What is the magic number of plays that should be included on a football highlight video to receive a scholarship offer?

Recruiting-101 talks constantly regarding the importance of putting together a highlight tape, especially during the football recruiting process.  And since every reader follows this advice (right?), you are working on figuring out the best way to showcase the skills of an athlete to be evaluated by a college coach.

But for those that go through seasons and seasons of tape for one highlight video, one question that obviously you will come up with is how many plays should be included on this video?  Should it be the more the merrier or short and sweet?

Before picking what I feel is the magic number to be evaluated/get a scholarship offer from college coaches, I must preface this by saying all situations are unique.  If you played one varsity game and were hurt, were you really that good on tape to get a lot of plays?  I would say on average, you need at least two game tapes to put together a solid highlight tape, if not more.

I have heard from a variety of sources differing opinion.  Some really feel that if you include every play, what it is going to hurt outside of wasting watching your five yard dive up the middle?  Other “experts” have said as low as twelve to fifteen plays.  If that was the case, I would think you may be cutting out some great highlights.

I feel the magic number of your highlights to be included on this recruiting video is thirty (which ends up meaning your highlight video should be somewhere around three to five minutes in length).  The reason I say thirty is that if a college coach wants to turn it off at fifteen, he can.  If they want to keep watching, then they can keep doing that.  It really is up to them with thirty plays included.

Again, this doesn’t mean that your highlight video has to include thirty plays to get a scholarship offer.  What you should do is round up all your top highlights and then end up somewhere between twenty five and thirty five.  If you hit thirty on the dot for highlights, great.  If not, try to keep that number somewhere near the magical thirty.

As I have said before, I really, really, really dislike the recruiting highlight video where an athlete puts every single play that they made during the season.  College coaches are not going to waste their time watching every rush or pass that you did during the season (that means you quarterbacks and running backs).  And if you are anywhere near single digits, it could be hard for the college coach to get a good feel for you.

One last thing that I must mention in regards to a highlight video.  For each play, think about this long and hard.  Is this a scholarship worthy play?  Does it showcase my potential to play my sport at the scholarship level and help me pay for my college education?

 

 

 

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A college football coach told me he only wants full game film. Should I no longer make a highlight video during the recruiting process?

In the football recruiting world, myself and many others have stressed the important of the highlight recruiting video.  We want you to spend your time or money putting together a great video.  And if you don’t, you will certainly hurt yourself in the football recruiting process.

So in speaking with a parent who attended a Junior Day, he told me that the offensive line coach at this major Division I-A (BCS) program told him that they don’t want highlight tapes, they want full game tapes.  So if I have been preaching time and time again about how you need a highlight tape to get recruited, is my stance changing?  Do you now just need to send out full game tape?

I will tell you right now that the answer is no, you need a highlight video.  Regardless of what this coach says, there are a lot of reasons as to why.  I will also explain why this offensive line coach wanted just a full game tape from these recruits as well.

First, there recruits that were likely at this Junior Day were among the top of their recruiting database.  It doesn’t mean an offer will be coming but these recruits either have the size, honors, or recommendations from their coach/experts that they can play at this level.  So if there are twenty offensive line recruits at the top of this recruiting database, the coach would go through twenty full game tapes.

Depending on how well trimmed the game tapes are, my guess is that they would average out to about 45 minutes.  If there is some fast forwarding involved (which I know there would be), the coach is likely to spend 30 minutes per game tape (if not less).  But hypothetically, if he watches 20 game films at 30 minutes each, that is ten hours.  For his top recruits, I could see him finding a way to do that.

The problem is for other recruits.  This is a major Division I-A program who gets recruiting videos from athletes throughout the country.  If there are 300 other offensive lineman recruits that sent full game tape, do you think this coach would watch all of these and not want a highlight video?  300 game tapes at 30 minutes per film ends up being 150 hours.  That is something a college coach does not have.

The reason that he wants to watch a full game tape is because making an offensive lineman look like an All Stater in twenty plays is not all that hard.  Someone big enough should have enough pancake blocks and ability to look good in that series of plays.  The full game tape allows this coach to see how the lineman moves every play, if he goes hard 100% of the time, and if quicker defenders give him problems.  While I was surprised to hear he wanted full game tapes, I do understand why he wants that from top tier recruits.

At most schools though, you are likely not going to be a top tier recruit right away.  That is why making a highlight video is so important.  The majority of colleges want to be wowed by your highlight video.  Once you do that, they will take the time to add you to their recruiting database and possibly watch that full game tape.  That is why I feel when putting together a recruiting highlight video, having the highlight video and the game tape on the same DVD is a great way to speed along the process.  If you are using hudl, the hope is that your coach can help you send the full game link to college coaches as well.  Simplifying the process is a must.

 

 

 

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The ins and outs of Pre Approvals

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Football Recruiting Questionnaires: How important are they and should I fill them out?

For those football recruits out there reading this article, chances are strong that you have received at least one football recruiting questionnaire during the recruiting process. Because they are so repetitive in nature, some may consider them useless and may not take the time to fill out the forms. If you are doing that, I feel strongly that you are making a mistake.

The reason that these football recruiting questionnaires are sent out is so that college coaches can find out more about potential athletes. As I have mentioned before, college coaches have monster recruiting lists that they eventually whittle down. Coaches track who they send these to. And if an athlete doesn’t send back a football recruiting questionnaire, they are likely to take them off of their prospect list.

The worst situation is when an athlete has Division I eyes. I recently encountered this with an athlete in a recent class. He felt he was a Division I basketball player so he eventually got to the point where he was Division I or bust. He didn’t even waste the time to fill out recruiting questionnaires for smaller colleges. Why bother if I am so damn good?

Because he spurned so many Division II schools, once the Division I programs backed off he had nowhere else to go. These Division II programs were not thrilled that he “big timed” them and moved on to other players who were happy to receive a scholarship offer during the recruiting process.

I have always said that you should consider all of your options during the recruiting process. I don’t care if it is the local Junior College that has a football team of thirty, at the very least, send back the information that they request. You just never know if one of their coaches will move on to a bigger school that you grew up dreaming to play for. The more options you have, the better regardless of the sport you play.

The reason that college coaches send out these football recruiting questionnaires is so that they can find out more information about you. Many coaches send them to the high school because they do not have your contact information. These coaches love to have their recruiting databases stock full of addresses, phone numbers, names of parents, and many other things that could help them down the road in the recruiting process.

Again, I want to stress that these football recruiting questionnaires are important. If you don’t feel like hand writing all of your information, at the very least send back your recruiting profile. This will most likely give them the majority of the information that they are looking for and show that you are at least somewhat interested in their school.

As for the second part, yes you should fill these out in a timely manner. Take the ten minutes or so and be honest about your answers. Don’t inflate your stats because the coaches will not like the fact that you lied to them this early in the process. If you will lie now, why wouldn’t you down the road?

I have talked to different coaches at all levels about recruits. And the one tell tale sign if a recruit is interested in the school is if he returned a recruiting questionnaire. It may be something you don’t think is important but it is key during the recruiting process. So take these seriously and spare ten minutes to show coaches who sent you a letter that you will at the very least consider their school. Too many things can happen down the road for you not to look into all of your options.

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4 Natural Bath Treatments for Softer Skin

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As you slip your feet into the hot water and lay your head back, that’s the moment where all stress can fade away.  We’ve put together some of the most common natural bath treatments and most of the ingredients you probably already have in your home! Below are 4 natural bath treatments for softer skin: […]

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The lines you should expect to hear from college coaches throughout the athletic recruiting process

If a college coach is recruiting you regardless of the sport, there are three options that they can basically do throughout the athletic recruiting process.  The first (and the best) is they can offer you a scholarship.  The second is that they will continue evaluating and recruiting you while the third is they are moving on and taking you off their recruiting database.

Again, the goal is to get to the first but most athletes are stuck in the second.  These college coaches want to pull out the evaluation card every single time that you talk to them simply because it is easier than saying you are not good enough.  But what are some of the most common lines and what they really mean?

Just to let readers know, I think for the most part that college coaches will either use these lines or something very similar.  The reason is because when talking to athletes about the coaches say, they seem to repeat the same exact phrases word for word.  So here are some of the common.

Line: Keep up the hard work
Translation: You need to work harder because you are currently not good enough for a scholarship
More: They want you to keep working hard but if they are saying this, then you are not currently good enough compared to a few other recruits at your position.

Line: We need to evaluate you at camp
Translation: If we don’t think you are good enough for a scholarship offer, then at least you are putting some money into our pockets by attending our camp/camps.  
More: Cha-ching.  For real prospects that they have invited to Junior Days and called during the spring evaluation period, they really do want to see you.  For others, this evaluation is just adding cash to their pockets.

Line: Keep your grades up
Translation: There is no way that you will play at our level academically.  
More: If they are talking about grades, more than likely there may be some question marks to qualify.  That is definitely a red flag for college coaches.

Line: You are a scholarship athlete/Division I athlete
Translation: You are a scholarship athlete for another school
More: If they say that, then why exactly are they not offering you a scholarship?  This is a terrible line to pull on anyone and it is my least favorite on this list.

Line: Keep in contact with us
Translation: We may not be recruiting you much anymore so stay in contact with us.  It is much easier for you to do that then us contact you.  
More: They basically want to know if their conference rivals or any other big school offered a scholarship so that they can get in the mix.

Line: We want to see your progress this fall
Translation: There are other prospects that we like more who currently have offers.  If they pick another school come fall, then there may be a scholarship for you.  
More: Scholarships normally don’t come in the fall unless there is another recruit who picks a different school.  If you attended their camp, then the coaches know exactly what they are getting with you.  In my opinion, you are more likely to get a scholarship in the fall from a school that has not been recruiting you early on.

 

 

 

 

 

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What does the first scholarship offer do for you as an athletic recruit?

My guess is that those athletes and parents who read this site are not doing so in order to be able to get a chance to play their sport of choice at a Division III program.  It just doesn’t work that way and it probably never will.  The goal obviously is to do everything that you can so that you eventually earn a scholarship offer to help pay for the costs of receiving an education in college.

So what happens when that first scholarship offer eventually comes?  It doesn’t matter what year you are in high school because there is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the most important times for a recruit in a number of different ways.  It should help open up doors while also being a stress reliever as well.

Takes a weight off the shoulders
The number one thing that I hear from recruits in regards to that first scholarship offer is how their is a weight lifted off their shoulders.  If you are reading this site, I assume the goal is to help yourself or someone close to you get that offer.  And when it comes, it is a huge relief.

Legitimizes you as a recruit at that level
If there are questions about if you are a Division I-A football recruit, getting an offer from that level shows that at least one coaching staff thinks you are.  Getting a scholarship offer from that level will make you a legitimate recruit, no doubt about that.

Reduces worry about paying for all of college
The price tag of college seems to go up everyday.  If you receive a full scholarship or a large percentage scholarship at that school, it will be an extremely relieving thing.

Helps to garner interest from other schools
This is huge when it comes to overall college recruiting.  If a school in the Big Ten presents you with your first Division I-A offer for football, you want to make sure that all of the other schools in the Big Ten get your recruiting profile saying about how Michigan State offered you.  That scholarship from a rival school will make you a legit recruit in their eyes at that level and make them take a much harder look at your recruiting information.

Makes you work harder to get more
I guess this one depends on the recruit.  But since I try to think positively, here is what I think a scholarship offer could do for you.  The one finally comes to the table but you obviously want more.  That means you are going to work harder as an athlete as well as harder in marketing yourself to college coaches.

There are a number of other reasons as well but these are just some of the things that recruits get to go through once that first scholarship offer is on the table.  The recruiting process for football, basketball, baseball, or any sport you play is never easy.  But if you follow the steps listed on this site and have enough skills, hopefully you will get a chance to read this list and let it sink in after your first offer just came.

 

 

 

 

 

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