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VIDEO: Omar Speights had a weightlifting stalemate with former NFL player Deion Barnes, now his assistant coach at Northeast

After transferring from Imhotep, Omar Speights will be coached by former Northeast and Penn State standout Deion Barnes, now an assistant coach for coach Phil Gormley's Vikings.

Omar Speights (7) tries to chase down a Simon Gratz ballcarrier in Imhotep Charter's 40-21 victory last season.
Omar Speights (7) tries to chase down a Simon Gratz ballcarrier in Imhotep Charter's 40-21 victory last season. Read moreYONG KIM

Omar Speights, a senior defensive lineman and linebacker who established himself as a star at Imhotep, transferred to Northeast for his final high school hoorah.

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The move not only greatly improves the Vikings prospects in the Public League, it also means Speights, an Oregon State commit, will be tutored by Deion Barnes, the former Northeast and Penn State standout who returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach last season after spending time in the NFL.

Mentoring by one of the city's all-time best could mean that Speights, an already frighteningly strong and agile, 6-foot-2, 220-pounder, could also go down as an all-timer.

According to Northeast coach Phil Gormley, Speights has helped to fill the leadership void left by the graduation of last year's senior linebacker and emotional leader Kyle Morasch.

Speights didn't want to dish details on his departure from Imhotep, but said his former teammates are still his "brothers" and has no "hard feelings toward anyone."

The Vikings face the defending Pub champion Panthers on Oct. 6 at the Benjamin Johnston Supersite in Germantown.

In addition to Speights, Northeast, which finished 9-3 overall and 4-1 in Pub play last season, adds senior quarterback Charles Britt, a lefty who played at Neumann-Goretti last year and should vastly improve the Northeast passing attack.