Getting evaluated during the athletic recruiting process as soon as possible and the importance of it

The goal of the athletic recruiting process for any sport that you play is to end up getting a scholarship offer.  Why else would you be reading this site?  But in order to get a scholarship, you will need to be evaluated by the coaching staff.  Most of the coaches want to see you in person (give you the eyeball test) and then see you on tape or during a summer camp. 

This evaluated comes first in every single recruiting situation possible.  Even if a college coach at a rival school offers a scholarship because State University did, they are at least evaluating you after they know there is another scholarship on the table.  The sooner that you can get your evaluation, the better.  And after a recent comment from a parent, I thought this would be a good article to touch on. 

Here is the comment I mentioned.  Just to let you know, the parent in this is no different from many others.  She may have actually posted it but I can promise you many others think it out there:

Can going to the one day camps over the summer to a school that you are really interested in and that have shown interest in you, (school visits, spring eval phone call, emails, etc.) hurt you if you don’t perform well? Are you better off staying home and waiting for them to continue to evaluate you through your senior year?

For the first part of the question, if you come into the camp in bad condition and struggle to hold your own against other players, then yes, it definitely can hurt you.  But if you are hoping that you are a Division I recruit, you should know better than this and prepare your mind and body for the rigors of the camp circuit.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to go to ten different one day football camps all across the country but recruits do it. 

The only situation I can see an excuse could crop up is if you were injured/sick before the camp.  I have talked about this before but the absolutely worst time to suffer an injury/illness in regards to the football recruiting process and basketball recruiting process is the spring and summer before your senior year.  The reason is because you need the spring to train and the summer to shine at camps.  I have seen recruited athletes come down with mono (State University never offered this athlete so he went to I-AA State University) and others I am following now who were hurt in the spring. 

If you have the opportunity to train and give it your all, then you should go to these camps.  Ducking competition is not the way to get a scholarship offer.  As I have said before, and this is something to really think about, if you are not good enough at that level, then the coaches will figure that out. 

Going to one day of their camp is the most cost effective option to give yourself the opportunity to perform in front of their coaches and to be evaluated.  If they don’t think you are good enough for a scholarship (which likely happens in 95% plus of the situations), then you move on.  That is why I think getting evaluated as soon as possible is important.  Why would you stretch out a dream that has no chance of happening? 

I feel that athletes should go to the camp and get feedback.  The coaches are likely to say that they will keep recruiting you and you need to keep working hard.  But think about how many times you were pulled aside to work with the elite players at the camp.  Deep down, were you one of the best campers there (I just wanted to say I have never heard a high school athlete tell me they sucked at a camp.  Not once.)? 

Going back to her question, I think you should go to the camp to see where you sit with the college coaches.  Even if it is your dream school, if you are not good enough, then you need to look for more options in the recruiting process.  If you figure out that you are not good enough for State University, then you will move on to other schools across your region.  And because it is early enough in the process right now to do that, then it is perfect timing. 

If you skip the camp and continue to get recruited by them, the coaches may get your senior film in October and feel that you are not good enough.  By that time, two schools that could have been the perfect fit for you may have already moved on with players at your position.  This stuff happens all the time.  It may be hard to stop hoping for a State University offer, but if they haven’t extended a scholarship by now after their camp, you may need to start re-evaluating the process. 

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How does a college coach offer a sophomore or freshman during the football recruiting process?

If you are reading this site, then there is little doubt that you have read articles at Rivals.com, 247Sports.com, and similar sites that follow prep athletes and how the recruiting process is going for them.  And when reading about the top sophomores and sometimes freshmen on these sites, some of the football players claim to have scholarship offers from some of the top programs across the country. 

So how exactly does that happen, if according to NCAA rules, college coaches cannot do more than send a questionnaire or a camp invite to an athlete until September 1st of their junior year?  There are a few ways that all college coaches can make it work if they really want to offer a prospect before that September 1st date.  Here are three different ways. 

Speak with the high school coach
From my experience in following these early scholarship offers to football recruits, speaking to college coaches actually seems to be the most prevalent.  In this example, the high school coach has a relationship with the coaches at State University.  The high school coach has sent tape of you, only a sophomore right now, to the college coaches and they were impressed.  Your high school coach has also raved about your abilities, your work ethic, and maturity. 

The college coaches trust your high school coach and came in during the spring evaluation period to do the eyeball test on you.  This is something you have passed so they call the high school coach and tell them that they have a scholarship offer waiting for you.  The high school coach then passes that information off to you and tells you that you received your first scholarship offer. 

In this example, I have actually seen a high school coach relay the offer to the high school prospect and the coach then relay a commitment to the college coach after a short period of time.  It is always interesting to see this at work.  It takes a helpful high school coach, but honestly, a high school coach should be thrilled to be passing the good news. 

If you have a high school coach who is extremely helpful in the recruiting process, what he will do is make sure that the other schools recruiting you know about the scholarship offer.  Last summer, a running back prospect received a scholarship offer from an out of state program through this method.  The high school coach called/emailed State University and told them that there was an offer on the table from one of their rivals.  That prompted State University to pull the trigger on a scholarship offer that day. 

Relay the message that you need to call the coach
One thing college coaches often do is tell the high school coach about the offer but say that they want to speak with you, the athlete, about it.  In this situation, the high school coach basically just tells you that you need to call Coach Johnson and gives you his number.  With everyone having cell phones these days, an athlete can make the call at the school and find out about the offer.  This is a pretty straight forward method of doing it but you must call them in order to do it.  

Talk to you at their summer camp
If you are attending a camp at State University and just wow the coaching staff, then they may tell you before you go that there is a scholarship offer waiting for you.  These camps give the college coaches a chance to see you in person and will give them a better feel about your abilities and overall skills.  Plus they get to see how well you take to new things and handle college coaches. 

This is rare but some sophomores do leave college football camps with a scholarship offer.  It is a great thing to have as it really says a lot about what the college coach things and how they feel about your skills on the gridiron. 

These are the three main ways that college coaches can offer a football recruiting process before their junior year.  Please note that if the school really means is with the offer, it should be officially mailed to you early in September of your junior year.  It doesn’t always happen that way but if the college coaches are confident about you and your abilities, this is something that they should be doing. 

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Can you focus on the recruiting process and the football season at the same time?

If you read about any of the athletes throughout the country that have made their college decision within the last few weeks, a major thing that stands out when they talk about it is that they wanted to be able to focus on their senior season of football.  And in many cases, the high school coaches actually prefer athletes coming to a decision so that their focus can be on the high school season.

The problem is that for many athletes, not all of them are 100% sure where they want to continue their football career in college.  And if the coach is rushing them to a decision, it could actually lead to a decommit later in the fall and open up a difficult process for the athlete.  So the question is can you as an athlete be able to focus on both the football season and the recruiting process at the same time during the fall?

My answer is that you can but it can be extremely difficult.  If you are confident about your decision and know where you want to go, it really may be worth it to end the recruiting process before the season gets underway.  The reason is that it alleviates the stress and burden that you have from answering calls, practicing, doing homework, and trying to lead a normal life of a high school senior.

If you decide to put the football season in front of the recruiting process, there may be areas that you can hurt yourself when it comes to recruiting.  For example, you may decide to skip the game visits on Saturday so that you can watch game tape with your teammates.  While going to these games unofficially will not get you a scholarship offer, it will give you a great feel for what the atmosphere of game day is all about.  No matter who you talk to or what you see on television, actually being there is vital to get a feel for what it is like on those wild Saturdays at the school.

The second thing to talk about is your numbers.  This may sound selfish but if you put the team before the recruiting process, you may agree with your coach about playing out of position.  Not only will this hurt your numbers, it may be harder to get college coaches to watch your early game tapes when you are playing a position they are not recruiting you at.  This makes it difficult for even the best evaluators to get a feel for your future position.  And watching it on tape is not going to be easy.

Dedicating yourself to the season and putting recruiting in the background will also help you with nerves.  For example, most recruits send out game film from the first two or three games of their senior season.  If you are focused on the season and helping your team win, then you won’t be nervous about how you played in a certain portion of the tape.  You just have to worry about going out, giving it 100%, and going from there.  The recruiting will take care of itself later on.

If you decide to put the recruiting process in front of the football season, there is a good chance that you are going to get some teammates not happy with you as a person.  The majority of high school football players are not good enough to go on to the college level and want to make the most of every prep game they have left in their career.  And if you are focusing on yourself instead of the team, and they realize that, I can promise you they are not going to be thrilled.

Putting the recruiting process on top of everything may make you a ball of nerves and someone who cannot relax.  Your biggest concern is impressing college coaches and getting a scholarship offer/offers that you don’t worry about how the team does.  If you can rush for 150 yards and three touchdowns and the team losses, does it make that much of a difference to you?  In my opinion, no.

What you need to do is find a balance between the two.  You need to help your team win ball games first.  The better the team does, the better it makes you look and gives you the potential to showcase your skills in front of college coaches at State.  You also need to speak with your coach that you want to do everything you can to help the team win but you are also worried about recruiting.  Be honest and open with him about it (And try not to sound selfish while doing it).

To help yourself in the recruiting process during that final year of prep football, you really do need to make it clear what you hope to get out of it.  But at the same time, you want to make sure you are not putting recruiting ahead of helping your team win ball games.  Balance is the key here.

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Part 2 – What role should your high school coach play in the athletic recruiting process?

One thing that you will definitely want to speak to your high school coach about is sending game tapes and highlight tapes.  Honestly, not all coaches have the time to keep track of where to send highlight tapes and where to send game tapes.  That is why it is vital for you to talk to your coach about it.

The first area to discuss is regarding the creation of your highlight video.  Some coaches are willing to produce them for the athlete and doing that would help save them a great deal of money during the process.  You must make sure that they are able to product a quality highlight video in order to send out to colleges.  If the coach does one that is not very good, it is worth investing a few hundred dollars into getting one professionally made.

If the plan is to handle the highlight video yourself, you must also speak with the coach about getting your hands on copies of the game tape.  Some coaches burn all games on DVD and have great organization of their videos.  Others will have a pile of tapes in a number of different spots that has no organization whatsoever.  Hopefully having a conversation with the coach beforehand will help them remember that you need a few game tapes.

If the quality of the tape is poor, you need to look into having your parents video tape the games themselves or hiring it out.  At the very least, you need to make sure that there is good footage to be able to work with on the highlight video.  Even the most expensive video production teams can only do so much about a poor game video.

Once you have the highlight video planned out, you also need to speak with the coach about who is going to forward them to college coaches.  If you feel better doing it yourself, than you may want to ask your high school coach to forward all requests for tapes.  That means if you are organized, you can handle it yourself.  I myself have requested many tapes from coaches but usually only see a few come my way just because how busy the coach is.

You will also need to talk to your prep coach about what he or she has done in the past about preparing athletes for playing college at a high level.  They may recommend extra workouts and doing different things to make you better.  And again, if you want to play at that level, this extra workload is something that you must be excited about it.  If you are going to go through the motions during it, don’t waste everyone’s time.

Another important thing a high school coach can do about you is follow up after sending video highlights.  For example, Division I coaches will take the word of a high school coach because they don’t want to burn that bridge.  If you personally sent a highlight tape two weeks ago, see if your high school coach will call an assistant coach at the school and see if they have watched it yet.

Your high school coach can also call college coaches or email them about you as a player.  This sometimes just depends on their connections and if they have sent any previous players to the Division I level.

If you have your prep coach on your side during the recruiting process, it can be a huge advantage for you.  While it does not mean a scholarship is in the bag, it does put someone else in your corner that could help you in the eyes of college coaches.  Most coaches at the next level do believe what a prep coach has to say and will take that into account during the recruiting process.

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Football camp invites, calls, and Division I interest

As I have mentioned before in a number of articles, summer football camps provide two purposes.  The first is to help the college coaches figure out who they want to extend their scholarships to.  It is never an easy question but working with the athletes on campus does help further things along in the recruiting process.  And the second is to help the coaches supplement their income.  While many are making big bucks, the camps help a graduate assistant who may only be making $10,000 per year.

While all schools send out a lot of camp invites, one school that may honestly send out the most that I have heard is Kansas State.  I have spoken with many athletes who have told me about their recruiting and for whatever reason, the Wildcats are the only Division I-A school recruiting them.  The athlete doesn’t think much about it being strange.  One had limited college interest but mentioned to me how bad Kansas State wanted to evaluate him at their camp.  And while I don’t want to pick on Kansas State because I know a lot of other schools across the country send out camp invites to a lot of athletes, you really need to realize how serious that they are about you in recruiting.

A parent recently asked me about a school that had been recruiting him and wanted him to go to their camp.  The reason why it was a difficult situation was because the family was unsure how serious the school was about him and if it was worth it to attend the camp.  My thoughts are unless you receive a phone call from them during the May evaluation period, then chances are slim that you will receive much of a look from the coaches at camp.  Now that doesn’t mean coaches from other schools won’t start recruiting you after the camp.

To me, a school like Kansas State is doing whatever they can to have the biggest camp possible.  I have been amazed at some of the names of athletes that have been “invited” to their camp.  It seems as if you played varsity football last year, the Wildcats want to bring you to camp so that they can evaluate you.  As they mentioned to a recruit last year, if you are the best quarterback there, then you will get a scholarship.  That quarterback ended up going to a non scholarship I-AA program that was just starting.  I guess they will say whatever they can to get recruits to their camps.

At this time of year as many top football recruits head off to camps throughout the country, think seriously about the schools that have sent you camp invites.  Have they called you?  Did they invite you to a Junior Day?  Are they sending hand written letters?  Have they really been showing the type of interest that makes this camp invite truly real?

As I talked about earlier in the article, the athlete that I spoke with did not find it strange at all that Kansas State was the only Division I-A school recruiting him.  My guess is that when everything is said and done, he ends up at a small Division II or III school.  And while it was not my place to say anything to him about what camps he does and doesn’t go to, I think it is important to really think about the schools that have invited you to camps.

The reason that you put up the money to go to these camps is because you want a fair shot to be evaluated.  Getting that evaluation may not lead to a scholarship but getting that chance is something that everyone looks for.  But if you have not gotten any interest outside of a minimal camp invite, then it may not be worth your money and time to make the trip.

Note: I know this article talks a lot about Kansas State but many other colleges send out camp invites to a lot of recruits as well.  It just seemed that in the Midwest, the Wildcats do it the most to pad their numbers.  While it is legal by all means, I question it ethically to try and get non-Division I kids to your camp so you can evaluate them. 

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Part 1 – What role should your high school coach play in the athletic recruiting process?

Love them or hate them, your high school coaches will play a very important role during the athletic recruiting process.  It doesn’t matter much what sport you play but if you want to play at the college level, you will need them on your side to help you achieve your goals of playing athletics past high school.

The first thing that you need to do as an athlete is tell them what you want to do early on.  For example, say that you just finished up your sophomore season playing at the varsity level.  You had a solid year and were named second team All Conference.  Because you have that experience for playing under that coach, now is a great time to tell them your goals at the next level.

While every situation is different, the coach may have helped other players play at the Division I level.  He may know what it takes during the football recruiting process to help you get to the college level.  The coach may also know what specific areas you need to work on to get to that high of a level.  Trust me in saying that it is not going to be a walk in the park by any means.

It is important not to come up to the head varsity coach following your freshman year or basketball where you were the sixth man and tell him that you want to play at Duke.  You first have to be realistic as there are some God given limitations that cause athletes who have the talent and work ethic but not the size to make it.

In the football example I mentioned, doing it early gives you plenty of time because it allows the coach to really push you to become the best player that you can be.  There are going to be ups and downs during the process but talking to your coach about it early will help you in the long run.

Your college coach must be on your side as well because he or she is going to be the one talking to college coaches.  These coaches call asking for more information on certain athletes.  If you have an attitude, most coaches are going to be honest and tell the college coach the truth.  Why would your coach want to lie in this situation?

As mentioned here before, college coaches will talk to just about anyone when they are trying to find more information about a recruit.  It doesn’t matter if it is your Math or Biology teach, you need have few enemies.  But the person that will hear the most from college coaches is your high school coach.

A Division I basketball coach told me a few years back about a player that they ended up offering a scholarship to.  It was a small school player who was a big man at 6-foot-10.  While his prep competition was not very high, the coaches scoured the school to learn more information about the athlete.  They found out that he was just a good kid who worked hard.  He would come in at 5:30 AM everyday to lift weights because there were no other times.  It showed that he was dedicated early on to become a better athlete and he ended up getting a scholarship.  It should come as no surprise that the athlete had a fantastic career and ended up really making a name for himself at the school.

You will need your high school coach to forward letters onto you.  While I assume it doesn’t happen that often, there are some high school coaches who may have a grudge with certain college programs.  The coach may then make sure that their letters are not forwarded onto you, which eventually becomes a problem.  I would hope that happens at least a very small amount of the time overall.

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I got a verbal scholarship offer at a summer college football camp. Is that scholarship really on the table?

College football coaches love getting athletes that they recruit on campus during the summer for at least one day of camp.  The reason is that it allows them to work with you, evaluate your skills, determine your level of coachability, and just get a general feel for what you can bring to the table.  If I were to ask college coaches, there is no doubt that they would love to see all prospects in camp before offering them.  The problem is that is not always possible.

But what happens if you go to a camp and just blow up?  The coaches end up loving you and taking you aside multiple times while you are there.  Then after the camp, the head coach tells you that there is a scholarship offer waiting for you at the school.  He just offered you verbally, but the question is, do you really have an offer on the table?

The answer to that question is it seriously depends on the school.  Some programs throw out verbal offers like they are nothing and others make sure that you are not confused where you sit in the football recruiting process.  Another set of college coaches may make it seem like they want you to play for their program but you have no clue as to if there is an offer actually on the table.

The true answer to this question should come within two weeks of you attending the camp (this is of course if you are in the summer before your senior year.  Otherwise, it is a different answer).  If the coaches were serious about the offer, your abilities, and the hope that they can sign you in February, then a written offer should be coming in the mail.

While summer camps for college coaches are an extremely busy time, if they think highly enough about you, they can take the ten minutes to send out a written offer.  While this scholarship could actually be pulled at anytime, seeing it in writing shows their true interest in you and their intention to make sure you know there is an offer on the table.

A few years back I spoke with a quarterback prospect who went to a Division I-AA (FCS) school for their summer camp and did really well.  The athlete claimed that the coaches had extended a verbal offer but for whatever reason, the coaches at this top tier program never ended up sending the scholarship in the mail.

In the end, despite what they told him, there was no offer and he signed with a Division II program.  One of two things likely happened.  The coaches told the athlete that they liked him a great deal and made it seem like there was an actual offer on the table.  But they never said that there is a scholarship waiting for you and there was an issue in communication between the athlete and the coaches.

The other thing that may have happened is the coaches extended a verbal offer after the camp but ended up not being impressed during the fall by what he did with his high school team.  So their response was to just stop recruiting him and not say anything.  While I do believe this is an upstanding coaching staff, college coaches do stuff like this all the time so I am not out of line in saying that this really could happen.

I think the answer to the original question, like in all situations, is to wait until the offer paperwork has arrived until you can get really excited.  I have heard plenty of stories where there is a verbal offer made but the paperwork never arrives.  If you want to commit to that school, is there even an offer on the table?  You don’t really know.  So until that letter comes saying State University wants to offer a scholarship, I wouldn’t mark it down as on the table just yet.

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The importance of communication with your high school coach regarding the college athletic recruiting process

I have talked before how there are a variety of different kinds of high school coaches that you will be dealing without throughout the athletic recruiting process.  Some are extremely helpful, others push your name when it is convenient, and some unfortunately don’t do anything.

And while the type of high school coach that you have does vary from athlete to athlete and school to school, one thing that you must have between you, your family, and the high school coach is communication.  You may be able to get attention on your own in the recruiting process but without communication, things may be lost in terms of calls and letters before they even reach you.

When I talk about communication, the first thing that you must do is inform your coach of your intentions to play college athletics.  It could be for soccer, lacrosse, football, basketball, softball, or any other sport, you must let your high school coach know.  The coach can sabotage even the best efforts throughout the athletic recruiting process.

Before the spring evaluation period for football recruiting, college football coaches are limited in the amount of contact that they have with recruits.  Because of this, the college coach relies heavily on information provided by the prep coach.  If your coach isn’t calling back, forwarding your letters, and following your on tape requests, it may be tough to get much consistent interest in the recruiting process.

In that first talk that you and your family may have with the high school coach about your college dreams, it is important to get feedback and listen to what the coach has to say and what he or she can bring to the table.  Some coaches have contacts at the college level that could really help you get a foot in the door at some programs.  Other coaches won’t do a damn thing.  Again, it varies from coach to coach.

After you make it clear of your intentions, talk to the coach first about what you need to do athletically to get to that level.  Most head football coaches will help you because this shows that you want to make yourself a better player.  That initiative is a great step in the right direction that you have what it takes to play college athletics.

Once that is done, speak with the coach about an honest evaluation as too what level you can play at in college.  Tell them that you want to start marketing yourself to college coaches and a fair eval will give you a better feel of what level you should do it at.  I hate to say this but expect your coach to over evaluate your ability.  You may be a Division I-AA (FCS) type player but they think you are a Division I-A (BCS) player.  I feel that most coaches will do this not to hurt your feelings or dash your dreams.

This should give you a better feel for where your coach thinks you can play.  After that, speak with them about any connections that they have within the college coaching ranks and see what it available via those connections.  Some things may work out better than others so know that you can and should be marketing yourself to other schools as well.  When you follow The Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer, you are focusing more on what you want and need in a college rather than which programs your high school coach is familiar with.

I would then try to speak to your coach specifically about recruiting and their contact with coaches about every two weeks.  In most situations, the high school coach is likely a teacher at the school so he should be around.  If not, try to catch up with them on the phone.  I have found that coaches who are out of the building are also harder for college coaches to get in touch with.  The reason these talks should come is to tell them what you are receiving in terms of mail, attention, and visits while also picking his brain to see who is calling and requesting tape.  If a school did request tape, make sure that your coach has it taken care of.

Like just about every situation known to man, communication is vital here.  Speaking openly and honest to your high school coach can give you a better feel for what they think about you and where you stand in the athletic recruiting process.  Taking the time to do it is well worth it.

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Football Camps & Basketball Camps: How to know if you performed well in the eyes of college coaches

I can only imagine the hundreds and thousands of dollars each year that are spent on football and basketball camps throughout the country.  While I am sure everyone has dreams of a scholarship during that time, the realistic factor is that it rarely happens.  I am willing to guess that the percentage is somewhere in the single digits. 

But lets say you received a lot of interest from schools via the phone during May and you attend their camp.  While you may think you did outstanding, how exactly do you know that you have been standing out against the stellar competition?  Outside of receiving a scholarship offer, there are important things in each sport that show you have excelled against your opponents. 

In football camps, the main thing that the coaches will do if they are pleased with a handful of prospects is pull them aside away from the bigger group.  What the coaches are usually doing is having the best among that group go head to head and see how they react and respond when going each other.  These talented prospects are no longer going against kids that hope to start varsity the next season.  They are now going against potential college players. 

This happens very often at the line positions.  As I have mentioned before, it is very easy to figure out the top few linemen at a camp where they go 1-on-1.  The coaches may pull aside the linemen and have them battle better prospects on the side.  While it doesn’t mean a scholarship is in the bag, it does show that the coaches have been watching you.  And now you will have the opportunity to go against more talented competition. 

Please note that all coaches are going to tell you throughout the camp that you are doing a good job.  With the money that you spent to make an appearance there, don’t expect them to tell you suck and that you are wasting your money.  Basically what I am saying is don’t put too much stock into what a coach tells you during drills. 

Some camps may also hold the top prospects back after the day and have them tour the campus.  If the coaches eventually feel that you are good enough for the offer, they want you are familiar with the school as possible.  They use this approach in both football and basketball camps so them inviting you to stay later for a tour is usually a great thing. 

In basketball camps, what a lot of college coaches will do is have their own players work the camps.  The majority of the camps then will have games at night where the college players are playing pickup basketball.  If a recruit does really well and shines during the camp, he will be asked to play that night against the college competition. 

If you get that chance, let me stress that there is a huge difference between college and high school basketball.  It will be a big change for you but you might as well give it your all.  I have seen many college basketball coaches do this so they can get a feel for the player.  Afterwards, the coach can talk to his players to see what they thought about you.  While watching is a great tool, hearing from someone who just competed against you may be even better. 

And the final indicator of a fantastic performance following a camp is having the head coach bring you into their offices (Expect huge offices for Division I coaches) and eventually offering you a scholarship.  If that is not the case, get ready to hear the most over used line in recruiting.  We will keep evaluating you and your progress this fall. 

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Do Division I-AA (FCS) schools call during the spring football evaluation period?

I have spent most of the spring evaluation period talking about the importance of calls from college coaches at the Division I-A (BCS) level.  These are so vital because this is the first time that football recruits can actually get a good feel for where they sit with a college.  If the school calls, then you are on their scholarship radar.  If not, then you may need to look for some new programs. 

But one question that was recently asked involved Division I-AA/FCS schools during the spring evaluation period.  Can these coaches call athletes?  Are they allowed to stop by the high school?  Can they do anything in comparison to their bigger brother I-A/BCS schools?

Regarding calls from college coaches, these Division I-AA schools definitely have the option to call football recruits across the country.  There is a huge difference in terms of the athletes that they call.  I have said before that I believe 95% of athletes who get eventual scholarship offers from a school receive a call from that same program at the Division I-A level.  For Division I-AA schools, I really believe that number to be lower simply because the recruiting process is so much different. 

For example, a Division I-AA coach may not call a recruit during the spring evaluation period because he has an offer from a Division I-A school.  If the Division I-A school eventually gets a commitment out of another kid at that same position during the summer and the athlete is now offer less, I would expect the I-AA school to jump in and start recruiting them more. 

In 100% of the situations that I have seen, unless the Division I-A school is either very far away from home or there has been a coaching change (meaning you weren’t there recruit), an athlete will pick the Division I-A school over the Division I-AA program.  These FCS schools know that and they are not going to waste their time going head to head with a BCS school for a player. 

Again, these Division I-AA programs are free to call kids during the spring evaluation period but it really depends on the school.  From what I have seen, most do call athletes.  If your area has a good Rivals/Scout site, then try to look up the name of the a certain school recruiting you to confirm if they called athletes.  While this is not a sure fire way to tell, it could provide more information as to who they are recruiting. 

These same FCS coaches will likely also have spent the spring evaluation period on the recruiting trail.  This will give them an opportunity to talk to coaches, find out about prospects flying under the radar, and see if you can pass the eyeball test.  Because budgets are limited, these coaches do not get to as many schools as those at the Division I-A level.  Division I-AA may send a college coach to recruit California for a week or two instead of sending them to more specific areas. 

But again, it depends on the coaching staff and the program.  The football recruiting process for Division I-AA schools is much different than Division I-A programs.  While most good staffs should be using that time to evaluate prospects and make connections with high school coaches, it doesn’t always happen that way.  And if you are worried about it, you should contact them to see what is going on with their recruiting and the overall process. 

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I’m a junior with little to no football recruiting interest. What do I do?

If this is the case for you as an athlete, the first thing you need to ask yourself is do you really want to play college football? If you do decide to play in college, you must make the decision that you are doing it for yourself and not your dad, a friend, or family members. The amount of time that you spend in the sport is incredible so make sure that you are 100% focused on playing.

I am going to be honest with readers and say that if you are not receiving much interest at this point, it is going to be tough to be a Division I-A scholarship football player coming out of high school. While there are some exceptions obviously, it will not be an easy road. But this site also tries to help football recruits find smaller schools and that will be part of what you need to look at.

When writing this kind of article, it does seem that I always bring up this article up a resource that you need to check out is the five steps to a scholarship (CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE). As mentioned in the first step, I think it is very important for you to put together a recruiting profile and go through the first three steps of that article.

Right now, I honestly don’t think it would be worth your time and money to put together a highlight video or a website. If you still have big aspirations, go right ahead, but I am not 100% sure that they will pay off in the end. That is just a warning as it is completely up to you obviously.

Once you finish putting together a recruiting profile, go through the next two steps as well (Find schools that match you and market yourself to the schools). I would talk about these steps more but since I already have written articles on each, make sure to check those out and follow the guidelines included.

While going through those three steps, I would also try to talk to your high school football coach and any other non bias experts to talk about what level you can play. You need to figure out what level your coach thinks that you can play at and speak with anyone else that may have a good clue for how good you have to be to play at certain college levels. Let me quickly note that I feel high school coaches feel that their players are normally better than they usually are.

If they say that they think you have a shot to play Division II, then the next step is to look into Division II football camps. If you look hard enough, there are also quality Division III and NAIA camps somewhere in your state that may be worth going to. I would look for the ones that have received the best reviews as far as player development. If it helps your recruiting that is great but you want the money to help you become a better football player.

The window is closing but you need to look into getting to as many free combines (Nike/Scout) as you can. These are a great opportunity to get a non bias opinion about your skills. Talk to the position coach that you worked with and try to get an honest opinion about what level he thinks that you can play. Hopefully you find a coach that will tell you the level that you can play.

I will stress this over and over because it just pains me to see people wasting their money but do not waste your time and finances on combines that cost money. These will not help you in the recruiting process and are a huge waste. The only thing that happens is that you are making those that run the camp some extra money.

Right now, the biggest things that you must do is get an accurate assessment of what level you can play at in college as well as do whatever you can to get your name out there. Getting that assessment is hard because few people actually know what it takes to play at different college levels. I’ve been around the recruiting game for over a decade and sometimes I can’t even tell with athletes.

And as far as getting your name out there, that is what the three step process mentioned above is about. You are not currently on the radar for college coaches so you need to do what you can to get them to notice you. That may include emails, calls, and attending their camp to do it but that must be a priority for you.

If you don’t have time to do it or there are questions in your head about it, college football may not be the thing for you. I would advice looking deep into your heart and figuring out if it is something you want to spend a great deal of time doing for the next four or five years.

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Natural Food Coloring for Easter

Easter is one of my favorite food seasons because of all the lovely pastel, spring colors that pop up. And recently, it has become so easy to find Natural Food Colorings for all your Easter recipes. So today, I want to share a few of my faves with you and show you just how gorgeous they are!... Read more »

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Should you help your athletic recruiting or your high school team first?

One of the more interesting debates with regards to a talented athlete on the football field is what should be more of a priority. Is it helping your high school team win games by sacrificing any individual glory for the good of the team? Or should it be to do whatever you can to help yourself so that your recruiting stock will improve?

That really is a tough question to answer and depends a great deal on the athlete themselves. Some athletes end up playing four sports at a smaller school and spurn opportunity to play summer basketball or attend a great deal of football camps so that they can help their team succeed. When choosing which is more important, it really is a difficult question.

Starting with your high school team, the reason that your allegiance should be stuck to them is because they are the most important thing. Without them, you would likely not be in this place to begin with where these questions come up. For most athletes, they have been playing for the same school growing up and owe them a great deal.

On the other hand, being a sought after recruit will open doors that may have never been open to anyone at your school before. In a lot of situations, your college will either be paid for or at least partially paid for to bring you to that school. Shouldn’t you be looking out for yourself anyways?

Many athletes go through these questions often. The reason this is brought up because athletes may project out at one position while their high school coaches play them at another. For example, a small school athlete may be 6-foot-5, 235 pounds and perfect to play tight end. But because of the lack of bigmen within their program, he may be stuck along the line during his high school career. In basketball, a skilled 6-foot-6 wing who can shoot from outside may be forced to play inside because the school is lacking post players with any size.

In both situations, the athlete is being asked to do a great deal. Especially with the tight end/lineman, they are sacrificing personal glory as well as recruiting interest. If this tight end wants to play there at the next level, the athlete will not have any tape of him playing that position for college coaches. There are even question marks if he should even put together a highlight video because all it has is him doing dirty work along the line.

If this situation arises, the first thing that you need to do is talk to your high school coach. Make sure that he knows the situation and that you are hoping to play college athletics at the scholarship level (He should know that already but tell him again). The coach is going to do what is best for the team. And while you may need to play inside on the basketball court most of the time, he may also set up situations where you can handle the ball outside when guarded by slower athletes. The football coach may also allow you to go out for passes on occasion along the line.

No matter what, you will have to listen to what the coach says. If you are not going to get a chance to play your projected position, quitting is not going to help your college attention. Doing what the coaches want, despite what you are sacrificing, could help you in the long run. While it doesn’t help you at that future position, it shows that you are a very coachable athlete willing to do whatever is needed to help the team win.

And you should also get a chance to play those projected positions at summer camps or on the AAU circuit. It is never easy to give up the lime light and play out of position but you should be satisfied if it helps your team win more ball games.

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The more media interest in you, the better that it will help your athletic recruiting

One mistake that I have seen a lot in the last few years regarding recruits is that they want to pick and choose what media outlets cover them. This doesn’t happen all that often but for whatever reason, a recruit and their parents decide that they don’t want to do an interview with one website yet will do that same interview with another website.

Let me stress that if you think just doing an interview with the State University website will help you get a scholarship from there, I feel strongly that this is a mistake that you are making. While the college coaches will read an article no matter what Rivals/Scout/ESPN/etc. website it is on, unless you are a top fifty recruit, you are not in a position to pick and choose what sites write about you.

The reason that I am writing this article is partially out of frustration but more out of how I feel about recruiting interest. I understand that athletes are busy and sometimes don’t have the extra time in a day to do multiple interviews. But most of the athletes that have many requests everyday for these multiple interviews already have scholarship offers.

In the past, I have either been turned down on the phone or just not received call backs from prospective athletes. Shortly there after, there would be an article about them on the State University site. The reason why I think they are doing this is because they think that article with the State University will help them get a scholarship.

I have been told by many college coaches that what some of the lower level coaches at their school do is print articles that have to do with kids that they are recruiting. It could be on any sites on any network and yet the coaches will still see this. And while my opinion is bias because they declined the articles (I am not going to try sugarcoating that any other way), I still think it is a huge mistake.

As I have said before, the more attention you can get in newspapers, magazines, and websites, the better. If a coach from the Division I-AA school near you has not been recruiting you but sees that State University is after you, then they will likely add you to their prospective recruiting list. And since State University has a limited number of options for scholarships, you need to keep your options open. As I have said many, many times before, recruiting is a game and you just never know what will happen.

So if you receive a call from a site on any of those networks or a newspaper, I would recommend doing it. The interview should last less than ten minutes and the biggest thing that it does is help get your name out there. And by out there I mean in front of college coaches and fans. Some may consider it bragging or hyping yourself up but those same people are not the ones with the ability to earn a college scholarship in the coming months.

The post The more media interest in you, the better that it will help your athletic recruiting appeared first on Recruiting-101.

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Spinach Enchiladas

These cheesy, vegan Spinach Enchiladas are so simple to pull together for dinner - or even a make-ahead meal. Tender spinach is stuffed into tortillas and marinated in homemade enchilada sauce. You decide how cheesy of a mood you are in...Read more »

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Should you consider your recruiting options in multiple sports?

To be able to play at the Division I level in any sport takes a great deal of skills and abilities. But to have those attributes in multiple sports shows what kind of athlete you really are. Because playing both sports (Outside of possibly football and track), this article is focusing more on looking at two sports in college before deciding on one.

The problem that some feel when keeping their options open for multiple sports is that this question mark at the next level may scare away coaches. Would college coaches really not recruit a kid for basketball if they thought and/or heard that this athlete was going to go play football in college?

That is a tough question to answer but I feel strongly that the answer is no. What I have always written about in the past and will continue to do so is to keep your options open in the recruiting process. And while I have talked mostly about smaller schools that you may overlook early on, I am also talking about recruiting attention for other sports.

Here are a few examples of this coming up in the past. An athlete known for basketball early on ended up scoring nearly twenty points a game on the court in his freshman year and was playing with the top AAU team in state. He played football because he was an exceptional athlete. By the time he was a senior, he had Division I basketball and football offers to choose from.

In the end, this athlete had bigger and better options on the football field. He spurned the Division I interest and attention he received for basketball and went with his best options. This shows that if you are good enough, college coaches in multiple sports will offer you. They are not going to shy away from a recruit if he is also looking into another sport. The coach should realize that although it may not help them, the more options an athlete has, the better.

The best way to make sure that college coaches know that you are considering multiple sports is to let them. Email and/or call them and tell them that you are very serious about both sports and want to see what sport helps open more doors at the college level. Communication in this will be key.

At the Division III level, I know and have heard in the past that college coaches will back off of athletes because they are focused on another sport. But if the athlete lets it be known that he is looking at multiple sports, that at least keeps the door open. Then it depends on what other schools are recruiting him and are after him.

Obviously in order to do this, you need to be really good at both sports with a lot of potential. Don’t tell college coaches that you are considering basketball but was the eleventh man last year on the team.

This is another step to keeping your options open in the recruiting process. It may take more time (Sending out recruiting info) and money (Making multiple sport highlight videos) but if you are serious about both sports, it may be worth it to put the effort into it.

Regarding this topic as well, it always seems that the best athletes are the ones who can play multiple sports in college at a high level. Just look at Terrell Pryor. He is the number one rated football player in the country and rated among the top fifty basketball players. I would trade just about anything to be that good in either sport yet he is that talented in both.

The post Should you consider your recruiting options in multiple sports? appeared first on Recruiting-101.

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April NYC DevOps Meetup: Building a tamper-evident CI/CD system

The April nycdevops Meetup is Thursday, April 18. Doors open at 6:30pm!

https://www.meetup.com/nycdevops/events/260294692/

NOTE: The meetings are now on THURSDAY.

• Title: How to build a tamper-evident CI/CD system
• Speaker: Trishank Karthik Kuppusamy, Datadog, Inc

TALK DESCRIPTION: CI/CD is critical to any DevOps operation today, but when attackers compromise it, they get to distribute malicious software to millions of unsuspecting users. We present how Datadog used TUF and in-toto to develop, to the best of our knowledge, the industry's first end-to-end verified pipeline that automatically builds integrations for the Datadog agent. That is, even if this pipeline is compromised, users should not be able to install malware. We will show a demonstration of our pipeline in production being used to protect users of the Datadog agent, and describe how you can use TUF + in-toto secure your own pipeline.

SPEAKER BIO: Trishank Karthik Kuppusamy is a security engineer at Datadog, Inc. Previously, he led the research and development of The Update Framework (TUF) and Uptane at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He is also a member of the IEEE-ISTO Uptane standardization alliance, and an Editor of in-toto Enhancements.

Space is limited. Please RSVP soon!

from Tom Limoncelli's EverythingSysadmin Blog http://bit.ly/2UqDyFm

High school coaches will not go out on a limb to be honest with college coaches about their athletes

I had previously assumed that the majority of high school coaches would be completely honest with college coaches trying to recruit their athletes.  These prep coaches would tell their potential future coaches if a kid works hard, is lazy, or is known for his partying with friends. 

But in talking to a college coach recently, he said that rarely ever happens.  Just to let you know, this coach is at the Division III level so it is not like these athletes are battling for scholarships from USC and Texas.  The coach said that in most situations, the high school coach would not go out on a limb to be honest. 

There are a few reasons that this happens.  First, the coaches likely doesn’t want to be held accountable if this came back to them.  While I would assume it would be pretty obvious if a player is lazy in his or her workouts, the last thing the coach would want is bad blood between them and the family. 

Another reason may simply be that the high school coach doesn’t want to negatively affect the recruiting process for their athlete.  If it is a small school that doesn’t send a lot of players to the college level, why would the coach want to limit the options of their player?  In keeping all doors open, if the coach shuts some himself, it is difficult to find a lot of options. 

The high school coach may also not have a good feel of the work ethic needed to succeed in playing at the college level, regardless of if it is Division III or Division I.  Unless they have played at that level, it is definitely not easy to figure out what it takes to be a starter in the Division III ranks.  It takes a lot of time and work, regardless of the school. 

So what does this mean?  It likely means that if the high school coach is always saying how great his athletes are and how hard they work, the college coaches will go to other sources to figure out the truth.  They could try assistant coaches, teachers in the school, sources they know in the area, or even opposing coaches.  Each should be able to give this coach a good feel for the truth. 

What makes it tough for athletes is if there are any bad reports coming back, this can definitely hurt them overall.  Having no work ethic or being a pain to coach  is something that those at the college level don’t want to deal with in most situations.  This happens all the time and unfortunately can really hurt you in the recruiting process. 

This is yet another example of the importance of working hard, staying out of trouble, and getting good grades.  I know teenagers don’t always make the best choices but doing these three things can definitely help make you a more marketable recruit, regardless of what your high school does or doesn’t say about you. 

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Wild Blueberry Pumpkin Seed Protein Smoothie

This Wild Blueberry Pumpkin Seed Protein Smoothie has been a favorite of mine for a while now. Simple ingredients and loads of flavor, sweetness, a hint of salt, fiber and healthy fats and even plant-based protein from pumpkin seeds. Here is my recipe and specifics on which pumpkin seeds to use..Read more »

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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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The cost of the athletic recruiting process

For those about to start the athletic recruiting process in any number of sports, it is always a dream to receive a scholarship offer from your dream school, commit, and call it a day.  But the problem is that the game of recruiting rarely works that way unless you are a special athlete that is college ready early on. 

Recruiting-101 decided to take a look at the costs for those going through the football recruiting process, basketball recruiting process, and baseball recruiting process.  If you are going to be handing off the services to others, you will be spending a great deal of money.  Then again, it really depends on how much you know and how much you want to get involved.

Here is the breakdown for a number of different things you obviously are going to want to do to get ahead during the recruiting process.  Some vary to the three sports that I mentioned above but many are actually similar overall. 

Three Day Football Camp – $300 plus
If you are going to be staying on campus at the football camp and eating there for meals, then it is not going to be cheap.  I always recommend speaking with the coaches about possibly going to one day of camp to save money.  Most college coaches have the ability to recognize if you can play or not rather quickly.  If you decide to go to all three days, you may be funding an assistant coach to get their kitchen redone.  They probably should be thanking you. 

Elite Basketball Camp – $100 plus
If you are good enough to be invited to an elite basketball camp, the coaches will keep the price tag down because they want to get as many recruits as possible on campus to see the school.  But then again, are the coaches just using you to have the numbers to hold this elite camp (Click here for an older article on this)?

Baseball Showcase – $150 plus
Are you a baseball recruit waiting to get out and play in front of the eyes of college coaches?  Then you definitely will need to go to at least one baseball showcase.  These are huge during the baseball recruiting process.  Playing well in front of a coach at this can really make or break the recruiting process for you. 

Nike Football Camp – Free 
The Nike football camps may be free but you are failing to add in the costs of gas and food along the way.  I know some recruits that traveled ten hours to get to an event like this.  That would not be cheap with the price of gas these days. 

Highlight Video – $0 to $1,000
This has a very broad range simply because some parents think that their athlete needs to to have a Hollywood production team putting this together.  The truth is that the coaches are looking to see the player showcase his or her skills on the field.  The smoke and mirrors introduction is not going to get you a scholarship.  The good news is hudl can provide a great alternative. 

A personal website for the athlete – $0 to $1,000
Depending on how high tech you want to get, these can cost a great deal.  

Recruiting Service $500 to $5,000
These can really start to cost a lot over the long run.  Some services are cheaper and while others are expensive.  Is it worth it?  While I personally lean away from them, that is your call.  I think the biggest key is it comes down to time here. 

Junior Day Visits – Free
Again, these ones will really add up when you think about gas, possible accommodations, and food along the way.    The colleges will take you around their campus, feed you, and possibly bring you to a basketball game.  But you are fitting the bill to get to the school and everything involved there. 

Phone calls from coaches – Normally Free
If your child is a sought after recruit and has a lot of schools interested in them, you may need to ensure that his texts and minutes are unlimited. 

Official Visits – Free for the athlete
They may be free for the athlete but every well informed parent wants to make the trip.  So you will either need to fire up the car or take a plane with your child.    Unless you live in the same city, it cannot be cheap. 

These are just a few of the things needed to consider before going through the recruiting process.  If you have some computer skills and time, there are some of these steps that you can avoid.  Keep these in mind when things start heating up for you!

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I’m a junior to be with football recruiting interest. What do I do?

For those who have just finished up their sophomore year of high school and will be juniors next fall, this article is for you.  And while there is little you really can receive during the football recruiting process at this point, it is a good time to do some early leg work that will save you when it comes time to get some things done during the fall. 

Just as a reminder, juniors to be cannot receive any type of mail that is not a camp invite or a questionnaire from Division I programs until September 1st of this year.  If Division I football coaches are sending you hand written notes before then, you must be an outstanding player because the coach is breaking the rules.  Coaches that think you are good enough to play at their school will Fed Ex a scholarship offer on that date to make sure you know how wanted you are at their school. 

For most juniors who will have to wait to receive scholarship offers, there are a lot of different things that you can do.  The first is to fill out every questionnaire that college coaches send you.  It doesn’t matter if it is from State University of the small school that is close to your home.  There is no reason that you can’t take a few minutes of your life to submit the information that they are looking for. 

At this point, DO NOT limit your recruiting options.  You never what will happen during your junior year.  You could tear your ACL and miss the entire season.  Then if there were schools that you decided not to send back information to, they may have ended up offering scholarships to other athletes.  So no matter what level it is, show some interest in the school.  If you have time, check it out online and learn more about the program. 

If you have the money and the time, you might as well try to attend some football camps at your dream schools.  You can call/email the coaches about possibly attending for just a day or two to learn more about the program and the coaches.  It would also give you a chance to showcase your skills in front of the coaches.  And from what I have seen, college coaches are more likely to offer an athlete after their junior season if they have worked with them and seen them in their camp. 

While these camps would be great to get to, they are not a huge priority at this point in your recruiting.  It does help to get to some so that you can learn more about the schools but it is not going to make or break the recruiting process.  It is just something to think about if you have the time and money to do so. 

A recruiting profile is something that you should be seriously thinking about right now.  Because it is already into the summer camps, now may not be a great time to be sending them out to college coaches.  It may just be better to wait until you see what you do as a junior on the football field (Click here for the full article).  At the very least, you should be at least piecing the information together to set it up.  The reason to do that early work is that once the season gets over, you can throw your stats and honors into it and then send it off to coaches. 

Another area to think about is finding colleges that fit your interests.  As a junior to be, it really is tough to know exactly what you want to do with your life.  But you should at least have a good feel on a possible major, location, weather, and other areas about the future school.  Sit down with your family and talk about what you want in a future school.  Once you are done, use this article to help you find potential matches in possible colleges. 

The last thing I think you should seriously look into is who will be making your highlight tape once the season gets over.  Now is a great time to shop around and look into different options.  Speak with your high school coach and the assistants about if they have done it before.  If they have, try to view the tape to see the quality.  If it is not good, then it would be worth the money to hire a professional. 

You can get quotes from different companies and even line up who will make it and how much it will cost.  You should not obviously pay anything now (You might get hurt on the first play of the season) but lining it up will save you a lot of time down the road.  Also look into who will be taping the games and how you will be getting your hands on the tape.  If it comes down to it, your parents may be the ones who will tape things. 

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Vegan Buddha Bowl

This Vegan Buddha Bowl has smoky maple flavors and so much love from rim to rim. The dressing is a cashew-maple-lemon with a hint of garlic. Grab a few plant-based ingredients and have this delicious meal on your table in under thirty minutes! Plus, find out the ingredient I totally forgot...Read more »

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Scholarships, football recruiting, college coaches, and more scholarships

There is no doubt in my mind the toughest scholarship for an athlete to get is their first.  The reason that I say this is because it is hard to prove to a college coach that with no other offers on the table, you are a recruit at their level.  That is why it is so important that once that first scholarship offer comes, make sure that you market it to media, other college coaches, and anyone you can think of. 

While I do feel strongly about scholarship offers breeding other scholarship offers, I found a very interesting statement about a recruit who was hearing from two major Division I schools in the same conference.  One of the schools offered a scholarship after evaluating.  The second school followed suit knowing he had the other offer but before they had seen any tape.  In my opinion, that is a very bold move on their part. 

Here is what I am talking about.  This is a true story and comes from someone that I trust.  The schools and the name of the recruit has been taken out for obvious reasons, but really, think about the message that this is sending off:

Recruit is the most interesting one to me as far as his recruiting story goes. Not only is he the one that School A told could try quarterback when obviously he’s wasn’t a college level quarterback, but he’s also the one whose high school coach told us that School A offered before even seeing film on him. If I recall correctly, he just got back from School B and was close to committing, so School A offered right away in hopes that he would wait and visit them before deciding. I know for sure his coach told us that the offer was a complete surprise because they hadn’t even sent out film yet.

Lets say hypothetically that this recruit was like many of the athletes out there who try to keep their recruiting attention to themselves.  With School B having offered, the recruit likely would have ended the recruiting process there by committing to them.  He probably would not have marketed himself to School A and opened that door.  While this story shows how crazy football recruiting can get, it shows that college coaches jump on the fact that an athlete has a scholarship offer. 

If School B had not offered, there is a very slim chance that School A would have jumped into the picture and eventually secured a verbal from him.  But School B trusted the evaluation of School A and didn’t want him to commit so badly that they threw a scholarship his way without even seeing film.  That alone is an amazing part of the football recruiting process there. 

Anyways, the main reason that I wanted to bring this up is that scholarship offers do breed other scholarship offers.  It is important that once you receive a scholarship offers, you should find a way to let media and the other college coaches that are recruiting you know of it.  If the college coaches don’t pay attention to the email, they may pay attention to the article written about you on Scout, Rivals, or ESPN. 

A few years back there was a powerhouse school that seemed to send a number of players to the Division I level every year.  What they started doing is that when one of their players received a Division I offer, they would email media from Rivals and Scout, then also include college coaches who were recruiting him.  If a school realize that their rivals just offered a prospect that they were hoping to land, this email could help speed up the process. 

Please only do this if you really do have an official offer.  If you get caught in a lie about a scholarship, it could end up turning ugly simple because college coaches will not be happy once they find out you were dishonest with them about the offer.  You may touch base with the recruiting sites beforehand but once that first offers come, it is not something you want to keep to yourself.  There is no doubt that letting these services know will put that information quickly in the eyes of college coaches and that could help you get another scholarship. 

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The thirty second rule in recruiting highlight videos

Recently when talking to a parent regarding putting together a highlight tape, one of the things that was mentioned was the thirty second rule. While this may or may not be true, it would not surprise me one second if this really does happen. And considering this rule came from an Ivy League school, I can only imagine what SEC coaches do.

What this rule involves is when a coach watches a highlight tape of a player. The rule is that within thirty seconds, if the coach is not overly impressed with the highlights, then he moves on. The coach feels that if he is stretching to find a great play that the player made, than chances are solid that they are not going to recruit him. That means the coach can move onto the next tape and give that prospect the same time as well.

With regards to this, I am under the assumption that these schools were sent these tapes randomly and were not ones that they requested. For requested tape, my assumption is that these coaches will give them a bit longer than thirty seconds. But if the players does not have any offers by his name, don’t expect much longer.

This goes back to the point that I made saying that you need to put your very best plays at the start of the video. If you returned a kick and juked five guys on the way to the end zone, make sure to include that as one of your best plays early on. Again, there is no reason to save your top plays for the end of the tape. Unless you are extremely impressive, chances are high that few coaches will actually go through the entire tape.

When putting your top plays together, definitely keep that rule in mind. It can really help you with the recruiting process. I also have seen a few more things that I will nitpick regarding highlight videos that I recommend avoiding if you can.

*Do not show plays that are not impressive. I wish this was a joke but I recently saw a highlight video that some of the first plays were the athlete handing the ball off at quarterback. I realize some tapes decide to split the footage between the position that an athlete plays, but if I were a coach and saw film of him handing the ball off, I would shut the tape off and move on.

*Unless you made a Barry Sanders type move, do not show a replay from a different angle. I have seen a few decent plays recently where they showed a different angle. And the result was that the play was alright but not enough to get a scholarship offer. The funny thing about this was also that they changed the angles plays down the line. I don’t know if they were trying to trick the people watching the tape with a different angle but it was same boring play. Don’t waste your time there.

*If there was an obvious clip or hold on the tape and you can see the ref throwing the flag, do not include it. I just saw a running back pull off a nice run but I guarantee that it would have been much less if there was not a hold on the play. If I am smart enough to see it, than a college coach definitely would be.

*Try to avoid big chunks of down time during the video. By this I mean that once the play is over, move on to the next one. I hate it when the person making the highlight tapes allow for five seconds before the play starts and after the play ends. College coaches would be more impatient than I would when watching film so get rid of it. It wastes their time.

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How can you tell the priority of a summer camp invite during the recruiting process?

Recently we have had some great comments and questions related to figuring out the interest from a college coach who invites an athlete to their summer camp.  It may be because I am a cynic and think the majority of invites that go out are to build up camp numbers and put more money into the pockets of coaches.  If you are blindly driving around to camps at schools that have barely shown you attention, the money you are putting into the camp may actually be helping the coaches remodel their houses. 

But how do you really tell how serious a school is when they invite you to a camp?  Really, it is a difficult question because so many colleges back off after the camp no matter if you go or not.  Once their camp schedule is over, there is no reason that they need to stay in contact with fringe prospects at that level. 

I am going to talk in terms for prospects that currently do not hold a scholarship offer from the school that has invited them.  If you have an offer, the coaches won’t make it such a necessity that they get you on campus to see you in action.  They already feel that you are good enough to play for their school so why have to waste the money coming?

Going back to the priority of the invite, the first factor that I mention is phone calls from college coaches.  During the spring evaluation period (Late April until the end of May), college coaches were legally able to call prospects once during that time period.  If they missed the prospect, I am willing to bet that they left a detailed message so that the athlete could give them a call back.  Because the coaches can only make one call (No matter if they talk to the kid or not), the ball is in your court to call them back. 

If they are seriously going to evaluate during that camp, there is no doubt in my mind that this phone call must be placed beforehand.  No matter what big words that they say in the letters and mailings, taking their time to call you shows how much they are interested in you and how much they want to see you at camp. 

While a call is not a sure fire scholarship offer as soon as you show up at the camp, the college coach is saying that they are interested in you.  There is only so much time to make these calls so it shows a lot.  Most of the time, coaches will call you and talk to you specifically about the camp.  If they do that, it may be worth going to for at least one day. 

If the phone call doesn’t come through, the second factor to look for is hand written letters.   I have seen many hand written letters over time and most are rather generic.  If they really want you, look for something that mentions something specific about you.  It may be your team or your coach.  Just look for something that talks in depth about you. 

The third factor I would keep an eye on is if the college coaches from that school visited you at the high school.  During the evaluation period, the assistant coaches have a chance to make trips to a number of high schools.  While some will just stop by in the area, it does show that they are at least curious about your ability.

If I had a son and he was trying to figure out which camps that he should go to during the summer, the main one I would focus on is the recruiting calls.  While hand written letters and school visits are great, getting a call shows that they are actually considering you enough to take the time out of an evening to call you. 

There are many athletes that I have talked to in recent months and most say that they are going to a college camp because they have been receiving mail.  While that is great and all, you have to realize that the college coaches just want to see you at their camp.  In the eyes of a college coach, they are in a no lose situation if you come to the camp.  If you come, they get more numbers regardless.  If you really standout, then they may start recruiting you.  If you are not any good, they are going to take you off of their list and move on with recruiting. 

So before you sign up for twenty different camps this summer and travel the country in search of a scholarship offer, think long and hard about how serious the school is recruiting you.  If they are not showing much interest, I am willing to bet that they would love to have you in camp all three days. 

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