After putting up numbers on both sides of the ball during his senior year of high school, former Putnam County athlete DJ Bland is ready to utilize his skills at the next level.
Bland is currently a true freshman at Georgia Military College (GMC) in Milledgeville, GA, and just began the season a little over a week ago.
In that short time span, Bland has earned a starting spot on the kickoff return team and has worked his way up the depth chart as a slot wide receiver. In an interview with The Eatonton Messenger, he acknowledged he thought the Bulldogs would be a good fit for developing his skills.
“The GMC opportunity really came about during the middle of the season last year when coach [Shaun] Pope told me they were going to offer me then,” Bland said. “I had multiple different offers from other schools, but I really wanted to come here for a better opportunity for my football career.”
Bland is also joined by former War Eagle running back Tamarion Peters. The two signed with the Bulldogs together, and now they live in the same dorm room.
Even though the season just started, Bland has been on GMC’s campus for most of the summer. He enjoys the grind and stated he’s still keeping up with the new workload of being a college athlete.
“We’ve been up here going on three months, and it has been great,” Bland said. “Starting this week, we’ve been having to wake up early in the morning around 7:00 and ending our days around 9:00. It’s a lot of fun, so I haven’t really looked at it as being hard yet, but we’ve got some good players here.”
As a War Eagle, Bland played both sides of the ball.
Offensively, Bland racked up over 680 receiving yards and 210 rushing yards in his two years as a full-time starter. He found the end zone 10 times over 25 games and consistently gave Putnam County good field position as the team’s punter and punt returner.
Defensively, Bland was oftentimes left by himself on an island to guard one of the opposing teams’ top wide receivers. He made 76 total tackles and came away with four interceptions and eight pass break-ups.
His versatility earned him a spot on the team, and his hard work has moved him up the depth chart. Bland acknowledged how he’s been able to develop as a player just by learning the playbook better.
“During my high school years, I didn’t really know the full playbook as well as I should have, but once I got here, everything seemed to come to me more,” Bland said. “So far in college, I’ve picked up the plays really quick, and this environment has really helped me with that. I feel comfortable with everything here, and it’s been good.”
Bland has also gotten used to the schedule of a student-athlete.
During his time on campus, he has learned that he enjoys agriculture and stated the academic schedule is much different than in high school.
“The academics are different, because in high school, I would just go to class from 8:00 to 3:00, but in college, each class has a different scheduled time,” Bland said. “Some days, I might have a class early, and other days I’ll have a class late at night, but overall it’s a better schedule in my opinion, and I’ve really gotten used to it.”
The Bulldogs have already played two games this year and are currently sitting at 1-1.
He’s gotten limited snaps so far, but Bland has been able to contribute with two kickoff returns and one punt return for 23 yards combined. Going forward, he hopes to be able to help the team more any time he gets the chance.