan was named on the #CFC100 2nd. Edition mid-season update. We asked him what his first thoughts were when he heard he was ranked and he replied, “well I was super pumped! I’ve felt like I deserved a spot on it so I was really happy to hear that I got on it! It’s always good when you get rewarded for your hard work.” He also wanted us to mention his O-line.
“Another thing is that I really want their to be a shout out to my Offensive Line because they are all amazing guys and football players and they are all so beyond the expectation for a New Brunswick High School football o-line and all of them deserve as much credit on the list as I do.”
In order to gain this success, though, it must always start somewhere. That somewhere was with his family and friends. “I’ve been playing since atom which is grade 5, but growing up I always threw the ball with my dad or friends” Aidan says.
Football means everything to O’Neal when asked.
“It’s everything, my family loves football, my school loves football, all my friends play with me and it’s something I do everyday of the year wether it’s watching film or throwing the ball or watching NFL.” He started playing because his Dad coached football and because he loved it. It takes more then just this to love a sport. Aidan adds “I love it most because it’s all about 12 guys doing their job. Also because you can get super pumped up and yell and scream and express yourself through a sport.”
All of this energy is certainly needed, especially when you are carrying the ball the amount of times that Aidan has this year or when you are chasing down your opponent preventing them from putting any points on the board. O’Neal does both and this year he has rushed for 2399 yards on 227 carries, averaging 10.3 yards per carry and scoring 29 rushing touchdowns, 3 returning touchdowns and 2 interceptions. In the provincial champion game alone, he had 399 yards rushing on 44 carries to go along with 1 touchdown. Defensively, he had 1 interception (hudl).
What he likes about his position is that he is mostly protected from the guys up front and can work to find the end zone or he can get a breakaway down the field.
“I love being a running back because you know that you have the 5 biggest, meanest, scariest guy on your team blocking for you on every play and you know they’re doing their best to get you into the end zone. But I also love getting into open field and making people miss with juke or spins or running over them.”
Every player wants to emulate some professional athlete with dreams of attaining that same status. O’Neal mentions that Tyrann Mathieu of the cardinals, is that guy.
“Although I play offence a lot more than defence I love Tyrann Mathieu of the cardinals. I loved him in college when he returned punts because he is a little undersized and not super fast be he makes people miss and gets in the end zone and that what I’m like.”
College. The point that makes playing a sport go to another level of commitment, determination, perseverance. Aidan states that the recruitment process thus far has been “pretty laid back”. He hasn’t garnished much attention yet, but he has been asked to send his film in to various schools. Although he hasn’t settled in on any one program, he is interested in sticking closer to home with either the Mount Allison Mounties, where his hometown is, or Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
“Haven’t committed yet and I don’t really want to until I know what I want to do. But I’m interested in my hometown MTA Mounties and SMU.”
That next level can be quite a jump for some, one which O’Neal feels will be challenging, but manageable. He mentions that “it will be tough but I know I will prepare myself for a big change in speed and intensity of the game.”
In order to prepare in the off-season for that challenge, Aidan will be at the gym quite a bit and will be working to put on weight and get faster, quicker. Currently, he eats scrambled eggs and sausages pre-game, but he is going to have to eat a lot more than that on a regular basis if he wants to achieve the off-season goal mentioned.
That being said, it takes more than food to get as far as Aidan has. There have been many working parts that have influenced him and have supported and encouraged him throughout his career. When we asked who the most influential people in his life and football have been, Aidan names his father and lifetime coaches.
“My father. He’s been the high school coach ever since I was and I was able to win 2 championships with him. Also Peter Estabrooks who has been my defensive coordinator since Peewee and taught me almost all I know about defence. Lastly, Michael Bohan because he’s helped me out a lot in the summers with route running, man coverage, footwork, punting, pretty much everything.”
Aidan also adds, “I think that football is very mentally hard and I’ve been taught that life can be very difficult but football has taught me that if you push through the tough situations the good situations are that much better.” Without football in his life, he says that he would probably be the average high school hockey player “who’s sports career peaked in high school.”
Aidan O’Neal has quite a few games left in him. After his performance this year, there doesn’t look to be any “peaking” on the horizon.
Aidan O’Neal
RB, DB, Returner
5’8, 170 lbs
Teams: Tantramar Regional High school (NBIAA), Team New Brunswick U18,
Commitment: none
Official Visits: none
Consideration: Mount Allison, Saint Mary’s University, open
Class: 2017
-2x Conference all star RB
-2016 Player of the year in the conference
-Offensive player of the year for my high school team in 2015
-2x provincial finals MVP
-FCC offensive player of the game vs SASK (2015)
-FCC offensive player of the game vs ONT (2016)
-TEAM NB U18 MVP
-Special teams MVP of the FCC
-Rookie of the year for TEAM NB U18 in 2015
-2 provincial championships 2015 and 2016
About Canadafootballchat.com
Canadafootballchat.com (CFC) is the number one national amateur football website (source: ComScore.com) and most respected source for high school and recruiting news in Canada. CFCs mission is to promote players, coaches, administrators, teams, & leagues from coast to coast. Powered by 40+ local reporters, CFCs content driven network covers Canadian NCAA & CIS recruiting, and high school players & teams like no one else.
About CFC Insider
The ‘CFC Insider’ section is for the fan, player, coach, parent, looking for MORE. The mission of this exclusive membership section is to give more recruiting news, exclusive rankings and multi-series stories as well as coach-player instructional videos. To become a CFC INSIDER member, CLICK HERE!
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
