Understanding your competition is a culture

Disclaimer: I haven't worked at Google for 5+ years so this kind of story is probably outdated. I mean, how could Google not have fixed this problem in the last 10 years?

In 2008 I was on a business trip to Seattle and I had dinner with an old college friend who now worked at Microsoft. I noticed that she had an iPhone. This was when Microsoft was heavily pushing their own phone product, and Android hadn't started shipping.

I thought it was odd that a Microsoftie would be using an iPhone and pointed it out.

"Oh, it's the opposite. We are encouraged to use the competition's products. The better we understand their products, the better we can compete with them."

I thought that was a very sound strategy.

When I got back to the office, I happened to have a meeting with one of the feature designers for Google Docs. I was meeting to suggest some improvements.

The designer was interested in one feature I was suggesting. He asked my opinion of how the UX flow should work. I responded, "Well, have you seen how Microsoft Word does it?"

"Oh no, I try not to look at competing products."

"Why not?", asked.

"Oh, I don't want to be influenced by their design decisions."

Sigh.

Even as an I use a lot of Google products and often I see a feature that has a user experience that can only be described as embarrassingly broken. I use this phrase only when competing products get it right.

I wonder where that feature designer is today.

When was the last time you gave your competitor's product a test run? Used it for a week or two? Does your employer encourage this or discourage this? If you are a manager, do you encourage your employees to do this? Does your corporate culture encourage or discourage this?

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Do you take the athletic scholarship now or wait for your dream school?

One of the areas that I discussed in the article about taking all five of your official visits (Click here for that article) is if you should make your college decision based on the offers you currently have or roll the dice by hoping that another school will extend you a scholarship. But what should you do if the school you are waiting has been the program you have spent your life dreaming of playing at?

This question again depends on the situation and you will have to look at a number of factors before making that final decision. And no matter what state you live in, there is a good chance that you grew up loving a state school or another national program that has made a name for yourself. Making that decision will really affect the rest of your life so it is important to weigh both the pros and cons of each side.

If your dream school is really interested in you (And by really interested I mean calls, hand written letters, and a request to come on an official visit), then there is a good chance that at the very least they would take you as a preferred walk-on. Being a preferred walk-on would be the worst case scenario here and along with that comes a lot of options.

The first depends on the financial situation of your family. Can your family pay for you to pass up a scholarship either by having the money or taking out student loans? As a preferred walk-on, you will get to wear the jersey that you have dreamed of but the financial situation is what should factor in the most. A lot of athletes that come from wealthy backgrounds have no problem spurning scholarship offers to live their dream and walk on at a Division I school. The problem is few people have that type of money to turn down a scholarship. And as I have said here many times, student loans are not exactly fun to pay off over time.

The next situation is that as a walk on, everyone’s dream is to prove college coaches wrong and eventually become a starter at the school of your dreams. The problem is that the majority of athletes who take this route either never play for the four or five years of their career or end up transferring to a smaller school to play. I would assume if you are considering this, you are the stud at your high school and most likely play every down in football or never leave the basketball court. Whatever the case, you will have to be happy with sitting for at least a few years. Rarely does a walk on come right in and start within the first few years of their college career. It does happen, but not very often.

If you do a good enough job, the school will likely extend you a scholarship offer. But it could be your third year at the school. And with walk-ons, you may receive the offer one year and it may be taken away the next. While all scholarships are a one year contract, coaches are more likely to pull the ride from a former walk on than someone who was offered in high school. This does really happen.

At this time in basically all recruiting processes, your dream school is probably still evaluating you and if you are worthy of a scholarship. They may be up front with you and tell you that you can come there as a preferred walk on. The most likely case is that the school is waiting on other prospects that they have rated higher on the recruiting board to decide. If they pick another school, then you are moving closer to that scholarship offer on the recruiting board.

What is interesting about following the recruiting process of schools is that with the help of sites like Rivals.com, Scout.com, and a variety of others, potential recruits and their parents do follow what is going on with the recruiting process. While it is never going to be 100% accurate, this site will give you a feel for who the school is after and who they have offered. The biggest schools have the most in-depth coverage so if Alabama is after you, it would be easy for you to check what defensive backs they have offered and who they are bringing in for visits.

As I have always said, it is important to ask the coaches questions when they call you about your current situation. If they are serious about you at this point, they should be calling you weekly. Ask them about your status, who is above you on the recruiting board, and if they feel you have a realistic shot at a scholarship. They may up front with you or they may feed you lies. You never know. But asking the questions can never hurt in the recruiting process.

In the end, it comes down to money and being able to pay for college. You want to find a school that you love and has academic areas that you are interested in. If your dream school does not have the Engineering major that you want to go into, you need to think about that as well. You will roll the dice waiting for that scholarship offer but sometimes it pays off.

For example, a school in the Midwest is having their potential late minute scholarships/preferred walk-ons all on official visits a week and a half before Signing Day. Right now, none of them have made decisions and they all hope that they will get an offer from this school. The problem is, out of the three for sure visiting, I don’t see more than one leaving the visit with an offer. And if that scholarship comes, it may end up coming the day before Signing Day.

It will be a tough decision either way. Passing up a scholarship, no matter what school offers it, is difficult. Look into money, your potential major, and your desire to play early versus going to your dream school.

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Should I take all five of my athletic official visits?

One of the toughest questions to answer in the recruiting process is should I take all of my official visits. With the football dead period about to end and with less than a month left until Signing Day, recruited athletes will need to make a decision if they want to end the recruiting process early or take all five of their visits before that decision comes.

What makes the question so unique to every situation is that it really just depends on the recruit. For example, if you are a player that is very sought after and has schools all over the country wanting to sign you, then chances are good that you can decide on Signing Day and they would still take you in a heart beat. The problem with that scenario is that few athletes have that option to wait that long into the process.

As much as I love doing work on this site to help recruits, my assumption is that few athletes with double digit Division I scholarship offers would visit very often. These players already know that they will have their college paid for and do not need this site to help them. If anything, it is up to them doing the research and looking into what place will be the best fit.

Going back to the original question at hand, most recruits are probably stuck in a very hard place right now that have scholarship offers. The schools that have extended the offers would love to land you, but they need to have a back up plan in case you decide to sign with their conference rivals. What most coaches will do in this situation is be honest with. They will say that on January 15th (Or just some random date), they will be offering another prospect.

In the end, this prospect could be made up just to help pressure you into a decision. Or they could be real because the school has to land a defensive tackle and they can’t risk going into Signing Day empty handed throughout the athletic recruiting process. It is very tough because if you are a Division II/Division I-AA recruit right now, you basically have to spend the next few weekends making official visits if you want to take all five.

But if a school that you love has you scheduled for an official visit but has not offered, you are rolling the dice on passing up the scholarship that is currently on the table. Recruits may feel that it is better to wait on a college decision, but some end up getting burned by waiting through the process and deciding late.

You are gambling one or two ways. The first is making an early decision and seeing things change. For example, a recent recruit decided to make a commitment to a Division I-AA (FCS school for those out there) early in December. I will talk about this more in another article, but like all coaches, this recruit was told that the head coach would be there all five years of his career. Apparently a job opens and this coach decides to leave before coaching him one of those years. Now what does the recruit do?

He already canceled his visits to the other schools and some may have moved on by landing commitments from prospects they felt were lower ranked than he was. But those doors may now be shut. The good news is that it is still early enough in the process that if he wants to look around, he still can. If the coach left on February 1st, it may have been even tougher for the recruit.

On the other hand, this recruit could have spent January weekends making official visits around the country. He had only taken two trips so he easily could have made more visits. But if he had decided to do that and taken his last trip over the weekend of January 26th, would all of the options he had early still been there? That is a tough question to answer.

Many Division II and some I-AA schools will now talk scholarship offers unless you take your official visit there. This is a good move on their part because the coaches force you to make them among your top five if you want that scholarship offer on the table. Some schools will entice a player to visit by promising an offer (Which usually does happen), but at the Division II level, it could be 5% of your tuition. An athletic scholarship can be anything at the Division I-AA and II levels so them promising you an offer doesn’t mean it has to be a high scholarship percentage.

My advice for recruits is that you need to find a place that you feel most comfortable at. Like when trying to buy a house, many recruits said they would visit a school and it just felt like home. You need to try and find that feeling. Even if it your first official visit in September or your last right before Signing Day, you should not make a decision until you are completely comfortable with it.

As bad as student loans are (And I can attest to that), I would rather have them than had a bad experience in college. If you can get your education paid for and leave debt free or with little debt, you have to realize how lucky you are. It will give you a huge head start on life and will be a major factor if you should make all of your visits or not.

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Q&A with a Family Part 2: What happens with football recruiting during a coaching change in December?

When an athlete accepts a Division I scholarship offer for any sport, they feel strongly that this is the school that they want to spend the next four or five years of their life at.  And while some may decommit and eventually pick another program, the majority of athletes stay strong to their word when they originally commit.

But what happens to a recruit after committing when the head coach at the school leaves the program in a flash only a short time before Signing Day?  We had a chance to do a question and answer with a family who had the chance to go through this exact situation.  Find out what they thought about the whole process and what they did to help their son get football recruiting attention in the first place.  This is part two of a two part article.  Click here for the previous article.

What was the first thoughts once the coaching change became official?
We were really stunned and disappointed. We were anxious to see who the new coach was going to be and if our son would fit into their plans and ours.

Once the change happened, your son opened up recruiting. Did State University #2 and Out of State University #2 come calling or did you express interest in them?
They both made initial contact.

How was the official visit to State University #2?
First Class. We were very impressed with the coaching staff, the facilities, the way we were treated, and the organization of the visit. They stressed to us that this was a no pressure situation since they knew that our son was still committed to State University #1. They wanted our son to get a better in-depth look of the Engineering Program and the Football Program. He also had the opportunity to spend time with several of the football players. In the end, it made our son’s decision a little tougher.

What was it like getting all this attention from schools that had not offered in the spring? Why all of a sudden did it seem they had scholarships waiting?
It was stressful because we thought the recruiting process was over when he committed to State University #1 in May. It can also make you second guess your initial decision.  Had our son not ended his recruiting process early, he had planned on attending a number of camps at conference schools in the area. Had he attended those camps, he probably would have picked up several more offers per what the coaches were telling us on our Junior Day visits.

What sold you for the second time on State University #1?
Our son needed to meet the new coaches and get a feel for them and what their plans were for him and their offensive scheme. When we visited in January, our son met with the new head coach and knew after a lengthy conversation with him that he was passionate about State University #1’s Football Program and his vision for the future. Our was in those plans which was important to him and our family. We also had the opportunity to meet his position coach. He went over his schemes and where he saw our son fitting into the future. Our son’s first impression of this coach was that he was a confident teacher and stressed the basic principles.

How much did the families background with State University #1 factor in?
We never stressed to our son that he had to attend the same school that we did. Ultimately, over the years visiting the school for various events and activities, our son found it to be a place he could see himself getting a great education and a place where he could compete in sports at a higher level.

As a parent, how stressful was the recruiting process?
Initially, not very stressful because the offer came early. After State University #1’s coach resigned, and our son opened up his recruiting, it became more stressful wondering about our son’s future and if we had made all the right decisions.

What was the process as a family to narrow down the recruiting process?
We always stressed to our son that the final decision would have to be his to make and he didn’t have to go to the same school that his parents attended. During the ride home from each visit, we would talk about the pros and cons of the university. Nothing ever seemed to top State University #1 in our son’s eyes and in his heart.

Do you feel that college coaches were honest with you the entire time in the process?
Yes.

Did you feel that schools offered because other schools did? If so, do you think that happened often?
No.

Estimate how many unofficial visits you took and how worth while they were during the process?
Approximately ten.  We felt they were very worthwhile because it reassured our son that State University #1 was the best fit for him.

What would you say was the most difficult part of the recruiting process?
The initial phase of sending out videotapes and anxiously waiting for a reply. Wondering if he has what it takes to play at the next level.  Secondly, going through a coaching change before he signed his National Letter of Intent.

Do you have any other words of wisdom for families out there reading this?
One thing that really caught the attention of coaches was that our son is a very good student. Academics have to be #1 throughout their high school days. When coaches visit younger players at Large High School #1, one of the first things they say is, “How are your grades?” If you don’t have the grades, they won’t be able to make you an offer, no matter how good of a player you are.

Start your recruiting process early. Visit a lot of schools. Attend one day summer camps so you can save money and it doesn’t allow coaches to over evaluate your child.

Make a file to help you stay organized and to document any communication between your son and coaches at all of the different schools that are involved.

Be realistic on the level at which you think your son can play.

It’s not the high school or high school coaches job to promote your son, it’s your responsibility. They will be happy to help but ultimately the time you put into the recruiting process will directly benefit your family.

Try to enjoy the entire process.

Once again, a special thanks for the parents in their help!

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Including only scholarship worthy plays in your recruiting highlight video

For some sports like football, an outstanding recruiting highlight video can make or break what type of attention that you will receive in the recruiting process. I have stressed for years the importance of having a quality product put together and the impact that it can have on you. But in working on one recently, something really stood out to me.

If you read different sources, some say you need to include your best twelve plays, your best twenty plays, or any other random number you can come up with. But in my mind, there is one thing you should really think about when producing a recruiting highlight video. Is this play scholarship worthy?

If you are the one doing the highlight video yourself, that question is something that should enter into your mind every single play that you use. If you are hiring it out, make sure that the company you have gone with knows what they are doing and has an eye for what college coaches are looking for. If you are doing this on hudl, make sure the plays are organized by the best ones, not just the first game, second game, and so on.

I hate to bring this story up again but for an athlete had his highlight video produced by a company in their home town where most of their work was done with wedding. The video was well presented but the problems occurred when the plays started. The first video of the recruiting highlight video was of the athlete at quarterback handing the ball off. Do you think him handing the ball off was scholarship worthy? What is even worse is that this recruit was not even being recruited at quarterback.

The moral of that quick story is that even if you have friends who know how to edit video, make sure they know what college coaches are looking for. If they don’t, then move on. There is no doubt in my mind that it is worth paying a few more dollars to someone who knows what they are doing. That knowledge can be the difference between a scholarship and a walk-on spot at the school.

Going back to the main theme of the article, if you are a running back, think about if each play you put is scholarship worthy. Is a two-yard touchdown up the middle really going to help you get a scholarship? If the answer is no, don’t include it. The touchdown appears on your stats so if it is lackluster, it doesn’t need to be in your highlight video as well.

What you want to include are the impressive runs. It may be a play where you juked someone, broke through a tackle, or gave a great stiff arm. Even if these plays are only 10-yard gains, the ability that you show may make the difference in the eyes of college coaches. Breaking three tackles and juking someone for 15-yard is more scholarship worthy than a perfectly blocked 80-yard run where no one touched you.

So before finalizing that highlight video, go through each and every one of the plays that are included. Is this play good enough to get me a scholarship? And if you don’t know or are too bias to tell, then it may be best to hire out the video and get it done by a professional.

 

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Q&A with a Family Part 1: What happens with football recruiting during a coaching change late in the process

When an athlete accepts a Division I scholarship offer for any sport, they feel strongly that this is the school that they want to spend the next four or five years of their life at.  And while some may decommit and eventually pick another program, the majority of athletes stay strong to their word when they originally commit.

But what happens to a recruit after committing when the head coach at the school leaves the program in a flash only a short time before Signing Day?  We had a chance to do a question and answer with a family who had the chance to go through this exact situation.  Find out what they thought about the whole process and what they did to help their son get football recruiting attention in the first place.  This is part one of a two part article.

Can you please describe the overall recruiting process that your family went through?
The recruiting process started in the summer between our son’s sophomore and junior years. He attended the State University #1 one-day Prospect Camp and one day of State University #2 three-day padded camp. He also attended a 7 on 7 Passing Camp at State University #2. Being a starter on the State Championship Team jump started his recruiting due to the exposure he got during the semifinals and State Championship Game.

We had a highlight tape made and attended a number of Junior Day Events at several schools. In the spring of his junior year, we also made several unofficial visits to check facilities, academics, and the football program.  We had offers from a couple of recruiting services to promote our son and help with the recruiting process but we opted to try it ourselves first.  With the offer from State University #1 in April of ’08 and his commitment in May ’08, he decided to end his process early because that was the offer he was looking for.

What had been your experience with football recruiting prior to this?
None. We did our own recruiting process with our daughter, who received a volleyball scholarship from Out-of-State University #1.

When did you feel your son had the potential to play college athletics?
Freshman Year

Did you use a recruiting service/recruiting agent during the recruiting process? If so, why? If not, why did you go that route?
Both (parents) are college athletes and have gone through the recruiting process ourselves. Granted, it was many years ago and things are quite a bit different today but we knew the questions that needed to be asked and we knew that we needed to promote our son through exposure at camps, a highlight video, and communicating with the coaching staffs. We had some experience with recruiting from going through the process with our daughter.

We did speak to a couple of recruiters, but after seeing the price of some of the services, we felt we would make a run of it on our own before soliciting their services.  Being from Large High School #1, a school with a rich tradition in football and a great coaching staff, also was a big help in the recruiting process. The coaches do a nice job of promoting their players and have many contacts in the college ranks.

If you handled recruiting yourself, what did you do to help get your son’s name out to college coaches?
We had a highlight video made and sent it out to many different schools. He attended several junior day events.  The high school coach sent his name out on many potential athlete questionnaires. During his junior year, he worked out with another Division I athlete during track. Many coaches visit Large High School #1 throughout the winter and spring. When they were talking to this other athlete, they noticed our son’sbody type, work ethic, and foot speed, and took a mental note of who he was.

Do you feel that making All State/All Conference lists is important during the recruiting process?
No. Our son did not have a single post season honor during his Junior season.

What do you feel were some of the best steps that you took to help get your son attention?
Attending camps in the summer.

Were there any steps that you took that you would have avoided when looking back now?
No

How much help did his high school coach play in the recruiting process?
The high school coach did a great job of adding our son’s name to many lists of potential players. He also returned phone calls to many coaches, introduced our son to many of the visiting coaches, and even attended one of the summer camps our son was at and spoke with the coaches there about him.

Was the guidance counselor at the school used much? If so, for what?
Yes. Our son is interested in Engineering. His counselor helped him by giving him a list of the top engineering schools to look over during his recruiting process. They also assisted us with some of the Clearinghouse information and sending transcripts out to some of the schools he was looking at.

Did you make a highlight video yourself or have it professionally done? Why did you pick the route that you did?
We had a highlight video made by a local guy.  He is a graduate of Large High School #1, films all of the games, and really knows the players and what to look for in a highlight video. We had seen some of his work and liked what we saw so we went with his services. We felt it was important to have a quality product to send out to the coaches.

How many highlight videos did you end up sending out total?
Between 10-15

Before sending the videos, had you had much contact with the college coaches?
Not really, in most cases it was our son’s contact with coaches at school and from camps.

Was there much contact with the media during the recruiting process? Did you use it to help get the word out about scholarship offers?
Yes. Before our son’s scholarship offers, the only media contact was from Rivals.com and Scout.com.  Once he committed to State University #1, the larger newspapers throughout the State and television crews started interviewing him.

Why did your son decide to end the recruiting process in May originally?
ISU was our son’s “dream school” for football and engineering.  He’s been to the city many times for different family and athletic events. He’s always liked the campus, the energy during the games he attended, and the city. He liked the size of the school, the football facilities, and he’s always wanted to play in that conference. When State University #1’s coach offered him in April, we visited a few other schools and nothing ever lived up to his vision of that program. When we went on an unofficial visit in May and looked more in depth at the Engineering Program, the student housing, and the Academic Center, there was no doubt in his mind that this was the place he wanted to be.

Was there any thought at all that the coaches at State University #1 would leave?
No. We thought State University #1’s coach would be there at least five years.

When did your family first hear about the coaching change?
We heard rumors the day before State University #1’s coach announced he was taking the job at another school.

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A high school coach is needed for the athletic recruiting process

In talking with parents and athletes who are going through the recruiting process, many feel that their high school coach is not doing much in the recruiting process. While many coaches may be uneducated about how to help their player, if you can get your high school coach helping you, it would be a big boast to the recruiting process.

The reason the coach is essential is because you will need an outside opinion that does not have any bias in the recruiting process. For example, if a dad or a mom starts calling colleges and tells them about their son or daughter, chances are that the coach will not listen.

It is a completely different story if the high school coach would start calling around. This coach carries more weight because they are at least the head coach of a high school program. College coaches don’t want to burn bridges with this high school coach simply because they may have the next big player down the road.

Here is a good story I recently heard about this. A few years back, there was a talented basketball who came off of the bench as a junior but ended up being an All Stater in Illinois as a senior. Because that state has so much basketball talent, getting a high honor like that is a great achievement. But with him really excelling as a senior, it was tough for the coach to get him any looks.

The his head high school coach is a veteran and has been there for quite sometime. He knows exactly what he is doing and knows what players can play Division I. This coach did some calling and spoke with a number of lower Division I basketball programs in the Midwest. Some had already filled up their spots but still talked to him. Others didn’t return his phone calls and a few tried to talk to him about a sophomore prospect he had.

This coach, who sent a player to one of the top five programs in the country recently, decided to pull the plug on the coaches that didn’t speak with him about this player or tried to talk to him about a different guy on the team. This shows that when high school coaches get involved, there is more of an impact if parents are the ones calling.

I heard from a Division I coach that no matter what, he will try calling back a high school coach about a kid. If a tape is sent and then the high school coach calls, this college coach will at least try to take a look at it. If the parent sends a tape and then calls about it, chance are slim that it will be watched. As I have mentioned before, if you are sending out highlight tapes to every school in the country, the majority of them will get thrown away.

College coaches will also call the high school quite often requesting tape and talking to the high school coach about you. If the coach is hard to get a hold of, that does make it tough for the college coach to get any information on you. That includes contact information, grades, stats, and video.

I recently was told that a junior kicker had schools around the Midwest like Wisconsin, Iowa, and others requesting tape. If these coaches had an issue getting in touch with the coach, there is no way that the tape would have been sent.

It is also important to have an organized high school coach. If you have a major recruit on your team, it is tough to keep everything straight in terms of videos sent, letters sent, and then worrying about your own life as well. With teaching, your family, and everything else a high school coach does, there is little time to try and figure out where you already sent highlight videos.

In order to get your high school coach on your side, you need to talk to him or her about what level they think you can play at. If there is a disagreement on that, then you might be in for trouble during the process. But if you are on the same page, then you can talk to him about helping you out and what he has done and seen in the past years. That experience is what could help you eventually earn that college scholarship.

 

 

 

 

 

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I’m a senior with no football recruiting interest. What do I do?

Like a few of the other series of articles that I have started, I plan to break down what I would recommend to high school athletes in different situations. This will cover football and basketball as well as the year the athlete is and the recruiting interest they have been receiving. This should help those athletes and parents that are confused about the recruiting process and what they are doing.

The first thing that you must figure out if you are 100% sure that you want to play at the college level. The answer to this question must be a definitive yes. If you are unsure or there are question marks regarding your decision, then it is probably a good idea to hang up your cleats and relive your high school glory days later on. No matter what level of college football you end up playing, you will be spending a great deal of time honing your skills. Even if you are on JV at a Division III school, they will keep you busy with games, practices, lifting, video, and just about anything else you can think of. So if you are not all in, then don’t waste your time trying.

My best guess is that if you kept reading this article, then you want to play college football but have had no takers at this point. I do think that good athletes can still fall through the cracks. If this player decides to take it upon himself to play, then you can still enjoy a football career at the college level.

Right now is a good time to be honest with yourself. By that, I mean if you have no recruiting interest right now, then the ship has likely sailed to receive a Division I scholarship straight out of high school. The chances of that happening are so slim that it may not be worth considering. Sorry to break it to you but it probably won’t happen.

As I have always recommended if you are unhappy with your recruiting options, take a look at the website that lists all of the colleges in the country (Click here to see that link, and no I am not getting paid to advertise this, although I wish I was). Anyways, go through that list and see what colleges would be a good fit for you academically, athletically, and socially. Check out what programs they offer in academics as well as how good their football team is. And when you see USC and LSU, just move on.

My best guess is that you have not had a chance to put together a recruiting profile sheet. This is essential in telling the colleges that you are interested in their programs (click here to see an article on putting together a recruiting profile sheet). The programs I would look most at on that list would be Division III schools, NAIA schools, Junior Colleges, and smaller Division II programs. With the Division II schools, chances are strong you may have to walk on there.

Feel free to add a comment to this post if you are having any trouble putting together your recruiting profile. Once completed, make sure to add senior stats and anything else of interest that is relevant. Since you are the one doing this, it does not cost anything to make this on your computer.

If you decide to go any of the four options mentioned above, you are not in a hurry as regulated by the NCAA. You can wait and decide until the last day of your senior year what Division III program you will be attending. It really doesn’t matter until the players report in the late summer. But then again, you probably want to go somewhere that you are wanted at.

After sending out the recruiting profile, see what schools are interested in you as an athlete. If your dreams are just to play college football, focus on the smaller schools. See what type of help they can give you financially. If you have been taking care of business in the class room, it will help reduce your tuition a great deal at the school. If you have eyes for playing at a bigger school, then look into the walking on at a Division II program or going the Junior College route. While heading to a JuCo may not be your strongest option academically, it could help open some doors if you are good enough to play at a high level.

Once you figure out what level you are focusing on, try to take some visits to these programs. They will likely be unofficial visits where you pay your own way to travel to the school but it is an opportunity to learn more about the program. I don’t want to downplay how much interest the coaches will show you but there is a good chance that they won’t have a ton of time for an un recruited walk on.

After taking the visits, try to talk to the coaches some more over the phone and via email. Get a feel for what would be the best fit for you. Apply to the programs that you are interested in see what type of financial aid they can offer you. Again, the coaches will probably spend some time helping you but I am sure they have bigger fish to fry at this time.

Once you are happy with a school, tell the coaches that you want to go there. This will help you through the process of putting down a room deposit and figuring out when you need to report.

Again, if it is this late but you still want to play, it is very possible to find a good fit for you. It would probably not be a good investment to spend hundreds of dollars on a highlight video. But take your time and find a place you like. If things don’t work out athletically, you can still have a good four years and not have to transfer.

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What is the point of in-home visits by college coaches?

As always with Recruiting-101, I am happy to answer questions and comments that are suggested by readers all over.  While I am picky about what articles I will write about, if there is a good question that has not been covered, I am happy to help answer those questions in the form of an article.  So not only is the person asking the question getting information, other readers are learning more about it as well.  Here is what was posted in a comment from a reader, which I will address below:

Why do DIII coaches visit players at their homes? I mean, they can’t offer scholarships and there is no “signing” like there is for DI or DII, right? A DIII coach wants to come to our home this week and I’m curious what is the point (I’ve met the coach, my son has met him numerous times at camps, at the college, and at the high school).

There is no doubt that coaches at all levels make in-home visits.  For in-home visits, your family has the college coach/coaches in your residence.  Like with visits and telephone calls, the reason that these in-home visits are done is to continue building a relationship between the family and the coaching staff.  The more more comfortable that you are with a coach or coaches at a certain school, the tougher it will be for you to eventually turn them down.

It doesn’t matter if you live in the same town as the college and have attended every game over the last ten years, unless your dad is the head coach, college coaches want to make these in-home visits.  If a decision is nearing, it will give the college coaches one last time to make a pitch for you to go to their school.

For a Division III school, they may also use it to talk to your family about potential academic scholarships and financial aid packages.  They may also want to see what the athlete’s family life is like and learn more about how they were raised.  While few non-scholarship schools will get turned off on a kid, it could determine how much interest a school shows from there on out.

There have been a number of situations where college coaches have seen athletes disrespect their parents and the coaches decide to move on to another recruit.  This is obviously something that happens rarely but it does happen.  If they are going to disrespect their mother by talking back to her, why would they eventually not do the same with their college coach?  Again, that is more at the scholarship level.

A school can also show a recruit how interested they are in you.  Is it the head coach coming or just an assistant?  A few years back, an offensive lineman decommitted from a school late in the recruiting process so an in-state school was making a run at home.  In order to show interested they really were in him, they brought as many coaches as they legally could to the house for an in-home visit (I believe the number was five but am unsure about it).  They wanted to show this recruit that he was their #1 priority and a must get recruit (just to let those out there know who are wondering, he ended up picking another school).

From the recruiting perspective, a college coach wants to use this in-home visit to continue to sell their program and answer any questions that you may not have asked previously.  This is a great time as a family to ask anything that has been bothering you.  It could be tuition, their record, the facilities, or anything.  There is no doubt that if a coach comes into your residence for a few hours, the relationship will grow (unless of course things hit the fan, which can happen).

The coach also gets a better feel from where an athlete comes from.  Going into dinner at someone’s house gives a coach more information about how you grew up and where you came from.  Some good coaches may even use that and be able to motivate you down the road.

In my opinion, even if it is a Division III coach, there is no reason not to host an in-home visit.  The most it will take is cleaning up one night and maybe one or two extra plates for dinner.  You will get more information and all of your questions answered.  That is a good thing in my book.

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Weakened Housing and Energy Prices Steady Rising Inflation and Interest Rates

With a trade deal between China and the US and with Democrats taking back the House of Representatives, we expect a more measured approach and a trade deal with China before the end of the year. This is particularly important as global stock markets have grown more sensitive and volatile in recent months. With peak valuations in real estate and stock markets behind us, capital markets are looking for stability from the world's largest economies.

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Updated: Levels of recruiting interest from college coaches

I wrote sometime ago about the different levels of recruiting interest. This is a piece that continues to need updating because of the changes that are going throughout the athletic recruiting process.  With scholarship being the goal, it is always interest for athletes to see where the interest that they have been getting ranks.  In reverse order of importance, here are my thoughts on the level of attention that colleges are showing you:

The cold zone/Basic interest
Camp Invite – While it is very true that college coaches will invite players to a camp to seriously consider them for a scholarship, these same coaches have to invite a lot of other players as well. Some will tell the player that if they are the best quarterback or running back at the camp, they will offer. And in some respects, that may be true but unlikely to happen. At basketball and football programs across the country, the pay of coaches is supplemented with money that is earned during summer camps. So if a coach wants to earn more money, he needs to get more athletes at the camp. And at the same time, what this coach can do is invite any player who was named All State, All Conference, or All District the previous season. If one player shocks everyone and eventually receives a scholarship, it was worth the $300 plus to go to the camp. If not, the coach still gets paid for the camp by the player. In the majority of cases, the player does leave camp without a scholarship offer. But at least they get a t-shirt of the school.

Questionnaires – College coaches will send out questionnaires to recruits to learn more about them. When they originally start their recruiting database with thousands and thousands of athletes, the questionnaires will help them narrow things down. For example, some schools may send out these to many athletes in the area. But if it is a Division I school and the player averaged five points as a junior, that is likely to be their last piece of mail that they send the kid. I list this above camp invite because with this, they are least want to learn more about you and your skills.

Form Letters – These are the generic letters from college coaches that are typed up and not personal at all. It can include brief talks about the school, updates on the program, and anything generic that has nothing personal about you at all. This is another letter that could go to 5,000 different athletes throughout the country. While these are nice to receive, getting one from a Division I school is far from being a Division I player. Two quick notes about these before moving on. When I was in high school, I received a form letter from the University of Texas El Paso, aka UTEP after my junior year. This was after I put up less than one point per game. In that same year, a soccer player who was in my grade had played football his first two years of high school but didn’t as a junior. After that year, the University of Nebraska sent him a form letter. So again, form letters mean little to nothing.

School Visits – While it is great to say hello to a college coach visiting your school, many of these coaches go through the same schools every year. They do this as a way to talk to the head coach. They may not be serious about you as a prospect but something that the coach does every year just in case your school has a prospect. It is building up that relationship for future use. With how many high schools college coaches visit, I really don’t think it is that big of a deal to have them in attendance.

Emails – While there has been software developed recently over the last few years that allows coaches to send out mass emails to prospective recruits (Trust me, more coaches than you think use these), emails are a step above the form letter when it becomes a personal thing. If they are just email blasts with no substance included, then I would actually rank this below form letters. But if it is personal and to just you, then it is a step above. Getting an email from a college coach is a good thing but do realize that they send a lot of mass emails out about their program.

Personalized Social Media Contact – The biggest thing about this is that it is not a camp invite.  The coach at the school is working to get to know you  With that in mind, it is very high on the list.  

Warming up/The school is at least somewhat interested
Hand Written Letters – Receiving hand written letters from college coaches means that they are serious enough about you to spend enough attention to write out what should be a personalized note. While it is unknown how many of these they write, and if they actually do write them (Which is what graduate assistants may be used for), they are a step up the recruiting importance chain. One thing to note on these hand written letters. I wrote about an athlete a few years back who was being recruited hard by two Division I football teams in-state and had received hand written letters from them during the spring of his junior year. And this kid ended up playing sports at the Division III level. Like I said, hand written letters are a step up but nothing to get a big head about. Some schools may also send out supposed hand written notes that are actually a font on the computer. These are the fun ones to try and figure out.

Junior Day Visits – Regarding the Junior Day visit, let me state that it really depends on the school. I have seen some programs keep their visit numbers very low and all of the players there eventually go on to a scholarship somewhere. On the other hands, there are schools like Louisville and Iowa State that bring in as many kids will come. Did you play varsity? Then come on to the Junior Day. The bigger the numbers, the less prestigious it is. If there are above fifty athletes there, than rank this lower than the hand written letter. Coaches at the school mentioned before are likely trying to use this as a way to get kids to camp. While it will be a good evaluation tool, these coaches have to realize that many of these players are not even good enough for scholarship football

Phone Calls – When receiving a phone call from a coach, you know that it is something that they are doing and it is impossible (Well, lets hope) for them to fake. This gives you as a player a chance to learn more about the coach and their program. This gives the coach a chance to learn more about you as a person and not just an athlete. Athletes that are being seriously recruited by a school will receive a call during the open periods. If you are a quiet kid, make sure to ask the coach questions about the program and show them they you are interested. While they would not stop recruiting you from this, coaches will dread calling kids who are quiet and tough to talk to. That is a known fact from coaches at all levels..

On fire/Things are going very good in recruiting
Official Visits – I wouldn’t say that official visits are sure fire offers because some of the players on these do end up walking on. But if a school is going to pay for you to visit campus, that says a lot about what they think of you as a player. My guess is that if you are brought on an official visit, unless you get in trouble while there, the least they will offer you is a walk on spot. While that is not for sure, I would guess it would happen in 99% of the cases.

Verbal Scholarship Offers – From what I have learned over the past few years, I personally wouldn’t think that I have an official offer until the paperwork comes in the mail. Some coaches will verbally offer a player or hint around about it. Really, this is a big step for you in the recruiting process. The coach could tell you over the phone that there is an offer for you or while on a visit. It is something to get excited about and few coaches will go back on their word. But some may and that is why the official paperwork is what seals the deal.

Written Scholarship Offer – This may come after talking to the coaching staff or even randomly in the mail. Some schools have been known not to say anything before and the paperwork shows up at an athlete’s house. This basically means that you are in a great situation and you will likely not have to pay for college. It is the dream of any athlete and shows that the time and effort you have put in over the past years of your life has paid off. But it is important to realize that the hard work is only beginning if you are planning to play sports at the scholarship level.

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(My Famous) Sweet 'n Sassy Sweet Potato Pockets for Thanksgiving!

This recipe for Sweet 'n Sassy Sweet Potato Pockets was my very first signature Thanksgiving recipe. I came up with it in college when I needed to bring my own "vegan Thanksgiving" side/entree to a non-vegan family feast. And since I LOVE Thanksgiving, I didn't want to miss out on any of my favorite dishes. So instead of bringing multiple dishes and crowding the already crowded dinner table, I made these little gems. I wanted my entire vegan Thanksgiving meal stuffed inside a puffy pita pocket. And that is what I got! Everyone at the table raved about them - with shocked looks in their eyes - and by the end of the night I was scribbling down the recipe on a piece of scrap paper for one of the guests. And emailing it to others. I make this recipe every year no matter...

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Questions that a college coach could ask when on an athletic recruiting visit?

While there are a lot of different topics that can be talked about this time of year, I recently received an interesting email from a parent who was looking for help in the recruiting process.  While this site does focus on football and basketball, her son plays a completely different sport and yet is still able to find use out of all the articles that are brought to readers daily.  Anyways, here is what she said in the email:

We are at a new step in the recruiting process. My son has been sending a coach at a college (“Ideal College” we’ll call it where he would LOVE to go) information about himself since the summer before his Junior Year. He has also met the coach briefly when we attended a college tournament.  Recently, my son e-mailed the coach, telling him that he is coming to the college for a tour and information session, and my son asked to meet with the coach at his convenience. The coach has responded with a date, time, and asked my son to bring his PSAT and SAT scores (which are very good!) and his transcript (also excellent!), which we have.  My question is – I want my son to prepare to answer the coaches questions. What do you think he will ask? My son is a Junior, and although “Ideal College” has always been #1 on his list, he has been in (e-mail) touch with another coach at another good school. Will the coach at “Ideal U” ask him what other schools he is looking at? Will my son have to list them in order? I’m not sure he’s ready to do that, although this is probably his number one pick so far.  I just printed out the “What questions should I ask…” article but I think I need to find the “What questions might the coach ask…” article!

Before answering the question, let me stress to this parent and others out there that in order to get a scholarship or a roster sport in a program, all you have to do is impress one coaching staff.  So if Ideal College (I love that name by the way) is showing a great deal of attention and that is it, I wouldn’t worry about it.  The biggest thing I would do during the recruiting process is be completely honest with the schools.

If you expect it from college coaches, be honest with all of the questions that they are going to ask.  The last thing you want is your family getting caught in a trail of lies regarding which schools are recruiting your son.  One thing I know is that assistant coaches at a lot of schools in the same conference talk and are friends so keep that in mind before telling them that a rival is recruiting your son if they are really not.

Just be honest if they ask something, even if it is a tough question to answer.  They obviously care about your son to at least show him some early attention.  It doesn’t mean a full ride scholarship will certainly come but it does show that they are going to evaluate you son more before Signing Day of his senior season.  At this point in recruiting, that is what you are looking for.

Let me state that when taking visits, most college coaches will be trying to sell their program and what they have to offer.  There will be questions but on a campus visit, those actually don’t come up all that much.  So outside of a little chit chat and the usually things, here are some questions that a college coach may ask when you are on a visit (note: coaches ask more questions on the phone than in person):

What fields of study are you interested in?

What are the things that you are looking for most in a school?

What are you most interested in about our school?

What other schools are you hearing from?

Do you have a leader now?

What types of grades are you getting now (which may be an early way to ask for your transcripts)?

What position do you want to play on the team?

How do you see yourself possibly fitting in here?

Have you taken your ACT/SAT?

Have you made a highlight video?

Are you playing on a summer team?

What is the single most important factor in your college decision?

What extracurricular activities are you involved in?

What do you think about your high school coach?

Is your parent going to call me every day if you aren’t starting (this is a joke question, hopefully)?

For the most part, a lot of these can be answered in the questionnaires that they send out to potential recruits.  Like I said before, the key to college visits in the eyes of coaches is to sell the players on the school and what they have to offer.  Even if it is an unofficial visit during the junior year, they are mainly going to be in selling mode.  If you turn out to be good enough to play for them, then they will have already sold you on the program.

When coaches want to find out about a player, they normally ask the high school coaches, any sources they have in the area, and other people around the school.  These give them the best feel for a recruit that they can get.  So going into unofficial visits, it is something not to stress about.  Just be honest and go in looking to learn more about the coach and the school itself.

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Easy Vegan Mushroom Gravy

Always posting last minute recipes around the holidays, that's me! Well this Easy Vegan Mushroom Gravy is worth it. This is the time of year when I remember just how easy a few of my favorite comfort food recipes actually are to make. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy being one of them! This gravy is rich and savory with mushroom flavor throughout. You can whip it up in just a few minutes and be pouring it over everything on your holiday plate. Get the recipe, a how-to video + and my 1-2-3 mashed potatoes too!..Read more »

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Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes - (updated for 2018)

Here it is, my Vegan Thanksgiving Recipe Guide - updated for 2018! This post is jam-packed with my favorite festive recipes that are perfect for your holiday table. Check out my vegan Thanksgiving recipes as well as my "Choose Five!" approach to holiday cooking when I am feeling overwhelmed, plus see my five must-have recipes for Thanksgiving. I hope one (or a few) of my recipes can help you celebrate the holidays with ease, joy, comfort, wellness and deliciousness..Read more »

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How do I research what other prospects a college is recruiting for football or basketball?

Think about how difficult it would be as a national recruit in the early 1990s.  Let’s just say that you were rated a top 150 recruit by a magazine and had football coaches from all over the country trying to sign you.  If you were from Texas, schools like Notre Dame, Nebraska, Miami, Oklahoma, and other powerhouses at that time were doing everything they could to end up with you on their roster.  These coaches could say whatever they want to you as a recruit and you were extremely limited on being able to do any fact checking.

If Nebraska offered you a scholarship and was telling you that you are their number one recruit and that they are not recruiting any other running backs, how would you verify that in the early 1990s?  Well, the good news is that with the expansion of the Internet things have changed greatly in the past two decades.  This has made things much easier for recruits to check in on who else their favorite schools are recruiting.  As a football recruit (or a recruit for any other sport), it makes things much easier on your end these days.

The advantage of having the power of the Internet is that there are so many sites that you can look into that can help provide you with a great deal of information about which schools are recruiting what kids.  If you were a good enough football recruit to hear from Urban Meyer of Florida and have an offer on the table, it takes thirty seconds to look up “Florida Rivals” on Google, click on the site, and then click on the commitment list.

If you were an offensive line recruit who currently held a scholarship from the Gators, you could find out pretty quickly that they already have four commitments from other offensive linemen.  All four of these linemen have video highlights on the site as well so if you are a subscriber of Rivals, you can even see how your eventual competition stacks up to you on the field.  The Internet is a great thing!

The reason why I bring this up is because a user recently commented about how their grandson would be taking an official visit to Memphis for football recruiting.  If the family wants to know who else Memphis is after, there are a few things to really look into.  And each of these can give you a better feel for the recruiting picture at the school.  The added bonus is also finding out if coaches are being completely honest with you during the courting process.  Here are a few places to go to look up information:

Rivals.com/Scout.com/247Sports.com
Because Memphis is not a major player (outside of hoops of course), their sites with Rivals.com and Scout.com may not be as strong as a Florida or a Texas.  It really just depends on the school but the first thing I would do for Division I programs is type in the school name and Rivals or Scout into Google and get to their home page.  Here is the Rivals site and here is the Scout site.

For these sites, it appears that the Rivals.com site is updated more often and better overall.  So if you visit the site, you can quickly see that the Tigers have ten recruits committed.  For most of the bigger sites that are updated everyday, they area dead on with the commitment list.  But for a site like Memphis for football, there is a chance that they may be missing out on a few prospects.  That type of thing just happens for these sites that are not in BCS conferences.

Independent Message Boards
One of the best sources of information on Division I-AA football programs is independent message boards that are not linked to Rivals or Scout.  These forums have the true fans living there and they love to link articles with mentions of their school and the recruiting process.  They scour newspapers all over the country, Rivals, Scout, 247Sports, ESPN, and just about everywhere else to provide information.

If you wanted to learn more about the recruiting of Cal Poly and if you were really the only tight end they offered, finding an independent message board with information about them is a great help.  These schools may not always have a Rivals/Scout site but their true fans usually step up with an independent message board that is trafficked everyday.

Local Newspaper Sites
Most college programs love to have news of their commitments be public.  That is why most programs at any level love to let information sneak out about the latest commitment.  If there is a beat writer that covers Memphis, look up the local paper and see if you can find anything.  For a school the size of Memphis, there really is a lot of information about there regarding their football recruiting.  You just have to be a sleuth with the ability and skills to find it.

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I’m a senior with football scholarship offers. What do I do?

Like a few of the other series of articles that I have started, I plan to break down what I would recommend to high school athletes in different situations. This will cover football and basketball as well as the year the athlete is and the recruiting interest they have been receiving. This should help those athletes and parents that are confused about the recruiting process and what they are doing.

If you are a senior football player with scholarships, the first thing you should do is to be thanking your lucky stars. But I won’t go anymore in depth in that because I have in other articles. With it now being less than two months away from Signing Day, now is an important time for you. Coaches are free to make call you, visit your high school, as well as visit you in your house.

What I would do is write down all of the schools that are seriously recruiting you. These can be anywhere from Division I to Division III, NAIA to Junior College. What you should do is start figuring out what schools you are seriously interested and others that you are not as interested in. I have always said keep your options open in recruiting so don’t just cross programs off of the list right away. Figure out what you don’t like about the schools and put them on the back burner now. Again, make sure these schools are seriously interested in you and at the least will offer you a walk on spot.

After you have figured out what schools you like and dislike, now is the time to narrow the list down to five to ten schools. Once that list is narrowed, you can spend more time learning about their programs, the academics that they offer, their coaching staff, and the location of the school. Talk to the coaches and talk to them about potential scholarship offers, how they would use you on the team, and if they are going to bring you on an official visit.

Because you are only allowed five official visits (Official visits mean that they pay your way to get to the school as well as hosting you and feeding you), that is the eventual number you want to narrow things down to. With high school football now behind you, basketball or wrestling may keep you busy but it is important to find time for those visits. In a perfect world, all athletes would take all five official visits and get to make a carefree decision (Click here to find out what happens on an official visit).

However, that is not how it works. There will be other recruits vying to take up that scholarship. But as of now, because you have scholarship offers in hand, look at your options and begin setting up official visits. If you are doing this at this point in the recruiting process, it should allow you to spend a weekend at each school and not rush things along. This weekend will be a great chance to meet the players, the coaches, see the environment, and learn more about their program.

Like with buying a car or a house, make sure to write down your thoughts after the visit. Because you will be visiting so many places, things may blur together and you could forget what is at which school. Keep a journal to put how you feel about their coaches, their players, the facilities, or anything that you really like or dislike. Hopefully your parents will be able to make the trip with you (Which they will have to pay for themselves) and that will make things much easier.

The biggest thing is setting up visits to schools so you can make that eventual decision before Signing Day in February. If you are fully qualified, double check that you are certified with the NCAA Clearinghouse so you can take those official visits and will eventually be a full qualifier.

This really will be a very stressful two month stretch in the recruiting process if you decide to wait things out. College coaches from all over the country will be calling you and trying to tell you about their school. Many athletes get so busy during this time that they rush a decision instead of waiting things out. Obviously would not be something I recommend.

If you are unhappy with the amount of attention you are receiving, then you really will need to go back to the drawing board. Even if you have athletic scholarship offers, they may not be the type of football recruiting attention that you want. You can start at step one by click here. That is a list of all of the schools in the country. Look at the site and see the schools that you want to learn more about in terms of the area you want to go to school. Find out more about schools and figure out which ones would be a good match.

Once you get done with that, what you want to do is send out your recruiting profile. This is something that I have talked about many times so click here to see an older article on putting together a recruiting profile sheet. This should be something that you have done earlier in the recruiting process. Make sure to update it with new information as well as senior year stats. Send that recruiting profile sheet out to the colleges that you are interested in and tell them that you are.

At this time, the clock is ticking towards Signing Day so make sure to have video tape handy. That includes some of your best full game tapes as well as highlights showing your very best plays. If your old junior year tape is not impressing college coaches enough, it may be time to put together a senior year highlight video. If you really think you are scholarship worthy, it is worth the few hundreds of dollars to put that together. Click here for more information on putting together a football highlight video.

Again, you are in a good situation with a scholarship offer. Now is a great time to setup official visits or open things up if you are unhappy with the offers that you currently have.

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Green Apple Ginger Celery Juice

This spicy Green Apple Ginger Celery Juice is my go-to for a hydrating morning drink. It is especially helpful for me right now since the air quality in Los Angeles is still not great from the wildfires. I have asthma so I have to be extra careful about taking care of my lungs. And for some reason spicy ginger juice has always helped when my lungs start to feel cranky. But even when I feel great, this juice is awesome. This is my current fave drink to start the day. Come sunrise, I pop out of bed and crave it's vibrant, sweet, spicy, mildly grassy flavor. Sometimes I add more celery to make it less sweet, and other days (like today) I add extra ginger for more spiciness. I also love the boost of vitamin C this recipe brings. Get the recipe and a few breathing wellness tips +...

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When do college coaches visit high schools to see football recruits during the fall and winter?

If college coaches visit your high school to specifically speak to your high school coach about you during the fall or winter, that really is a good thing.  It doesn’t matter what level that these coaches are at.  What matters is that they are taking the time to learn more specifically about you and your abilities.

But when do college coaches come make trips to schools?  Is this something I should be looking forward to and waiting for?  The answer is that it really depends on the coaching staffs and their dates during the fall and winter.

Due to a time constraint, the majority of college coaches may take visits once during their own season.  There obviously will be exceptions to this rule but the majority of college coaches make trips to the high schools only during their bye week.  The reason is because they have a little more free time and that allows them an opportunity to look at recruiting and not focus on their next opponent.

Outside of that, it really is hard for a college coach to make trips to schools during the year.  Recruiting is vital to their job but they must win games in order to keep that job.  They are focused on both the opponent, their own players, and occasionally recruiting.  Throw in family and that makes for very little free time for any college coach in the fall.

The time that these coaches usually take their visits to high schools is November, December, or later.  Their regular seasons are normally over and if they are good enough, the coaches will get a chance to push their athletes during bowl practices.  These practices are demanding but not as vital as the few days during the week that these coaches have to prepare for a conference opponent.

Non-Division I-A (BCS) schools likely will go during those December and January.  Do realize that their budgets are smaller so they will likely be staying closer to home.  They may also visit schools in order to check in on multiple prospects and not just you.  It is harder to tell their true interests when they are trying to find out more information on multiple athletes as opposed to just one.

Don’t get down if college coaches have not paid visits to your high school yet.  The telltale sign for the football recruiting process right now for seniors is phone calls.  These visits are nice and everything but weekly calls from schools will show that they are seriously interested.  And if there are no calls or visits, go back to The Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer and start marketing yourself to new, smaller schools.

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How much interest can a sophomore football player receive in the recruiting process?

One of the questions that came to mind on one of the comment threads is how much interest a sophomore (Or even a freshman for that matter) football player can receive. Basically there are two answers to the question but there are also “other ways” that allow college coaches to communicate with sophomores.

College coaches are legally only able to send freshman or sophomore football players two things. These include a questionnaire and a camp brochure. Per NCAA rules, these college coaches cannot send anything else before September 1st of the prospect’s junior year.

When receiving a questionnaire, the college coaches are trying to find out more information about your athletic accomplishments as well as more contact information. The majority of these questionnaires are sent to the high school and will likely be forwarded on by your high school coach.

Make sure to fill out this information as honestly as possible. If you decide to inflate your stats or your accomplishments, the college coaches will not be happy when they find out about it. If you can’t play, I promise you that the coach will eventually find that out. Don’t waste your time or their time during this process.

If you have received postseason honors that early in your career, there is a good chance that you will receive attention from college coaches. Even if you have Division I eyes (Click here for that article), it is very important that if you want to continue your playing career to consider all of your options (Click here for that article as well). Fill out everything you receive because you never know what level you can play at this early in your prep career.

The other piece of information that you could receive is a camp invite. The thing that parents and even athletes really need to realize is that camp invites do not mean much at all (Click here for that article). While the coaches are evaluating players, they invite a great deal because they get paid more with a bigger number of attendance. So don’t just jump at a chance because the big State University invited you to a camp. Look into it and see if the school is serious about you.

For the top recruits in the country, many receive their first written offers in the mail on September 1st. As mentioned, that is the date when the college coaches can send real mail by the NCAA. These coaches can send personalized letters, written scholarships, and a variety of other things. But if you follow recruiting through Rivals.com, how do these coaches extend a scholarship offer if they cannot legally do it younger athletes?

What the college coaches have to do is be creative. While they are not breaking the NCAA rules, they will be working with the high school coach to send messages back and fourth. The college coach may tell the high school coach that they have an offer for their younger player. The high school coach can also tell the player to call the college coach and they can do it that way.

Basically if you are a freshman or a sophomore football player who has earned All State or All Conference honors, the contact you have with college coaches will be limited. But if you get your name in print, coaches from your area will send early recruiting letters. This is just to have your contact information on file as well as learn more about you early on.

 

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What will college coaches think about a suspension and how will that factor into the athletic recruiting process?

I recently had a chance to see an athlete get suspended for the first six games of the basketball season. While I am not exactly sure of the reason, every sign is pointing towards this player getting caught drinking and having to pay the consequences of his actions. As a high school student, you are bound to make mistakes but something like this could end up costing you your dream scholarship.

What makes this situation even worse is that this athlete has Division I scholarships. He has proven to be a mid-major Division I player. This player was hoping to be able to use the winter months to prove that he could play in the ACC or SEC. Coaches from those conferences have been recruiting him and definitely were going to evaluate him this season. But will that suspension change things?

College coaches are not stupid when it comes to athletes drinking and partying. It is something that happens at all levels, especially in high school. In a lot of situations, the basketball player who is recruited hard is also very popular. That popularity means going to high school parties. And most of those parties have alcohol involved somehow.

But this type of slip up starts to put question marks around the character of the athlete. If this player got caught drinking, then how many have they done it and not gotten caught? Or they going to be making huge mistakes if I were to offer them a scholarship? Could they have a drinking problem?

High school athletes need to know that suspensions for a variety of reasons get around quickly. It can go from the high school to a college coach to a prep message board where fans throughout the state now know that you were busted for drinking over the weekend. Trying to sweep things under the rug is nearly impossible with the Internet and many media outlets trying to be the TMZ of high school athletics (that unfortunately does happen by the way).

So before you go out with your friends to party, think about the consequences. For the athletes I mentioned previously, his drinking problem could end up having bigger programs move on in another direction and a school that has offered pull their scholarship.

And as I like to remind high school athletes, you will have the rest of your life to drink alcohol. You just need to get through high school and not let what you consider fun to sabotage any chance you have at a scholarship.

 

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Do not even think about sending in deposit checks for summer athletic camps anytime soon

Regardless of the sport, you want to stay on top and ahead of things during the athletic recruiting process. This will make things less stressful and just give you a better feel for your overall recruiting. A few things that you can stay ahead of are researching schools, figuring out what interests your son or daughter has in their college, and learning as much as you can about the process.

If you do the three things mentioned above, you will definitely be ahead of 75% of the families (if not more) that are also trying to go through recruiting. There are however a number of things that you cannot plan ahead for. And one of the major ones is summer camps. It doesn’t matter the sport or the school, now is not a good time to pick out your summer camp schedule.

The reason is actually pretty simple. For this example, you are a junior football recruit who has been receiving early interest from Alabama, Florida, USC, and all of the top programs across the country. This early interest is simply because you did a good job marketing yourself to these schools. It doesn’t mean they have seriously evaluated you or anything along those lines. You are in their recruiting database along with tens of thousands of other athletes in your grade.

You get an early camp invite from these schools so because you think they are laying on the full court recruiting press, your parents decide to start booking flights and sending in deposit checks. You will be spending the summer traveling the country because they feel you are an obvious Division I recruit who will get offers from everywhere.

The issue is that for most sports, it is way too early to get a real feel for where you sit with these schools. College football coaches cannot call junior recruits until late April and throughout the month of May. In a perfect scenario, I would stress you wait all the way until late May to finalize your camp plans and finally send in that check (or input your credit card number).

Football is a perfect example but all sports do this. They send out camp invites to thousands of recruits because they know that they will bite on the bait. A chance to get a Division I scholarship is certainly worth spending the $300, getting some coaching while on their campus, and competing for a scholarship. Most college coaches will tell athletes if they are the best (insert your position here), then you will get a scholarship. Being that best position player is not going to be easy by any means so you have to realize that going in.

Again, there is no reason to hurry into figuring out your summer schedule. The majority of athletes that I have seen travel the country attending camp after camp are usually the ones with a very limited amount of scholarship offers (if they have any at all).

You can take the time to start thinking ahead about potential camps. Think about going to a dream school camp, a camp that has great teaching, and a smaller school camp (Division I-AA/Division II). You can insert a few others depending on your time and financial situation but attending at least a day or two at three different camps may help put yourself into the best position.

Picking out camps is something that should not be done for months so don’t get ahead of yourself. Enjoy the winter and spring, work hard, and patiently wait to see which schools are really recruiting you. Then you can open up your parents’ checkbook and start throwing out money like wildfire.

 

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Quit waiting around to distribute your highlight video and other excuses during the football recruiting process

When speaking with a number of high school athletes, the ones who don’t seemed thrilled with how the football recruiting process is going for them always seems to make excuses when I ask them about what schools are recruiting them. As I have said before, I don’t care who is recruiting you. But it should be something that you should work on and be proud of at the same time.

One of the most frequent excuses that I hear from prep athletes about their recruiting attention is that they are just about to send out their tape. Once that makes the rounds in front of college coaches, scholarships will come flying left and right. I hate excuses like this and in my opinion it is coming from uneducated families who are unsure what to do in the football recruiting process.

The good news is that if you found this site, that means you are putting the time in to do things correctly. You are following the advice that is provided here which has worked time and time again. And instead of charging you thousands of dollars like recruiting service, we basically give it to you for free.

If you are a senior and have plans to play college football, you must have your highlight tape/game film ready to send today. I don’t want to hear the excuses because I can only imagine. “Well, my coach said he was going to do it but got busy” or “I am playing basketball/wrestling so don’t have enough time to do it yet.” Put those excuses to bed.

Many athletes and schools have hudl so that is a great place to go. If not, then you better start the learning process and take the time to figure out how to put together a highlight video. There are plenty of online videos that can assist you along the way.

Once you get that video done, remember, cold sending out tapes is not going to help you whatsoever. It actually will leave you with more questions about where you sit with the recruiting process.

What you should be doing is emailing the coaches that you have a senior recruiting highlight video available for the coaches that have been recruiting you. See what their response is and judge it from there. Keep track of the coaches you email, the coaches you send the film to, and take the time to follow up. Signing Day honestly is around the corner so keeping detailed notes of this information is vital.

Getting that highlight tape in the hands of college coaches that you have contacted prior to sending will give you your best chance to be evaluated. This evaluation is the best step to hopefully getting a scholarship offer from colleges down the road.

 

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Finding Vegan (Meals) is Here!

Today is the day! I am so excited to announce a big project that I have been working on this past year. Finding Vegan Meals. All the delicious details - plus a blog reader promo code + free holiday guide details, ahead!...Read more »

This is a summary, images and full post available on HHL website!

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