Coach Jamie Ellerbe, aka AggieCoach

 

 

            Hello, My name is Jamie Ellerbe and I am the Founder and Commissioner of the FAT8 Conference & the Miniature College Football Rules System. I've always been passionate about college football. I played football at North Carolina A&T State University in the 1990's and I can tell you that those memories are some of the best memories of my life. I truly love my Alma Mater and so I decided to feature them in Miniature College Football. It was always my fantasy to see my Alma Mater play on the big stage with Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, USC and many other DIV 1 A schools so I set out to create the Fantasy Athletic Teams Conference (FAT 8 Conference) with 8 of my favorite schools all in the same conference.

               This however wasn't enough. My vision and goals was to also bring the authentic tradition and atmosphere of college football to the Miniature Football world. I wanted the heart pounding sound of the bands playing, the student sections chanting, the swinging change of energy, the emotion and pageantry of the big rivalries that can only be seen in College Football. 

                In light of this, I set out to create the "FAT8 Miniature College Football Rules Standard", a new rule- set based on the NCAA official rules and procedures manual, that would allow me to recreate an authentic college atmosphere with-in my games of Miniature Football. The idea was to ensure that every team had a unique and authentic play style where no team would play the same as another but all schemes, rules, and procedures would be true to the NCAA Standard in that no team or rule in the FAT8 would go against the standard and fundamental rules of Football. Each school would have an assigned offensive style and defensive style and this would be determined randomly at the start of the season. 

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The Aggies running the Pistol, the Buckeyes running the spread, the Crimson Tide with the Power I. 

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                But I still wanted more. I set out to create rules for coaches and recruiting  as well. Each team would have a Head Coach, an Offensive Coordinator, and a Defensive Coordinator. I set out to create a leadership value called "Prestige Points" that would be assigned to each coach on each team. Bad calls and poor decisions on the gridiron could lead to a coach being fired or kicked out of the game for poor behavior. Each team would have to recruit new prospects after each season. Prospects are ranked based on performance at the combine.  All of these things add to the character and atmosphere of the FAT8.  With the lose of the head coach, a school could find themselves rolling on the offensive generator chart to change the offensive playbook mid season. This could really hurt a team that recruited athletes for their current playbook, so my vision was to bring this all to the FAT8 style.

                  I set out on this journey alone and I must admit that I intended to do it for my own enjoyment. I never expected to make as many friends as I have made. Along the way, many people have reached out to me and I am thankful for the support. I felt that I should not hold my fun back just for myself. Others saw what I was doing and offered to help.  Biglock Lockart, Bigdog (AKA Robert Ellerbe), Bryan Cross, Tory Bliss, Shane Hoofer,  Charles Pope, Larry Walker, Coach Kit Kinchen,  and Mark Klingbeil  just to name a few have all contributed to what the FAT8 is today . We are growing quickly and I like to just thank everyone for the Support.