Brennan Whitaker has seen the magazine clippings and high school football predictions.

The first-year De Leon coach is well aware his Bearcats are highly ranked and expected to be a regional title contender.

But Whitaker also wants his players to know they shouldn’t buy into the hype. That’s why he sent them a video from a 2017 Nick Saban press conference where he compares the media’s hype to rat poison.