Terry Yaki had been bred to play football in Japan by his father, and X-League legend, Hayato Arima. He quickly rose to prominence in high school across all of Japan. He was soon scouted by several schools in America and got offers from quite a number of them. Ultimately Yaki chose take the only FBS offer he received with South Florida, which coincidently was where his mother’s family was from. Yaki had played several positions in High school due to his speed and the limited number of players at his school in Osaka. The position he ended up get scouted for was his stand out performances as a running back. During the training camp before his redshirt year he quickly marveled the coaching staff and stole the starting position at running back. Though even with his skill his true potential could not be realized in Head Coach Charlie Strong’s offense. Still though he had managed to accrue near 2000 rushing yards and 16 TDs. But the frustration was mounting Yaki and the rest of the team knew they could do better but their potential would continue to be stifled as long as strong remained Head Coach of the Bulls. As if to answer their prayers the next season he was let go and former Clemson OC Jeff Scott was brought on. This renewed offense quickly took off with Terry Yaki at the helm. In only his sophomore year the young man from Japan got almost 2200 yards and 21 TDs on what would be his Doak Walker Award winning year. After winning the Orange Bowl that same year Yaki made the difficult choice of leaving college early in order to realize his true potential in the DSFL.
(288 words)
(288 words)