From left to right: Mike Frascogna III, Mike Frascogna, Jr., and Marty Frascogna
study conducted by USA Football, a non-profit organization supporting youth football, and the Wharton Business Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. The study cited Mississippi as having the best high school football program in America. “For years we’d been saying that Mississippi had a different environment that made our high school football the best,” Mike Frascogna says. “Were we biased? Absolutely. But USA Football was not, and they ranked Mississippi #1. When that survey came out, we realized that no one had ever researched why high school football in Mississippi is such a cultural phenomenon.” The Frascognas decided to tackle that research project, and ultimately, to memorialize Mississippi high school beacon
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football in a way it had never before been showcased. “The study looked at stats, but that doesn’t make for an interesting read,” Mike III says. “Instead, we wanted to capture the emotional side of things. How did people describe and explain high school football in Mississippi?” To get that unique perspective, the Frascognas interviewed 120 of Mississippi’s greatest high school football coaches and combined their insights, coaching philosophies, and war stories into the definitive book on Mississippi high school football. The three Frascognas participated equally in the interviewing, research, and writing, critiquing and contributing to each other’s work. Thanks to all those years of playing, watching, and loving football together, the collaboration came fairly easily. The Frascognas