article Getting a College Football Scholarship - Part 4

[Ram]

This is part four of a four part series on college recruiting and scholarship acquisition. This is a topic that is widely misunderstood and complicated. Every year, I know of several players who could have received money for college though football but could not because they were not educated in the recruiting process.

 

What is the difference between an “Official” and an “Unofficial” visit?

A common question parents of college recruits have. The simple difference is: who is paying? Unofficial Visits are much more common, and will encompass the majority of a players college visits. The parents of the player will be paying for everything during the unofficial visits, except football game tickets and possible a meal. All travel, hotel accommodations, and most meals will be paid by the parents. However, Official Visits allow the college to pay for travel expenses for the player and parent, hotel accommodations for a player and/or parent, meal expenses, and game tickets.

 

The Official Visits sound pretty nice, huh? Why not just make all the visits Official Visits?

NCAA regulations only allow a player to take five Official Visits. So, most college visits will be Unofficial Visits. Many people think that they should take Official Visits to the colleges they really like. A better plan may be to take Official Visits to the colleges that are the farthest away from a player’s home, letting the colleges pay for the furthest trips. Something to consider. Or, one could argue that a player should take all their college visits on the parent’s expense, then narrow down the colleges to five and take a second, Official Visit to those five colleges. All three are good arguments, each player and their parents will have to find the best answer for them.

 

Recruiting agencies, should I use one?

Do they have those for high school players? What do they do? Do I have to use one? Are they worth the money? How much do they charge? Can I do everything they do on my own? A lot of questions here, and rightfully so. This is a big decision, and it can be an expensive one. There are multiple High School Recruiting Agencies around the country, most do the same things, and some are really good at what they do. Let’s break down these questions and talk about each one individually.

 

Do they have those for high school players? Yes, they claim to, and probably do, help many high school players get college scholarships. They are a resource, and can be a good resource if proper research and management is applied.

 

What do they do? Virtually all these agencies compile player information, send emails to college coaches, make highlight videos, and provide a website for players information to be uploaded for viewing by college coaches.

 

Do I have to use one? No, you don’t have to use one, they are a resource and if you think it best and can afford to use a recruiting agency, then you can.

 

Are they worth the money? Each player and their parent have to decide that. On one hand, they are expensive and there are other options. On the other hand, they can do a lot and can be a great resource. You are encouraged to do a good amount of research and determine if using a recruiting agency is the best option, and if so, which recruiting agency is the best.

 

How much do they charge? The price may vary a little, but for the most part a recruiting agency will charge a thousand dollars to promote a player.

 

Can I do everything they do on my own? Of course, this is up to the parents of the player, but the simple answer is, yes. The player and parent have to weight if putting in the time to do everything themselves is better, or if paying someone else to do some of the work is better. But, yes, you can do it all yourself. The only real difference is, the recruiting agencies can do it faster.

 

What does a Recruiting agency do that I have to consider doing?

1. Recruiting agencies will make highlight videos. You can do that on your own with a common video camera, some video editing software and a computer. Even if the recruiting agency helps with making the video, you are still going to have to video the games and edit it some. They will just put the finishing touches on it and post it on the internet. So, either way here, you are going to be doing basically the same amount of work.
   
2. Recruiting agencies will make a “Player Profile. This is basically a resume for a high school football player. I explained this in Part 3 of this series. Anyone can make this profile and do it rather quickly. The work is a non-factor here.
   
3. Recruiting agencies will send college coaches emails. This is a point of controversy depending on who you ask. Yes, they will send emails to coaches, some will tell you college coaches don’t pay much attention to agency emails. Others will tell you college coaches are looking for the best players possible and use what ever means they have available. Either way, college coaches do like emails from players and will ultimately want to talk to the player. One factor to consider, how big of a recruit is your player? Do you want to contact every college in the country? Or, do you want to contact colleges in your state, or region? If you are wanting to contact every college in the country, a Recruiting Agency is probably a must, due to time constraints. If you are wanting to contact 10, 20, or 50 schools it is quite possible you can do this on your own.
   
4. Recruiting agencies will post player profiles, highlight videos, and contact information on a website. There are several options here, first, you can post all highlight videos on youtube and send emails with video links and attachments of player profiles to the coaches without needing a dedicated website. Second, you can develop a website on a variety of website hosting servers for a very reasonable cost, $20 a month for 12 mounts for a total of $240. They have website templates that allow a person to design a website in several hours. You can then upload the Player Profile, highlight videos, and contact information. You can then send website links to coaches that will allow them to view everything at one spot.
   
5. Some recruiting agencies will provide a means for you to see what college coaches have shown interest, and what coaches have viewed a player’s profile. This is a little harder to do on your own, but by communications with coaches, you can probably tell which ones are interested in your player.
   

I caution everyone to do research before deciding to hire a recruiting agency. Some agencies are better then others. If possible speak with parents of former players about their experiences with recruiting agencies. You will likely hear a variety of opinions, you have to weight those opinions with others. Some people will be upset saying their child did not benefit from the use of a recruiting agency because they thought their son to be a D-I player but he only was contacted by NAIA schools. That may be true, or that may have been a case of a parent being blinded by their love for their son. Some may sing the praises of the recruiting agency because their son got everything he wanted, that may be because of the agency, or that may have been because their son was a superstar and would have got those chances anyway. Opinions vary, do as much research as possible before hiring a recruiting agency.

 

Being honest, my parents always said tell the truth but it seems it makes some people mad when I do. What do I do?

Early on in the this process of getting a college football scholarship, their needs to be some honesty, honesty on the part of the player, honesty on the part of the parents, honesty on the part of the high school coaches, and honesty on the part of the college coaches. That all sounds good and easy, but trust me it’s not always. The first thing the parents need to do is, ask the player, “Do you really want to play college football?” Easy question, but one that sometimes does not get asked. Yours truly, has witnessed parents contacting colleges and bad mouthing the high school coach for not getting their son a college scholarship, all the while knowing that player did not want to play college football. This probably happens more then many would think. If the players says, “No, I don’t want to play college football”, then the parent has an easy task, sit back and watch their son play high school football and enjoy every minute of it. But, if the player says, “Yes, I want to player college football”, ask the following question, “what level of college football do you want to play?”. Again, an easy question, but a complicated answer. One would initially think, “He wants to play Big Time College Football”. But, you may be surprised at the answer. If the player is very academic and/or wants to get a great education in certain fields, he may say he wants to play at a D-III college that has very high academic standards and a great academic history. Or, he may say, “I want to play, and go to, a small college because I don’t like the really big colleges”. Or, he may have a very specific college, or group of colleges, in mind because he is attracted to that particular college. Or, he may want that Big Time College experience and he may want to play on TV on Saturdays. But, the fact of the matter is, the player has to answer this question, not the parent.

 

After those “easy” questions, a much harder series of questions have to be answered: How good is the player? Did I say honesty? Did I mention some people may not like the honest answer? Well, this is where that comes into play. First, ask the player, “what level of college football do you think you can play?”. This may take some education first, have the player research the differences in college football levels. Second, the parent has to answer the same question, and here’s the hard part, and tell the player what level the parent thinks the player can play. Again, the parent may have to do some research to answer that question. Honesty. Don’t lie to the player here. Thirdly, ask the high school coach what level the player can play at. He will be probably be the most honest. Now, it’s time to compare the answers: where the player thinks he can play, where the parent thinks he can play, and where the high school coach thinks he can play. If all the answers are the same, congratulations, you have a valid, vetted answer that is probably correct. If the answers vary, some more thought is going to have to be applied to the results. Maybe some re-evaluation. Many may not want to hear this, but what ever answer the high school coach gave is probably the closest to correct. If the answer is not what is wanted, ask the high school coach what, if anything, can be done to change his answer, off season work, areas of concern, action plans to improve.

 

If you don’t trust the high school coach, or just think he is wrong, have the player send his highlight video to college coaches at various levels and ask them if they think the player can play for them, or at their level. Some may not respond, but some will. The answer of the college coaches are pretty much final because they are the ones that ultimately decide if a player is suited for their level of play. And, they will be painfully honest, they don’t mince words very often, or give false hope.

 

While we are on “Honesty”..................

Don’t lie to college coaches, they will find out and your chance of ever playing for them is right there next to zero. If your Bench Press Max is 205, don’t tell them it is 350. They will find out. Don’t put your 40 time at 4.3, unless you are one of the ten people in the country that truly runs a 4.3. And, if you are, show that speed to everyone you come in contact with, because you will be offered a college scholarship by virtually every college in America. College coaches know there are not many people that run a sub 4.5 40 yard dash, don’t insult them by trying to tell them you are one, unless you can prove it. They will take offense if you lie to them. Along the same lines, don’t tell them you have a 4.0 GPA if you have a 2.5 GPA. They are going to rely on your grades to find you some academic money, and if they tell their office of admissions to find you some academic money and they get your high school transcript with C’s and D’s, they are going to be upset with you for wasting their time. Be honest, all the time.

 

Appearances

It can be argued that one should not judge a person on their appearance alone. But, when you don’t know someone, that is what they have to go on, and when people talk about “First impressions” appearances are a big part of that. When meeting college coaches don’t look like a homeless person. I’m not saying wear a tuxedo, and to be honest, I’m not so much talking about what you wear, but more about how you wear it. Some college coaches will tell recruits, when they are coming to the campus for a visit, to not dress up. That is fine, they want the recruit to be comfortable for the visit and to be himself. But, don’t show up in flip flops with your shorts hanging below anything that your mother doest want to see. I have witnessed first hand college coaches making fun of the way recruits are dressed for their college visits, saying things like, “can you believe he showed up here dressed like that”, or “do you think he will wear his uniform with his butt hanging out too”. Do you think those coaches want that player representing them or their college? Not unless he is one of those true 4.3 40 guys. They may overlook the appearance for that, but not much else.

 

Wear your close appropriately, wear tennis, or dress, shoes, college coaches love tall players and flip flops don’t do anything to make a player look taller. Speaking of taller, use good posture, college coaches will come and shake your hand and look you in the eye, they are being respectful and polite, but they are also looking at how tall you are. They are sizing you up, don’t slouch, look big, strong, and confident. I said confident, not cocky. Cocky is another thing that will turn a college coach off fast, they love confidence, but hate cocky, there is a line there, find it. Always thank a coach for taking the time to evaluate you and meet you. They are busy and they have taken the time to talk to you and evaluate you as a possible player in their program. Thank them for that. One, it is the right thing to do. Two, they will remember that and know that you are polite, grateful, and a well mannered young man. And, that may just be the edge you need to beat out the other potential player at your position that showed up with his pants hanging off his butt that seemed a little cocky.

 

Do I have what it takes to play college football?

This is a hard question and one that has a wide range of possibilities. First, unfortunately, not everyone has what it takes to play college football. Only about 2% of high school football players will ever play college football. Is that because only 2% “can” play college football? No, some players don’t want to play college football. Some players will not do what is necessary to play college football. Some players, are great, but do not have what is needed academically to play college football. Some players were waiting on college programs to “find them” and did not work at the recruiting process to make their dream a reality. Some players were given bad advice by loved ones and coaches and not taught about what was needed to get recruited by college coaches. There are many reasons why some players will not play college football, but many of them are not because they “couldn’t” play college football. No, not everyone has what it takes to play college football, but you may. Here are some requirements, and some misconceptions:

1. Hight. You have to be 6’5” to play college football. This is one people say all the time. It is almost true if you are an offensive lineman and wanting to play for a D-I college. Most offensive linemen in D-I programs are 6’4”-6’7”. Some D-I programs will not recruit an offensive lineman shorter then 6’4”, they have an unwritten rule. But, remember, we are not only talking about D-I programs here, the height requirement drops dramatically as you drop in college size. There are 6’0” offensive linemen in the NAIA and D-III level. Colleges have their rosters listed on their websites, look at them and the size of the players at your position. Take note of the size of the college and level at which they play.
   
2. Bench Press has to be 350 pounds to play college football. Again, at the D-I level that may be close to true, but as you drop in college size, so does the bench presses. You have to be as strong as possible, and the stronger you are, the better the college coaches will like it. There are players at the NAIA and D-III level that can not bench 300 pounds.
   
3. Forty times. The lies told about 40 times are amazing. I have had multiple college coaches tell me if a player can run a 4.7 40 he has a place on his team for them. Sub 4.5 40’s are rare. 4.3 40’s are so rare one may question if they even exist. Linemen do not run 4.7 40’s. Watch the NFL combines on TV, those linemen are running 5.2’s, 5.5’s and even some 6.0’s. Then when they make it to the NFL, the talking heads talk about them saying, “He’s 6’5”, 340 pounds and runs a 4.6 40”. Why is it that when they are in the NFL they run a 4.6, but when I watched them in the NFL Combine they ran a 5.8? Don’t lie about your 40 time, the college coaches don’t expect a new Olympic Champion to walk on their campus.
   
4. Ask your high school coach if you can play college football. His answer will help guide you in the process. Size, strength, and speed are important, but some of that can be improved. Playing the game well is the real determining factor. Your high school coach will, more then likely, know if you have to ability to play at any of the college levels.
   

How many college visits should I take?

Easy answer, as many as you can. You want to find that one college that you really want to go to, you can’t do that if you only visit one college. Take a look as as many colleges as possible to see what each one offers. You may be shocked and what you find out about some colleges. You may think you know about an in-state college, but when you get there you realize that it was nothing like what you expected.

 

And, after you narrow down what colleges you want to go to, you need to visit those colleges more then once. Here is my advise, visit the college at a summer camp, if possible. Go to their camp and see what you think. Then, in the fall, go back to that college for a Game Visit, get a tour, see a game, meet some players. After you high school season is over, go back for an Overnight Visit, stay with a player, walk around campus, talk to people, see what life on that campus is about. Finally, after those three or four visits you will probably know if you really want to go to that school.

 

That wraps up this series on Getting a College Football Scholarship, I hope that it was informative and ends up helping some players get money to help pay for a college education though football. There is a great resource available, so you don’t have to just take my word for it, Joe Hornback, a former D-I football player and current high school football coach wrote a great book outlining everything you need to know about the recruiting process. It can be found on for $10-$20, a great resource for parents and players.

 

The Next Level: A Prep’s Guide to College Recruiting

By: Joe Hornback

Publisher Aventine Press (2006)

IBSN: 978-1593304270

 

In case you missed it:

Getting a College Football Scholarship - Part 1

Getting a College Football Scholarship - Part 2

Getting a College Football Scholarship - Part 3

[Hellbird]

I wanted to touch on an area Ram covered, and that is about Recruiting Services.

Some people believe they are just a scam and anyone who uses them are simply throwing away money.

 

I can only attest from personnel experience. I can not vouche for every recruiting service out there, so if there are some out there that are only interested in your money, I'm sure there are. But from personal experieince I can tell you the service we chose has been well worth it.

 

It also depends on your individual circumstances. I can tell you from our sons situation and why we chose to go with a recruiting service.

My son plays multiple sports in High School. Because of this, he wasn't able to attend many Football Camps/Combines because his other sport takes place immediatly after Football season is over therefor when most of the football camps.combines takes place he was unable to attend.

 

If he wasn't a multi sport athlete then it would of been a lot easier to attend as many camps as possible. For camps I strongly believe is where your athlete gets noticed and put on recruiters watch lists etc.

 

My son did not attend a single combine (he is a SR) until this past April. Then it was only 1 camp/combine just to get his official times. From this 1 camp he got noticed by a couple schools but nothing overwheliming etc. He was invited from the one combine to other Top recruit combines and 5 star invite only camps etc. but because of his other sport was unable to attend any. Because of this we had to find a way to get his name out there. Remember, it is not your sons coach's job to find a college for your son to play at the next level. The coach has enough to do and one of his duties is not to find a college for your son. He will however talk to college coaches and recruiters when they call your coach or stop by, but he isn't to go out and make calls for you. Remember that.

 

So because of this, we talked to a couple people and looked at different services and settled on NCSA. It isn't cheap, but when you look at the money your son can get towards scholarships it can be well worth it. We paid just under $1000 and what did it get us? NCSA makes a profile of the athlete, they also contact coaches via email, for the level they believe your son can play at at the next level. NCSA is also a huge recruiting tool used by a ton of colleges. A lot of colleges can't fly all over the country to look at athletes so what their coaches will do is use NCSA to find athletes which is much more time and cost efficeint. NCSA will create a highlight video of your athlete which is probably the most important thing you can do. They hold online classes and have a huge staff of ex-athletes and coaches that you can call anytime for any advice etc.

 

What has that service done for us? Well to put it the simplest way I can, it has gotten over 2 dozen coaches sending emails, letters, phone calls etc. So many that we can't even begin to make all the visits. What we have done though is made a list of half a dozen schools he is interested in playing at from the list of all that contacted him and have made, or are scheduled to make visits to. The service has attracted schools we didn't even think about, some the best academic universities in the country. Right now the school that is #1 on his list we would never have thought about if we did all this on our own. NCSA was where they found my son and we just got back from his 2nd recruiting trip to that school this past weekend. This visit was an official visit where they paid for him to come up, watch their homecoming game and stay overnight with the players etc. Most of the schools he is interested in are DIII and because they can't offer athletic scholarships they are offering academic scholarships to cover most of the costs.

 

So is a recruiting service worth it? For us it was deffinatly worth it.

[Ram]

Great information Hellbird, that is my same experience with a particular recruiting service, but I didn't want to seem as if I was telling people they "had" to use one. But, again, they can be a great tool and do a lot for an athlete.