When do Division I-AA schools start the football recruiting process?

When starting the recruiting process, some may think that all schools start at the same time when sending prospective athletes mail. That however could not be further from the truth. Some schools like to get in early on younger players and try to show their interest in them early on. Others wait until they are older and see what kind of player that they have become as a senior.

One of the more interesting levels to follow in regards to recruiting is schools at the FCS/Division I-AA level. These programs are at a disadvantage over BCS/Division I-A schools because they do not have the resources that their rivals have. For example, a BCS school has to offer every player a full ride while the FCS school normally extends scholarships that are partials (There are exceptions at times).

Because of this, the Division I-AA schools are normally more hesitant to offer a prospect early in the recruiting process. I don’t follow I-AA schools all that closely but I have not seen them extend an official scholarship to anyone before the summer before their senior season. The reason that they wait is because even if you are the top Division I-AA program in the country, if word gets out that you have extended an offer to a player, the Division I-A coaches that hear are going to start taking a much longer look at this athlete.

While I am not trying to knock Division I-AA schools, it really is tough for them to compete against smaller Division I-A programs. There are always going to be exceptions and there have been some that I have talked about in past years. But for Division I-AA schools, they are always at a major disadvantage when it comes to recruiting.

Right now, I suspect that many Division I-AA programs have been doing what they can to bring prospective athletes on campus. Like the major schools across the country, they are also trying to have these standouts in for Junior Days and other events. In regards to college recruiting, getting a prospect on campus is half the battle and that is why they do these.

But again, as mentioned above, it would be down right shocking to see any of these schools offer a junior currently a scholarship (There are two exceptions here. If the athlete has a relative who played sports at the school or if the school is positioning themselves in case the top prospect eventually transfer from a major school and then doesn’t want to sit out a year because of the transfer). I have actually seen both of the cases I mentioned happen to a prospect recently but it is pretty obvious that the prospect is not considering either program at this time.

These schools will send mail, call, visit schools, and do the normal recruiting process evaluations. Like any other school, they will also be trying to bring the prospect on campus so that they can see them in action. Schools at the I-AA level have started to be more aggressive when offering scholarships to players at their camps. Some schools have been known to extend things that early, but again, they want as few people to know about the scholarship as possible. The more other schools know that a program has offered a player, the more those other schools will focus on the positives of this player and what he can do.

During the fall, these Division I-AA programs will have athletes take visits during the season. In the majority of cases, these will be unofficial visits just to see the campus and to see their team in action.

The time that recruiting at this level really heats up is in December. Their seasons are normally finished and the coaches now fully switch their attention over to the recruiting process. This is when they will start extending scholarships and bringing in athletes on official visits. Another reason that they wait this long to bring the athletes in is because they will know by now if Division I-A schools have offered the prospects. They know that if that is the case, it will be an uphill battle to land the prospect. And while these I-A schools could still offer late, now is the best time to tell the athletes how much the school wants on campus and how important they are to their recruiting class.

The I-A schools at the time will be telling the recruits to be patient and that they are waiting to see what other prospects will say in regards to a scholarship. I can promise you that the I-AA schools will really push that angle. December and January are major months for them in the recruiting process.

From what I have seen at one major I-AA school, they bring in their top prospects early in December for an official visit. The later that you get an official visit in January, the less they want to land you. And if they already have received commitments from players at your position, expect them to call off the official.

Like all levels, the D I-AA level is not easy to figure out in recruiting. But this is a time where you have to be extremely patient and realize that they really do take longer than other schools. They don’t want to show their cards too early because they are worried that other I-A programs will snatch up their recruits.

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My dream school hasn’t called yet during the football recruiting evaluation period. What should I do?

I received an email with a question that was somewhat similar to this.  The family wanted to know what to do because they had received calls from other schools but their dream school had not contacted them over the phone as of yet.  The athlete was already starting to get mad about it and was going to take steps to avoid them in the future. 

That is a huge problem.  The evaluation period is forty five days.  There are a lot of opportunities for coaches to call you.  And if they don’t, then they obviously do not have you high on their radar.  It may be your dream school right now in your mind but it doesn’t mean it will be in February when you need to sign your Letter of Intent. 

If your dream school has not called, the first thing that you must not do is get worked up about it.  What good is it going to do to get mad about the situation?  There is nothing good that will come out of you getting upset.  You do also have to realize that there are still weeks left of the football recruiting spring evaluation period.  I am not trying to get your hopes up but there is still plenty of time to field calls from college coaches. 

You may want to send an email or call the coaches yourself just to check in.  That is your call and something that you may want to do if you are getting anxious.  But if you do that, will they call you back later in the month?  Since they already spoke with you, is that something they are going to do?  An email may be the best option because a call may make it fuzzy in trying to gauge the interest that you have from that particular program. 

What happens if the month of May flies by and your dream school has not called you?  Unfortunately, this happens to a lot of athletes.  State University recruits across the country but apparently doesn’t think highly enough of you to give you a call?  What this signals is that they are not serious about you and that you need to seriously consider other recruiting options.  State University may be a great place but that doesn’t mean it is the best place for you overall. 

I hate to say that you need to cross out your dream school if they don’t call but I would guess that 95% (or more) of the Division I-A (BCS) offers come from schools that call the athletes during the evaluation period.  There are certain exceptions (an athlete being an amazing diamond in the rough, a coaching change, or a player just adding offer after offer) but that number is a reality. 

In all of my articles, I have never once said that you should pin all your hopes on your dream school.  It doesn’t matter if you have been going to their games since you were five.  The recruiting process can be a cold business and even if you love a school, that doesn’t mean you will end up getting a scholarship or even an opportunity to walk-on there.  That is why focusing on your dream school and their hopeful call is a mistake. 

The focus now should be learning about the schools that are calling, logging the calls, and asking specific questions about what their program has to offer.  If you are lucky enough to get any calls from college coaches (and I don’t care what Division), you should feel extremely lucky.  So take advantage of what attention you are getting and don’t harp on the fact that State University has not called. 

And if you are not happy with your recruiting attention, go back through The Five Steps to a Scholarship and market yourself to some new programs.  This would be broadening your horizons and possibly looking into new schools that you had not heard from prior to this. 

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Should I cross Division I schools off my list if I didn’t get any calls or high school visits during the spring evaluation period?

If you have been a faithful reader of this site, you may be getting sick of me talking about the importance of the spring evaluation period for football recruits.  It finally gives those junior athletes a chance to get a real feel for the amount of recruiting attention you are getting.  And unless you had scholarship offers before the spring, it is a difficult challenge to really tell. 

So with this period about to end, coaches won’t be able to call prospective athletes again until September.  If you are a football player who received two calls from your top five schools, what exactly should you be thinking about these other three schools?  Is it worth still pursuing them and going to their camps?  Before making any final decisions, let me stress that you should wait until the complete end of the month to make 100% sure these programs won’t be calling. 

I have broken down previously the levels of interest from college coaches and mentioned that the phone calls ranks right below official visit, verbal offer, and written scholarship.  Right before that, there is Junior Day invite, hand written letters, school visits, emails, form letters, questionnaires, and the dreaded camp invite.  In looking at that list, there is a huge jump from the first areas that I talked about to the second areas. 

College coaches can easily go through the motions with 500 recruits who they write hand written letters to (that is what GAs are for), invite to Junior Days, and quickly respond to emails.  It is spending the ten to fifteen minutes on a phone call that show they are truly interested in you as a player and a prospect. 

Going back to the original question, no, just because you didn’t get a call doesn’t mean there is a 100% chance that this school will not offering you a scholarship.  But if you are on their radar where they have sent letters and invited you to Junior Days, that is when you should worry.  It shows that you are not a high enough priority on their recruiting database to call.  That is when it may be time for you to start thinking that the ship has sailed for this certain program. 

Obviously you could walk-on to that school or attend a Junior College for two years, improve, and eventually earn a scholarship.  If you have sent your highlight film and done a good job marketing yourself to them, then I would honestly move on.  I don’t care if it is your dream school.  The recruiting process is a business and State University is not in the business of taking players on scholarship that are not good enough.  And unfortunately, as hard as it is to swallow, you may not be good enough. 

So on June 1st or whenever you get time shortly thereafter, take an opportunity to reevaluate your recruiting logs of what schools have been showing you attention (you have been tracking it, right?).  Figure out which ones have called, stopped by the high school, and are showing you a great deal of interest.  Could some of these eventually offer?  Were the calls something that you got a good feeling about?  If you are happy with the schools recruiting you at this point, then continue preparing for the upcoming camps and your senior year.  It would be nice to get your ducks in a row for your senior highlight video so keep that in mind as well. 

If you are disappointed by the lack of calls and visits to the high school, you need to take control of the process and open things up a little bit.  Go back through The Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer.  First off, update your recruiting profile both in the file and anywhere online.  Then have a few people take a look at it and critique it.  This should help you so don’t get mad about feedback. 

Your next step is the most important.  You need to widen your school search.  If you were only focused on I-A (BCS) schools, then widen it to I-AA and II schools.  Look in areas that may be a bit further away from home.  There is no surefire way to find the perfect school.  That is why you need to put more time and effort in, especially right now, to figure out some programs that could be good fits. 

I can imagine it sucks not getting calls from the schools that you wanted to hear from.  When I was in high school, I received very little calls and had no idea what the spring evaluation period was.  But all is not lost.  Your dream school may not be a realistic option for a scholarship so widen your recruiting base and start marketing yourself again.  There is no reason to get down because you still have EIGHT months until Signing day.  Things could be much worse. 

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How to finish the evaluation period strong and decide on camps during the football recruiting process

The May evaluation period has flown by and once June hits, that means college football coaches will not be able to contact you with phone calls and visits until the fall.  You will still be able to call them, attend their camps, receive letters, and email with them but the evaluation period will be closed until September 1st. 

So with that in mind, it is important that you do everything you can to finish the spring evaluation period strong.  So what can I do to accomplish that?  Here are a few things to think in regards to this and the upcoming football recruiting camp circuit. 

In all of these situations that I will be speaking about, I am going to hypothetically say that you received calls from multiple college coaches and had many assistant coaches stop by your high school as well.  If you received zero calls (the most important indicator of serious recruiting interest at this point outside of a scholarship offer), I hate to say this but you need to start over at square one.  Go back to The Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer and start the marketing process once again.  Chances are very, very, very, very slim (this needs to be stressed) that you will get an offer if a school doesn’t call.  While I may be saying there is a chance, the ship has likely sailed for that program. 

Now going back to more a more positive spin, if you had been logging the interest from college coaches, you should have a great feel as to which college coaches stopped by the high school as well as which ones called.  While some coaches do wait until the end of the month to call, you need to think seriously about if their interest is genuine in you or not.  If a college coach called and came to the school, then they mean business and really want to see you at their camp.  If they stopped by the high school and made sure to give you a camp invite (which is worth as much in the recruiting process as the paper it has been printed on), then don’t waste your time.  They are trying to boast camp numbers rather than seriously look at your abilities. 

If you really want to put your best foot forward overall, what you can do is log the coaches that visit the high school/call you.  After finish speaking with them, look up their contact information on their athletic website and send them a thank you email.  If you have not already sent your profile and a video link, you definitely should do so.  Thank them for stopping by the school and taking the time to evaluate you.  While it may not be a sure fire way to a scholarship, the number of athletes who do this have to be miniscule (my guess is that they may think it is the parents doing it). 

I have talked about how the recruiting process should be compared to a job interview.  Many recommend that you send a thank you letter following interviews.  While this may not be as serious as a full fledged job interview, there is no doubt that a coach will likely remember the small amount of athletes who send a thank you email/card following the visit. 

Hopefully by now you have made a recruiting highlight video.  If not, this is something you honestly need to take care of as soon as possible.  The reason is simple.  College coaches do not have the time and patience to be watching a full football game.  They usually either want a prospect to have a scholarship offer from another school or they want to be wowed on the highlight video before watching the full game.  And if your team uses hudl, the process is even simpler. 

If you have a recruiting highlight video, do what you can to find a way to make a profile online and upload your video.  Being able to send a link to a college coach, regardless of what it is at, is something that is a huge time saver.  If they think you can’t play from the online highlights, it at least saves you time and money involved with sending it. 

Try to speak with your high school coach about where you stand with the schools that visited.  Hopefully you have developed a solid relationship with your own coach at this time.  It should allow you to speak with him openly about the college coaches and what they think about your ability.  Your coach should have some great insight overall. 

Outside of that and finalizing your summer camps, the key is to continue working hard and prepping yourself mentally and physical for an exhausting few weeks.  The camp circuit is not easy so preparation and finding time to rest is key.  Hopefully you will do well enough at those camps that the football recruiting process will take care of itself. 

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Q&A with a parent who used Recruiting-101 to own the recruiting process

Navigating the recruiting process for the first time is a difficult process but thousands of families have done it using Recruiting-101.com.  We caught up with a parent who shared their story about how they did it without using an overpriced recruiting service.  

Overall, how would you describe the recruiting process that you went through? 
Only one that I’ve been through, but I’d say it was about what was expected from reading your website and doing other research. It was informative, eye-opening, entertaining at times. 

What was your background with athletics/recruiting prior to when this started? 
None, other than what I saw occasionally on ESPN and all-star bowls for high school and college. 

How did you use Recruiting-101 to aid you during the process? 
Read the website every day; read past posts that were grouped by subject; reread important posts that may have had insight to what we should look for during a visit or conducting a conversation. 

When looking back, how do you feel it went? 
I thought it went great.

What was the most exciting part of the recruiting process? 
The actual visits; listening to the coaches while touring campuses and getting a feel for what it might be like my son to attend school and be a part of the athletic program.

As a parent, how much impact do you feel you had in the decision of your child? 
Some; most direct impact occurred in the 18 years prior to getting to this point. A lot of indirect impact as we were visiting, I was asking lots of questions, he was asking some. Before we set foot on any campus, I explained that as he was walking around, listening to the various coaches and academic personnel, that he needed to envision himself there at 6:00am when the alarm went off, go to training room, go get breakfast, hustle to class, deal with professors asking him questions he may not know the answer to, grab lunch, another class or lab, practice at 3:30, then to dinner, then study group, work on research paper, and then get to bed by 12:00 midnight and get ready to get up at 6:00 the next morning ready to do it again. Was he comfortable with the facilities; was he comfortable with the position coaches; their approach to practicing and games; the dorm rooms; was he going to be comfortable in the library at the mandatory study sessions, etc.. 

Did they listen to your input? 
I believe so. Again, knowing your own child, you know how much or little emphasis to put on issues to effectively communicate what the important things are and how he should be wrapping his mind around things while he’s figuring out where he wants to go and what he wants to do. 

How big of a role did academics really play in their final decision? 
Huge. Of the 3 schools that showed interest, 1 was effectively eliminated after the visit because of the academics. The other 2 that showed interest (and 1 we pursued and they were interested after he was admitted) all had excellent academics. 

Did your child know what areas interested them for a major and was research done in regards to academics offered at each school? 
My son has no idea what he wants to do; the schools we were choosing from actually like that answer. He thinks he might know about 1 area he is interested in, but it’s only a guess and he’ll find out more. We did investigate the academics at each school and know what the strengths and weaknesses of each institution are. 

Did you put a highlight video together for your children? 
No. He put together the film with the assistance of the head coach after the season was over after schools showed up indicating interest. 

Did you use a recruiting service for your children? Why or why not? 
No, no recruiting service. Quite frankly, until the season was over and coaches started showing up, he and we had no idea that we should even think about shopping him around as a player. 

Did you child attend camps to help their recruiting? If so, did it work? 
No camps. No mailers and no interest from any place. We’re in a rural area, so I think the opportunities are limited. There is a Div. 1 school here in town, and they do a summer camp, but it’s generally available for kids who want to pursue skill development, not a private invite where you pay to play. 

How truthful were the coaches during the process? 
Very. I was quite impressed with the athletic and academic presentations and what to expect and what was expected. It was refreshing. 

How many offers/options were they seriously considering? 
Three. 

What were the best things that you did to help your child during the process? 
Put together a box with file folders to keep the paperwork from each school organized. Ask him daily if he received any texts and phone calls from any coaches and their staff. Discuss the questions and statements that were made by the coaches and staff. Go with him to the visits; take a very hands off approach when it came to talking to coaches and staff during those visits so they could focus on him. Then reminding him during the visits about what he should be looking at as far as placing himself on that campus on that day and being a potential student. Ultimately, reminding him that it’s his life, and that we support him whatever choice he makes (we just make sure to explain the pros and cons of any decision). 

If you could hit the reset button and do everything over again, what would you change? 
Probably be better prepared after his junior year, get the highlight film ready sooner. 

Any other tips of interest? 
Know your own child the best you can; that definitely helps ensure the best fit possible at a college and makes sure you focus on the ones that are likely candidates which will lead to a satisfying education and athletic career. As they say, it’s not just a 4 year decision, it’s a 40 year decision.

A special thanks to this parent for their help.

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Ten things to do to not get recruited by college coaches

I recently read an article about ten things you can do to not get rich during your life. Because of how interesting the article was, I thought I would put together a piece that talks about the ten things you should do to not get recruited. This applies to all sports so keep this in mind no matter what sport you play. There are in reverse order to build up the suspense:

10.) Do poorly in school There is little doubt that doing poorly in school will scare many schools away. Not putting much time into your school work and struggling early on usually creates a hole that is very hard to get out of.

9.) Talking back to officials/refs/umpires College coaches want to find athletes who just play and not have an ongoing sideshow with an athlete. The more you focus on succeeding in the game, the better of you will be.

8.) Get in trouble off of the field/court/diamond With the amount of publicity that athletes get for off the field problems, the last thing you want to do in high school is get in trouble. When there is less supervision, watch out because more trouble can be had.

7.) Treat your teammates bad Why would a college coach want to recruit an 18-year who thinks that they are better than their teammates? I can promise you that coaches will watch your demeanor in all phases of the game if they are considering you.

6.) Disrespect your parents I read an article a while back about a coach who had an in home visit with an athlete and he moved on as soon as he heard the athlete talk to his parents. Treating your parents poorly is a huge sign of disrespect towards those around you.

5.) Skip workouts/practice/team meetings College coaches do not want to have to deal with players who are headaches off the court. Skipping this type of thing means you don’t care all that much.

4.) Have bad sportsmanship If you are someone who feels that it is necessary to taunt your opponent every time you can, that is just bad sportsmanship. You are not going to help your case.

3.) Lying about recruiting attention Aka the Kevin Hart factor, athletes want to make themselves feel important to Rivals, Scout, and other recruiting sites. But don’t lie about who has been recruiting you and don’t assume schools will offer you.

2.) Have a poor relationship with your coaches When college coaches call about an athlete, they won’t initially be talking to you or your parent. They will call your coach. And if you have treated your coach badly and that has resulted in a poor relationship, good luck getting recruited.

1.) Dismiss any recruiting attention because of the level This one just kills me when it happens. You may have Division I eyes but don’t ever think you are better than a school. With how hard the recruiting process is to figure out, you just never know what can happen in your life.

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What does a recruiting email from a college coach look like during the athletic recruiting process?

I recently had a parent email an email that was received from a college that is recruiting him.  While I will obviously keep the identity of the college a secret, what they sent is the prototypical mass email that is sent out to thousands of athletes in their database.  So if you get something similar, does that really make you feel special about the recruiting process for whatever sport you want to play?

Here is a brief look at some of the things that have been included in the email.  It is what you should expect from all schools, regardless of the level.  One thing I must stress that you must realize is even if your name is addressed at the top, that doesn’t mean it is a personal email.  They may respond to any questions you ask but emails like this are sent by the millions across the country.  Onto the letter:

Dear PROSPECT NAME, 
As you start your spring practice, I just wanted to send you a quick note to wish you luck.  As we go into the summer to work on (our overall success from the last years/whatever we can brag about), we need to keep our roster loaded with the best players available.  We concluded the season with (more bragging about the success of the program).  Our sights are set higher for that next year (and since we are so good, we are have our goals set higher on this).

You are someone we will be interested in taking a look at next year.  As you know, (more bragging about the academics offered at their school, their success of athletic programs, and a state that they spend a lot of time recruiting).

If you could send me a film, or link to an on line film, that would be great.  Also could you send a copy of your transcript that has your completed junior year grades, and any SAT or ACT you took.  This will speed the process up for the fall.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at any time.  I look forward to getting to know you, and letting you know what (our school) is all about.  If you have a passion for football, this is the place.  I look forward to the recruiting process with you.

So, if you are a recruit who has received attention, have you received something similar?  My strong guess is that you have.  If a college has a recruiting database of at least 100 kids (which if the coaches know what they are doing, they do), there is no way that they can send them all personal emails.  This is why the mass email is a way to go and the perfect solution to show recruits that you are interested.  Does it really mean much?  Not at all but it does at least give you a taste of what their program is about. 

The two reasons that I know why it is a mass email is because 1.) the athlete doesn’t play in a state that has spring practice and 2.) the area that they are bragging about recruiting is nowhere near where this athlete lives. 

The first two paragraphs talk about the program overall.  The third paragraph is used for the process of weeding out recruits who are either not good enough or don’t have the grades to attend this stellar academic institution.  This is how they take a recruiting database of 5,000 kids and narrow it down to less than a 1,000.  Here is a good example of how it is used. 

Say you take the time to send your link to your video highlights online (which I strongly recommend doing at all levels regardless of if this email wants it or not) and then after your junior year wraps up, you send your transcripts.  In case one, the athlete has the grades to go to their school but definitely not the playing ability.  Thus, the coaches take him off their database.  The second case may be where a recruit has the playing ability (and then some) but hasn’t put in enough time in the classroom to qualify academically for their program.  He is off the list as well. 

Again, if you are already a recruit who has been receiving interest, you should have seen multiple copies of this email from a variety of schools.  It doesn’t really mean much but at least it shows they have you on their radar.  That radar may include 4,999 other athletes but getting on that list is a good thing.  Now hopefully you have done enough work in your sport, in the classroom, and putting together that highlight video to remain on their radar for months to come. 

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What happens when a player who receives an early scholarship offer doesn’t pan out?

With the way the recruiting process works these days, athletes are getting scholarship offers earlier and earlier.  The reason is because Division I college coaches, especially those who are not coaching at Duke, North Carolina, and Kansas, need to land the best players that they can.  And one way to do that is by offering an extremely early scholarship and building a relationship to get them to commit/stay with that commitment. 

One interesting case has been unfolding before my eyes as of late.  There was a recruit who received a scholarship offer from an in-state Division I program before his freshman year even started.  There was so much hype surrounding this athlete as his coach said that schools like North Carolina and others had heard about him and were sending mail.  His AAU coach even talked about how he could possibly be good enough to be a McDonalds All American.  Fast forward a few years and things seem to have changed. 

This athlete still has the offer from the program he committed to but there is certainly a lot less hype surrounding him.  He is definitely not the top rated player in his state and a number of other athletes have passed him as well.  The athlete has also struggled in big games and some even feel he has a teammate who is better than him. 

This is the obvious downside of offering an athlete a scholarship so early in the process.  There is no guarantee if the athlete will work hard, progress, and continue growing.  They took a chance offering so early to lock him up from other schools but if he was not committed, there are a lot of questions as if there would be other schools really in the picture. 

The coaches at the school could possibly do a few things now in the recruiting process.  They include:

Keep the recruit
They took this athlete for a reason a few years back.  So he must have shown something good enough to get that offer.  With that in mind, he likely is good.  So it may be in their best interest to keep him. 

Pull the scholarship and part ways
If you want to start a firestorm, pull the scholarship and move on to someone else.  South Carolina did this last year during football recruiting and got a lot of grief for it.  The question that these coaches have to think about is will this athlete help me keep my job?

Prep school the athlete
Some schools that have signed players have pushed them towards prep school for a year before coming to school.  This gives them just one more year of development.

Have the athlete walk-on
This would likely not fly.  If an athlete accepted a scholarship early on, asking them to walk-on may be a crazy proposition. 

Once again, it really depends in a case by case situation.  There is no guarantee of anything from a college until you sign the National Letter of Intent.  Before that, it is just a verbal commitment that will not hold up if the coaches get fired/move on/change their mind. 

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Athletic recruiting advice needed before attending basketball and football camps this summer

As an athlete at the high school level, it is always great to receive mail from college coaches. Even if it is a form letter or just a camp invite, it really just make you feel special to open the letter from a big school. And while I am not here to rain on your parade, I think it important for athletes to realize what a camp invite means and how you should handle them.

Let me start out by saying that a number of college programs send out tape invites to hundreds and probably thousands of athletes. Unless you have been hearing from the school before receiving this invite, then really, it means nothing. Unless you really blow up at their camp (And the chances are slim), than they are not going to recruit you. And if you have spent the money to attend the week long camp, hopefully you got something out of it more than a hope that you can improve your recruiting stock.

As I have said many times before, college coaches supplement a big part of their paycheck with summer camps. If they bring in 1,000 kids at $50 per kid, that equals out to $50,000 that they have added to their revenue. Also remember that the price I just listed is extremely small and the big schools are able to bring in well over 1,000 kids in the summer.

If you really feel that you have what it takes to play at the Division I level, then you need to be looking for camps that are more individual for the top athletes. For example, one camp in the state I live in has a one day senior elite camp. These coaches charge less for this camp because they want to bring in as many top flight prospects as possible. These prospect will then go head to head and that allows the coaches to get a better feel for the athletes there.

College basketball coaches will do the same thing. These coaches will hold elite basketball camps and slash the costs of the camp as much as possible. If both of these camps break even for the coaching staff, it is well worth it. First off, it helps their evaluations by getting a chance to work with the players. It also helps in recruiting because the players are on campus and some feel that is half the battle in the recruiting process.

If a college does not hold an elite one day camp or it is something that you have not been invited to, speak with them about attending one or two days of their week long camp. I just took a quick look at how much it would cost a high school athlete to attend the LSU week long camp. Obviously the Tigers are a hot team coming off of a National title but they currently charge $300 per athlete from Sunday night until Wednesday.

I only recommend talking to the coaching staff about attending one day if you are being recruited by them. If they have requested tape, sent hand written mail, and tried to get you on campus for a visit. If my son was going through the recruiting process, unless this camp was the best fundamental camp in the country, I would not take him to a camp just because they sent me an invite and have shown no other attention. You might as well chalk with up with the other form letters you have been getting.

If a college coach cannot figure out if you can play or not in one day, then maybe they should not be at that position. That is why speaking with them about attending one day will save you money and the hassle of attending weeks and weeks of college football camps. This will also allow you to get to more camps and give you more overall flexibility.

For college basketball, the college coaches put a smaller emphasis of trying to recruit kids at their non-elite summer camps. I recently had an athlete tell me that he wanted to go to the big in-state school to play basketball and was named MVP of the summer week long camp. The problem is that the majority of all good basketball players, especially to play at the Division I level, are likely on AAU teams traveling the country or playing with their high school team. Most of the camps that I have seen, the head coach is in attendance on the first day and the last day. They know that they players that will keep them in their job are on the AAU circuit. Could they find a walk on? Maybe, but you are better off not attending these camps if you are looking at it in financial terms.

At times, it really is hard to figure out what schools want to evaluate you at camp or want to get your money for the camp. But use your best judgment and go to camps at places you would actually want to go to school. There is no reason to try and get an offer from a school that you wouldn’t want to attend.

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Summer football recruiting camps are rapidly approaching. What should I be doing to prepare for them?

I hate to say this to football recruits reading this throughout the country but these upcoming camps at the end of May, June, and July really can make or break the recruiting process for you.  The reason why I hate saying this is simply because many athletes who dream to play at State University will not be getting the chance to.  It is unfortunate but in the football recruiting world, scholarships are still extremely rare at the major Division I level. 

Because these are so essential for college coaches to evaluate you as an athlete, you need to be in peak physical shape and ready to compete.  Think about it this way.  If the school costs $25,000 per year and they are showing you serious interest (calling, visiting the high school, hand written letters), you are honestly fighting for a $100,000 worth of schooling and education.  That does not even count how much gear and benefits athletes get (legal benefits, right?). 

The first thing to try to avoid during the spring and especially now is injuries/sickness.  I saw an athlete a few years back come down with mono during the spring and then struggle at summer football camps.  The obvious reason is because this athlete lost strength, speed, and weight.  He then went to State University hoping for a scholarship offer and ended up in the end with nothing but a walk-on opportunity. 

The second athlete I am keeping an eye on now is one who tore up his knee during the football season.  While he has not put up huge numbers on the football field just yet, he does have jaw dropping testing times that could get him a scholarship.  If he can bounce back to full health and put up some great testing times, he may receive that offer he has been hoping for.  Again, he is one I am keeping an eye on in this class. 

I am not going to go much into specifics here but the two things that you need to be working on is your testing numbers and your football skills.  Let me start by talking about your testing numbers.  What I mean by those is your 40-yard dash, bench press (it probably won’t be used but it might), vertical leap, shuttle run, and things along those lines.  Regardless of your production on the football field, if you have some amazing numbers, you will get a Division I scholarship offer.  Coaches at that level will take chances because you can only do so much to teach speed.  And if you have it, chances are high you will have a scholarship offer. 

What you need to be doing this spring is working on your starts for the 40-yard dash, the vertical (I would practice both with a step and without a step because some schools may do it differently), and the shuttle run.  I would assume that in 99% of the camps, the 40-yard dash will be ran.  So practicing on your starts and doing it over and over is the best way to help your speed.  Speak with your high school football coach or a track coach who could help you in this area.  Again, it is essential to practice this beforehand because the start is so vital.  Again, is spending 10 hours this month worth potentially $100,000 to you?

The second area is football related skills.  If you speak with college coaches on the phone this month, make sure to speak with them about what position they are recruiting you.  If you are a running back and they want you to work at defensive back, try to speak with your coach about things you need to work on for this position.  If they are recruiting you for your position, make sure to get some work in on it.  If you are a lineman, practice getting low and coming off the ball.  I know it is tough now if you don’t have spring practice but is a good thing to do.

One idea that a recruit told me he did a few years ago was pick a top five school in the country to attend his first camp at.  Again, it must be your first camp.  The reason that this recruit did it is because he wanted to get used to the workouts and what the other camps would be doing.  So he picked this stretch school to get rid of the rust in his game and then went to in-state schools afterwards when he was ready for what they would be doing.  Just something to think about that may help as well. 

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

If you are one of the few football players in the country with scholarship offers in hand (By that I mean a written offer, not a verbal scholarship), you still need to consider yourself a very lucky person. The percentage of scholarship football players is less than 2% when Signing Day comes around. The fact that you have early offers says something about your ability.

But like most athletes, you would love to see that offer list grow even more so that you will be given more opportunities as where you would like to attend college. Scholarship offers breed other offers and the fact that you have them this early will help you at camps and combines. The coaches and experts will take a longer look at you because you have a scholarship offer behind your name.

In regards to those camps, you need to make a decision as to which ones you want to go to. Now is a great time to try and figure out where you want to go during the June camp period. The biggest thing that you must figure out is if you want to learn more about the schools that offered you or try to impress other college coaches at schools that are just recruiting you and have yet to offer.

The reason that you go to the schools that have offered is to get to learn more about the coaches. You would get a chance first hand to see how they coach. While some may not be as intense as they normally are, you should be able to get a good feel for how they coach. There will also be down time when you get a chance to learn more about the coach himself and what type of person that they are. The coaches will definitely use this time to build a bond that can help them later on in the recruiting process.

The good news about attending other college camps is that with offers in your back pocket, the school will take a much longer look at you. Without those, they may evaluate for a brief time and then move on. An offer makes them think about why another school wants you that bad. And if you are at their camp, it does show that you are interested enough in their school to drive their and pay for camp. This is a big benefit for both parties involved.

You also may make the decision to save the money and not attend camps. If that is the case, then you should use part of your summer to take college visits. Although you won’t get a chance to see the coaches getting after it on the field, you will be able to build a relationship in person with the coaching staffs. If you have the time and resources, it may be worth going to the schools that have offered and a few that have not. When at the schools that are still evaluating you, ask them what you can improve on and what you need to do to a get a scholarship from their school. Yes, these are not easy questions to ask but definitely worth it in the long run.

If you are unhappy with the current crop of schools that have offered and are recruiting you, it may be time to go back to a few important steps in the recruiting process. As I wrote about in the five steps to a scholarship (CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE), you need to start searching for schools that match you (Step #2) and also market yourself to those schools (Step #3). If you haven’t already done so, you may also want to build a recruiting profile as well (Step #1).

These steps give you an opportunity to be the one contacting the coaches. While a school like USC may not show that much interest, having a Division I offer already does help open some eyes when you contact them. Tell them why you are interested in their school and that should help matters. You may also take the time and contact your dream school that you grew up watching. It may not lead to anything but you just never know.

When looking at your scholarship offers, if you basically know where you want to go to college and that school has extended a scholarship, you might as well verbally commit. Make sure that you are sold on the school as well as your family because you should not be committing and changing your mind later on. You can now spend part of your time helping to recruit for that program.

Again, you are in a great situation where you can pick and choose what you do. Take your time during the process and research all the schools that are recruiting you. That should help you break things down and get closer to that eventual college decision.

 

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How vital phone calls are from college coaches right now in the football recruiting process

As someone who talks with football recruits throughout the country, I can say flat out that I love the months of April and May.  The reason is because this is the time to separate the haves from the have nots.  It finally shows what recruits have serious recruiting interest and others who don’t. 

First off, why are calls so important?  I will say that at least 95% of athletes who get Division I-A/BCS offers get calls from the colleges during the spring evaluation period.  There are exceptions but again, at least 95% of these eventual offers come from schools that call at this time.  If you think State University is serious and could offer, a call is nearly a must. 

If you talk to a junior football recruit in the month of March, they can talk about how great their Junior Day visits were, how they have gotten so many camp invites, and all the hand written mail that they have received from college coaches.  Each of these cannot hold a candle to how much a call means. 

First off, some schools invite hundreds of athletes to Junior Days.  While it is a cool experience to see the school, most colleges are covering their bases by mass inviting as many athletes as possible.  You might as well light camp invites on fire because they mean nothing.  They are a money grab from the college coaches.  They know that certain athletes will go to the camp just because you send them an invite.  It doesn’t mean anything. 

As for hand written letters, it definitely won’t hurt anything to receive them.  But you really have no idea who exactly wrote them.  And if they are taking this time to write a hand written letter, why wouldn’t they touch base with you over the phone?

Phone calls are vital because it means that a coach at that school is actually taking the time out of their busy days to touch base and show how important you are as a recruit.  It may last five or ten minutes but it shows that you are high enough on their board to show that attention to. 

Some colleges will wait until late in the evaluation process to call but I can figure out very quickly what level a college thinks a player is.  All you have to ask a junior football recruit is what colleges have called you since April.  You will often see the athletes shift the question and talk about how he talked to one school and how another visited the school.  What really matters is the call. 

I have wrote it many times before but if you are going to major Division I-A/BCS camps this summer and your calls are from Division I-AA/FCS schools, then you are likely wasting your money at the camps.  The reason is because these bigger schools don’t consider you, at least at this point, to be a serious recruit.  They may invite you to campus, send mail, and say you need to come to camp.  But in the end, if a call doesn’t come, you are risking a large sum of money for nothing. 

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I’m a junior with football recruiting interest but no offers. What do I do?

For those football recruits out there reading this article, I can tell you that the majority of prospects are in this boat right now. You probably had an excellent junior season of football during the fall and have been working hard in the weight room. You may have gone out for track to improve your speed and get yourself in shape for the summer circuit.

As you continue to work hard and become a better overall athlete, you wonder why other athletes are getting scholarship offers and not you? I am going to take a look at the steps you should be taking now in order to help yourself with the college coaches. I am not promising this is a sure fire way to a scholarship but it will allow you to showcase your skills in front of the college coaches. And at this point of the year, that is vital in the recruiting process.

The first thing I think athletes and parents need to focus on is what they can to do help their kid. While sometimes it does not make sense about another conference rival athlete getting a major scholarship, you need to focus on yourself and putting yourself into a position to succeed. While everyone dreams of being a Division I football player, that doesn’t mean everyone has the skills to play at that level coming out of high school.

Because it is the open period during late April and May, you hopefully should have college coaches coming to the school and visiting you. While the NCAA rules state that all you can say is hello, I am wiling to bet in at least 90% of the situations that the college coach will accidentally bump into the athlete and have a conversation. As I have talked about before, you want to present yourself well when these coaches are coming.

If you have been told by a coach beforehand that they are coming on Friday, look presentable and make sure you look big because there is little doubt that the eyeball test is coming. The coach will be sizing you up while you talk. And yes, this is why college recruiting has been compared to a meat market.

In my recently updated levels of recruiting interest (CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE), one thing that a college coach can do that is high on that list is a phone call. When I talk to athletes during this time of year, I always ask them which coaches have called. If you are getting calls, that really is a great thing. The coaches are taking time out of their day to get to know you better and learn more about you. Make sure to pay attention only to the phone call and stop using the computer, watching TV, of playing video games when they call.

If there has been no calls from college coaches, I don’t want to say that your chances to play Division I football are zero but you are in a much tougher position. These calls from college coaches show that they want you in some way or another. At the very least, they want to talk to you about attending their camp.

As I have mentioned before, schools will send out thousands upon thousands of camp invites so that they can help themselves make more money during the summer. I honestly feel that unless the school is calling you and/or sending a great deal of mail frequently, then it may not be worth it for you to pay the money to go.

Camps are an important thing to focus on now. My advice for athletes is to try and speak with the coaches about possibly attending one day. There will be certain circumstances where the coaches may have you in camp and want you to stay another day (That usually is a good thing), but a college coach should be able to evaluate pretty quickly. There are certain things that athletes can and cannot do on the football field that does make it easy to evaluate. That is why I am a huge fan of just going to one day at the camps.

The reason I feel you should be signing up for one day at the camps are that you will save money, be less tired for other camps, and the coaches should have a good feel for you. They will likely do one of three things after they see you. That is offer a scholarship, continue to recruit you and see your progress, or move on to other athletes.

If there are any free combines (Nike and Scout) in your area, these may be worth attending. Again, there will be no college coaches there but it will give you a chance to test out in front of recruiting experts. I still would strongly advise against wasting your time at a combine that is not affiliated with a school but charges money.

The most important thing you can do now as a recruit is map out your camp schedule. Your school year should be ending soon so it will give you more of a chance to workout and focus on becoming a better athlete. If you are a recruit that has some interest, you should be getting a chance to speak with coaches over the phone and in person at school. For the most part, colleges have finished up their Junior Days (Most end in April). These coaches are now working to put together the summer camps and focusing on recruiting interest as well.

 

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Filling numbers at elite basketball & football camps

I had a chance to talk to a recruit last night and was speaking with him about summer camps. While this was a basketball player, this article does apply to a variety of different sports. Before going into what he said, let me state that he has multiple Division I offers from low major schools and interest from a variety of others. Like a lot of basketball recruits, many are waiting to see him more this summer on the AAU circuit.

I asked him about what other camps that he planned to attend that summer. He mentioned that he received an invite from State University (The most liked college in his State) to their Elite Camp. Normally that is a big honor that most athletes sign up for right away. But this recruit had a very interesting line when talking about it. He said that because State University had called him or shown all that much interest, he wasn’t going to go. The reason he said was because he felt that he was invited just to fill numbers at the camp.

What he meant by filling numbers at the camp is this. A Division I men’s basketball program is allowed to give out thirteen scholarships to prospective athletes. Because most coaches try to keep the recruiting classes even, they want to bring in somewhere around four athletes per recruiting period. At an elite basketball camp, there are usually somewhere between fifty to sixty players. While ages can vary greatly, the percentage of athletes at the camp that will end up getting an offer from that school are small.

This athlete knew that the school was recruiting him. They would occasionally send him mail and they may watch him during the AAU season. But because the numbers at the camp had to be filled, they were obviously sending out invites to players that they may not really be evaluating. What they were doing is filling the numbers with competent athletes (He does have multiple Division I offers just not at the level of this school) who could play against kids that they had higher on their recruiting lists.

The reason that this applies to football as well is that most colleges have a senior one day camp where they bring in what they consider their top prospects. While these football coaches may be getting a chance to work with these players for the first time, my guess is that they don’t think all really have as good of a shot at getting a scholarship as the top prospects of the group. As with the basketball camp, they need to find enough bodies that can at least stay somewhat competitive against their top recruits.

These elite camps or senior camps are much more important in the recruiting process than their week long camps later in the summer (That is especially true for basketball). While you can get a scholarship out of the week long football camps, the majority of the summer basketball camps are jokes. It is a way for the college coaches to boost their income and let the kids have some fun.

The one nice thing about these elite camps is that they are normally cheaper. The college coaches are making little, if any money off of them. The reason that they are holding them is as a recruiting tool. They want to get a chance to evaluate the prospects and learn more about them. And at the same time, they have the recruits on campus and are building a relationship that way.

Many of these camps also have lower level coaches that may help you down the road. But if you already hold multiple scholarship offers and you have a school that is going through the motions in recruiting, he may have made the right choice passing. Why not spend your energy at a school that is seriously considering you as a prospective recruit than one that just needs you to fill a number?

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How much interest can a sophomore football player receive during 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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If you are good enough, college coaches will find you

The old adage goes that if you are good enough at football, basketball, baseball, or whatever sport you play, college coaches will find out. It doesn’t matter if you are playing 8-Man football or the at the biggest school in the State, people expect that college coaches will find them no matter what. But in the battle for athletic scholarship offers, that adage could not be further from the truth.

It may be true that if you can play, college coaches will find you. That does happen in a lot of cases. But usually the coaches that find you are the ones that want you to walk on or play for free at a Division III school. While there is nothing wrong with playing at that level or walking on, I assume you are not visiting this site for tips on how to play for free in college.

My guess is that you are here to figure out how to help your son or daughter earn an athletic scholarship. If I could have done it all over again myself, I would have loved to have had a scholarship to help pay for my education. But instead I went the Division III route and will be paying for student loans forever. But instead of complaining about that, I am again here to help you throughout the process.

Here is a good example a few years back of a family taking control of the recruiting process. A lot of parents don’t have the time or skills needed to do this but here are some old links to this. To boil the stories down quickly, the athlete would have been playing Division III basketball if his family was not proactive in the basketball recruiting process. This player had a lot of interest from Division III programs in his State and while he did look at those schools, he also kept an eye on what other programs may be a good fit for him.

This recruit ended up about fifteen hours away from home but his college is being paid for. Half of it was through academics and the other half was through athletics. Considering if he would have went the Division III route, he may have been closer to home but likely been paying over $20,000 for his college education was said and done. He was the first player from his State to go to this school. Do you really think they would have found him if he didn’t sell himself to the program?

Recently on a message board, there was some debate over an athlete having a website that showcased his video for college coaches. The link to the site had come into the hands of someone else and it had been posted. People from opposing teams found this as a perfect opportunity to talk about how big of an ego this kid has and all he is doing is showing off. This is another situation where it is disappointing that they feel this way. These people are probably the same that felt that should have been playing Division I sports but their coach got in the way.

This athlete and his family are taking the recruiting process into their own hands and helping themselves out. Even though his junior year just ended, this All Stater can now boast two scholarship offers from Division I schools. His family has the resources to do this but they have always been on top of highlight tapes, marketing their son, and putting together a website. This athlete was probably good enough to eventually get an athletic scholarship offer but he took control of the process and will likely land many others as well.

So yes, if you are averaging twenty points a game on the basketball court or rushing for over 150 yards a game on the football field college coaches will likely find out. But these may not be the coaches that you are looking for. Your dream of playing college athletics at the scholarship level will not be realized if it is all Division III coaches recruiting you.

It may take some time and a little bit of money, but if these step help you to a scholarship offer, think of the money that you will be saving in the long run. The biggest thing is that you have to be good enough to play at that high of a level but being able to market yourself, your son, or your daughter may be worth it in the long run.

 

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College coaches cannot measure the heart of an athletic recruit

This past season I witnessed one of the most unusual basketball recruiting stories that I had seen in a long time. This happens from time to time but this type of athlete is rare. A few years back, I had seen this basketball player in action a number of different times. He was a solid guard who knew how to play the game. But athletically, he was rather limited and pretty short in stature. There were also questions about if he was a point guard or a shooting guard. 

I would have told you after his senior year that he would have been a very good Division III basketball player and potentially a Division II scholarship kid. With little recruiting attention, this athlete decided to take the Junior College route. Maybe he went against all the advice of having Division I eyes that I have talked about but he decided that was his best option at the time. 

During the two years that he was at the Junior College level, he continued to get better and better. He improved his game, became stronger with the ball, and moved full time to point guard. This recruit was a much better player with those two years of development and maturity. 

By his second year at the Junior College, this recruit started receiving Division I scholarship offers. They were from mid major programs but considering it was a kid that I thought was a lower level Division II athlete, it surprised me. And the more I looked into it, the more scholarships he was received. In the end, he had a handful of offers before picking a school that was in his home state. 

I have to admit that I was surprised about how well this athlete was doing and had egg on my face for underestimating him. But because college coaches cannot measure the heart of a recruit, this athlete just continued to get better and better over the summer and in his first with the program. This athlete ended up being the fourth leading scorer on a team that made the NCAA tournament and nearly won their first round game. With another year of workouts, the sky is the limit for him. 

This story doesn’t happen everyday. Obviously kids who decide on the Junior College level are taking a big risk on their sporting futures. Many end up quitting at the JC and never play again. What is sad about that is these athletes had a number of smaller level schools that were perfect fits for them that they decided to pass up. They thought they were better than them. 

This athlete had the willpower, determination, and work ethic to be able to pull it off. In at least 90% of the situations that I see, most athletes who go to a Junior College don’t end up going to a much higher level than they could have after high school. But in a situation like this athlete, his heart overcame his size and helped him lead his team to a conference title this past winter. 

Are you this type of recruit? I couldn’t tell you that. You may be better off going to a four year school at a smaller program and excelling there. Others may at least want to try a year at a Junior College to see if they can live up to their Division I dreams. For this recruit, things couldn’t have worked out much better. 

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All About Matcha + Smoothie Bowls

A few years ago I discovered matcha green tea. Life, changed. Queue the triumphant choir music and sunrise glow rising over the hilltops. Immediately after enjoying my very first mug of matcha, at Urth Caffe in Los Angeles btw, I hopped on my computer and fervently googled "What is matcha?" "Benefits of matcha?" "Matcha vs. coffee?" I read the "matcha 101" style content on every matcha and tea website I could find. My curiosity was on fire. But what I really wanted most of all was to chat first hand with a long time matcha fan, even better, a matcha expert! Well today I get to do just that and you get to listen in on what my expert has to say. Plus I share my fave matcha smoothie bowl recipe... Get ready to learn all about matcha in my 8-question...

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

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If I shouldn’t pay for a recruiting service to help, why should I pay to get a recruiting highlight video to be produced?

I think I might just be lightening up a little bit overall on recruiting services. While they are not for everyone and can be expensive, there is no doubt that certain recruiting services can be helpful in situations where time is limited. For that I owe an apology to the all of those that work for recruiting services throughout the country (and I know you are reading!). 

Anyways, if money is tight and you can’t afford a recruiting service, than why exactly would I tell a family that they should get their highlight video professionally produced? If you can learn more about the recruiting process, can you not learn more about what is needed to put together a recruiting highlight tape? 

Before going into this, hudl and similar sites hold your hand through the process.  They do a great job helping athletes and if you have the skills, time, and confidence that you are putting together the very best package, then do it.  However, if there are any questions, then look into getting into done by an expert. 

I am going to take a look at this question from both sides. While I think getting your highlight video professionally done is a great thing that can help you in the recruiting process, it may also be something that you have the skills to do if you are willing to put in the time, effort, and a little money. 

Why you should get a highlight video professionally made

• They should be able to do it quicker and give you a timetable as to how soon it will be completed.
• Their work should be better than what you are able to do.
• They will hopefully package it in a very professional manner that draws attention from college coaches over other highlight tapes that they receive (the name written on a DVD with a sharpie is not the way to go).
• Some people are intimidated by technology and don’t want to take the time to learn new software. 
• Time is limited (it seems that time is limited for everyone by the way). 
• Spending money on software and not using it/learning it is very costly overall. 

Why would should do a highlight video yourself

• It is another bonding tool that can bring your family closer while doing it together. 
• If you have more than one athlete who is going to be recruited, this is a great way to save a lot of money overtime. 
• It adds a skill to your resume and a possible way to make money with teammates of your child. 
• You are not relying on others to do the work and thus you are accountable.
• It is your child and you may know exactly the way that you want to present their abilities (and hopefully have the technical skills to do so.

Each situation is unique. One athlete may have a computer programmer for a parent who has the abilities to learn new software and make a highlight video. Another may have a parent who is a CEO at a company who doesn’t have the time to spend learning new programs. Take the time to think long and hard what you want to do before putting together that video because it will be a major factor in the chase for a scholarship offer. 

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Can you take away the bias on your kids’ athletic ability?

While I do not have kids, I do know that parents think that their kids are the best at whatever they do. It may be in school or sports but they always feel that the son or daughter they raised is the best in whatever they do. My parents felt that way even as I struggled to get playing time on a very talented basketball team.

But when it comes to college, can parents possibly take away the bias and be able to evaluate what level their child can play at in college? My guess is that the answer to that question the majority of times is a big no. This is not a shot at parents who feel that their kid is a sure fire scholarship athlete but an honest feeling that makes it tough to take the bias out of analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of your child.

Whenever I talk about starting the recruiting process, I always make sure to mention that you should talk to the high school coach and any talent evaluator that does not have any bias in the situation. For the prep coach, his answer will really depend on a lot of things. Is he a straight forward coach who is not going to feed you lines, even if the truth hurts? Few coaches are like that but that may be what you need in the long run.

The problem with parents as well as coaches taking the bias out of evaluating a kid is that few know what it takes to play at the Division I level. I have been in college sports nearly a decade and I can say honestly that I am not always 100% sure what kids will and will not get a scholarship. While some recruiting experts claim they can tell within thirty seconds of watching a kid, they are talking about the top 100 players in the country. But for other athletes who are fighting for Division I-AA and II scholarship offers, it is much tougher to tell.

A recent example of this happened when I posted player rankings for a certain sport and a certain class. I was basically told by three different parents that their son was rated too low but one in particular felt that his son should have been ten spots higher. I also know a lot of coaches who see the rankings and emailed back and fourth with him. This is a Division II college coach and he has seen these players a lot during the summer and the season. Anyways, the coach emails me and says that this kid is overrated.

So on one side of the equation, I have a parent who feels that their kid is underrated and should get the respect he deserves (The kid really was rated pretty high on this list). Then a college coach, the one who may eventually be offering him a scholarship in the next year, says that he is overrated and should fall down the list. Considering that the college coach has zero bias in regards to the rankings, I have to side with him.

This parent has been very rational when talking to me about the recruiting process and the rankings. He just really feels that his son is better than some college coaches and recruiting experts think. However, a big part of his bias has to do with how his son played during events in the summer. Considering that some may not take this summer sport all that serious, and it can be considering a glorified pickup game, that is tough to use as a real indicator.

Some parents may also use a comparison against an elite player. For example, they may feel that their son or daughter had better stats than the Division I recruit that night so they obviously are better overall. The problem with that thinking is the major recruit may have traveled the country on the AAU circuit or ran a 4.4 40-yard dash at football camps. Really, a head to head comparison is not something that should factor in.

I heard from a extremely bias AAU coach a few years back who was telling me how well this player was doing. He was a very good player who ended up with multiple low major Division I scholarship offers. But because he outscored a recruit that had verballed to Michigan, the coach assumed that he would get some major offers just from that game.

As a parent, you need to take the whole body of work into account when trying to evaluate what level your child can play at in college. If he or she plays bad games against good competition, that is likely not a good sign because the next level will be all against good competition. As mentioned, try to speak with as many straight shooters who will tell you the truth. It is important to get a real evaluation that doesn’t over hype them. I know of a recruiting service that seems like every kid rated is a low major Division I to high Division II player. In the end, most of these players end up at the Division III level.

This is a tough period because you are forced to view the weaknesses of the child you spent the last 17 years raising. Some parents are very realistic while others are not. It just happens that way. Again, I don’t have any kids at this point of my life so I can only imagine how tough it would be to take that bias away. It definitely would not be easy but is essential to targeting the right schools in the recruiting process.

 

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Why waiting can be a major problem in the athletic recruiting process

I had the chance to speak with an athlete before the basketball season started this winter. When asking him about the schools recruiting him, he named a few and said that he was waiting for his senior season to get going so that colleges would start noticing him more. I ended up writing an article about how this is a bad way to go about things simply because you need to market yourself to schools and it is difficult to try and impress scholarship level coaches with little attention beforehand. 

So I ended up speaking with the athlete recently following his senior season of basketball. This athlete, who is very gifted on the basketball court, ended up tearing up his knee. He played throughout the season but was extremely limited and is now on crutches following surgery. He struggled and his team struggled. 

The point of this story is why have you not followed The Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer? If you have logged varsity playing time in your chosen sport, than there is no reason why you should not be creating a profile, finding schools that meet what you are looking for, and then marketing yourself to college coaches. 

For those that have done the first few steps, are you happy with the amount of recruiting interest that you are receiving? If not, then there is no reason not to go back through the list of schools and try to find five to ten more that may fit you at the college level. If you don’t do this, then the school that may be perfect for you could end up securing a commitment from a player at your position because they normally don’t recruit your state. 

Waiting can be a huge detriment to your overall recruiting process. You never know what will happen tomorrow. So if you have time today, there is no reason at all why you shouldn’t look over this site and find something you can do to help yourself in the recruiting process. Could it be sending out tape? Contacting Rivals/Scout about getting a profile? Calling back a college coach to see if you can go to a Junior Day? Or simply finishing your recruiting profile?

If you want to help yourself get evaluated by more coaches, strive to do something that will help at least once a week. If you are taking the care of the recruiting process yourself, this is essential for the long haul. 

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Summer football camps and the best way to put together your lineup to help the recruiting process

Summer football camps and the best way to put together your lineup for the recruiting processIt is always interesting when talking with athletes about what their plans are for summer football camps. These camps are obviously an important part of the recruiting process and something that needs some serious thought from both the athlete and their parents. But what is interesting when talking to athletes is them telling me that their dad has signed them up for State University and that they will be going to other big time programs around the country.

If your family has money and you grew up following USC, Texas, Ohio State, or any other national powerhouse, then there is nothing wrong with going to their camps for the experience. But if you go in thinking that you have a chance to get a scholarship offer from one of those schools, chances are extremely high that you will end up mistaken. But in order to get the best bang for your buck and be evaluated during the football recruiting camp process, here are some things to consider before mailing in that check or entering up the credit card number of your parents.

There are many summer football camps that are on the same week. What I would do in this situation is to think about all the schools that have been showing you interest at this point. I am talking interest as in more than a camp invite and a questionnaire. For example, ten schools are showing you interest and have sent hand written letters as well as invited you to games. On top of those ten schools, two programs have already stepped up early and called. One other has stopped by the high school and spoken with you.

Now go to the website of all thirteen of those schools (this will be time consuming but good to keep a handle of things). If you search around on their football page, there should be a link that says camps (there may also be a camps link on the main athletics page that has camp information for all sports). Now get a calendar and write down the dates for all the camps that may apply to you. There may also be other senior only camps that need an invite so see what the coaches say if you speak to them.

What you want to be doing here is getting a feel for where the dates are of the camps. This will help you determine if you can get to camps at State University A, State University B, and a school like Notre Dame. I would then try to rank the interest that the schools recruiting you have shown. For example, the two that have called should be on the top of the list. Then the ten that have mailed are next followed by the one program that stopped by the school (expect them to drop some camp invites out).

If money, travel, and time is not an issue, what I would do is make sure to attend the two camps that called. They obviously are interested in you so it is important to get evaluated at their camps. A scholarship is the goal but being evaluated is what you need to do to get there. These camps are ones that you should go to but I would hold off on sending back the payment. The reason is because what happens if you signed up for four days at this camp and then suddenly State University C comes to the table with a call and the camps are on the same week. If no more calls come through outside of these three, I would attend all three as well as a camp that may be great for teaching and another stretch camp. A stretch camp is at a school that may be a stretch but could be a dream if you can impress them enough.

In most situations, you will also need to speak with the college coaches about attending one day of camp. I will talk about this more later during the week but one day of camp is definitely something you should be doing. If the coaches know what they are doing, they should be able to evaluate you over that period and get a feel for your skills. If they really like you, they will offer you. They may still evaluate you but attending three days at the camp isn’t all that beneficial, especially if there are hundreds of other kids there.

One day camps are the way to go is that they save money and allow you more flexibility in going to different camps. If you have the three camps that we talked about above and they are all in the same week, then one day camps are the only way to make this happen.

I would say once the month of May is nearing a close, what you should do is re-evaluate the overall attention that you have been receiving. Considering where schools stand with calls and then contact the coaches yourself and speak with them about possibly attending one day of their camp. In all honesty, if you are a priority to them and they know you will be there, they should have more than enough time to evaluate your skills. This is the best way to go about the camp process while saving money and going to schools that really are interested in you.

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How the football recruiting process has changed in the past

I recently had the chance to email some questions to a former athlete who played college football at a major Division I school that plays in a BCS conference. He graduated high school in 1981 and college in 1985. Fast forward and he just recently saw his son sign a Letter of Intent to another major Division I football program. 

The question that we asked him centered around how the football recruiting process has changed in the last twenty to thirty years. Obviously with the Internet, things have taken a much different look than anyone could have assumed years ago. Here is what he said about the differences and his experience with what he went through:

Can you describe how the recruiting process went for you?
Starting receiving letters my junior year from Division I & II colleges – no contact just letters

From seeing your son being recruited, what has changed these days?
Internet access allows for more visibility of stats & easier access to videos. Technologies today provide more opportunities for athletes to gain exposure with colleges. The internet also allows athletes to research colleges more in-depth.

Did your high school coach help market you to college programs?
Yes – he was active in several coaching organizations.

Were there other ways that college coaches found out about you?
College Alumni Boosters gave recommendations. Our high school was in a major conference and this conference drew college coaches attention. When I was a senior there were 6 players in our conference that went to D1 colleges.

Did you send out game tape?
Yes both my junior & senior years.

How often did schools contact you by phone and/or mail?
Weekly

Which schools offered you scholarships?
Iowa State, Nebraska, Minnesota, University of South Dakota, South Dakota State

Did you attend summer football camps or combines? If so, did they help recruiting?
No, there weren’t many camps that I was aware of.

How many visits, unofficial or official, did you make?
Approximately 6

What was it like having some of the top programs in the country recruiting you?
It was a memorable experience to meet legendary coaches like Bear Bryant of Alabama, Joe Paterno of Penn State and Tom Osborne of Nebraska.

Were you aware of other prospects that these schools were recruiting at your position?
No I wasn’t aware of who else they were recruiting.

Were you rated by any publications as a national recruit? If so, what was it and do you think it helped in recruiting?
I was honored to be selected as a High School All-American and it did help recruiting.

Anything else of interest about recruiting in the 1980s vs. today?
The big difference is easier access to information for both the colleges and the athletes.

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