IMO coaches make a mistake when they are so beholden to the profile of what a player should look like. I know that they are on a short leash as far as wins and losses go so they consequently play the safe percentages in terms of height, weight, etc. A lot of kids who would be or blossom into great college players are left at the altar in this process. I applaud the coach who goes against the grain and takes a kid who does not fit the profile but who ends being a great player and teammate.

IMO coaches make a mistake when they are so beholden to the profile of what a player should look like. I know that they are on a short leash as far as wins and losses go so they consequently play the safe percentages in terms of height, weight, etc. A lot of kids who would be or blossom into great college players are left at the altar in this process. I applaud the coach who goes against the grain and takes a kid who does not fit the profile but who ends being a great player and teammate.

 

Not many of those at the division 1 (FBS) level...

The NUC and Sparq are a waste of money.

 

It serves one purpose. To allow the kid and paret see how their kid matches up with others who go there.

 

Yep.

 

Football U is the same way.

You hit the nail on the head. If a school is interested in the player, they will bring them in for a one on one meeting, and talk nuts and bolts about the program, and how that player could help the team. As for the camps and combines, when there are 300 kids there, it is just a money maker for the school. Not going to get much feedback unless the player is on their top recruit list.

That's why you only go to camps with a personal invite. Yes you have to pay like every other kid but you know the school thinks your a good player. I would pick 2 or 3 dream schools to go with out an invite. The rest only if the coaches like your film and think you can play at their level. Say a kid sends his film via email to EKU. The OLine coach replies with I like your film come to one of our summer camps. Now you need to find out how much he liked the film. Coach am I a player you would recruit? You have to ask questions to find out the intrest level so you don't waste time and money.

If you are not using a recruiting service then getting your kid to camps is the best way to get him out there. The only real reason to get to a combine is to get your official times etc. The NUC camps/combines did the trick. As far as schools putting on their own camps etc. I found those to be a waste of money and time. Mt St Joe's may have been the biggest waste of time I've ever seen. No offense to any of the Mt St Joe's coaching staff that ran it, but it seemed more like a meat market than anything. They had so many kids there and such a short time to evaluate anything that it didn't do anyone any favors unless they were already on the coaching staff's watch list.

If you are not using a recruiting service then getting your kid to camps is the best way to get him out there. The only real reason to get to a combine is to get your official times etc. The NUC camps/combines did the trick. As far as schools putting on their own camps etc. I found those to be a waste of money and time. Mt St Joe's may have been the biggest waste of time I've ever seen. No offense to any of the Mt St Joe's coaching staff that ran it, but it seemed more like a meat market than anything. They had so many kids there and such a short time to evaluate anything that it didn't do anyone any favors unless they were already on the coaching staff's watch list.

 

Any personal contact is a good thing. Think about how many films they look at. How many emails they get everyday. Speaking of Mt St Joes. They somehow got my sons cell number and he never went to a camp or contacted them in anyway.

You don't want to go unless your on the coaches watch list. That's my point.

One big issue we have in Ky. is that our scholarship-level FCS schools have--purposely or not--concentrated all or almost all their recruiting on out of state kids. I'm sure they'd say a lot of that is due to not seeing Ky. kids in person at their camps.

 

Only camps to get eyeballs of D1 (FCS & FBS) coaches on you is at an on-campus camp. Those levels are not allowed at combines. (D2, D3, & NAIA don't have same restrictions--which is the only reason we hold the camp we do..it's got 15-20 coaches of schools at those levels directly evaluating kids in action).

 

EKU signed exactly ZERO Ky. HS players this year (signed 19--all out-of-staters). I don't know how many they offered. For our kids to get offers, I have to get them out to ON-CAMPUS CAMPS--I expect them to be able to get to the in-state schools themselves.

 

To increase their exposure, this June (as we do every year), I will take our Seniors and a few Juniors to a series of FBS school camps over 4 days that are known to have FCS coaches present: UIllinois then UMissouri then SE Missouri St. If I can get a few more Louisville kids offered at their competition, maybe our in-state FCS schools will start offering?

 

Kudos to WKU -- had commitments from double-digit Ky. HS players. Perhaps EKU & Murray assumed they took all the talent? I know the guys at EKU & Murray would probably say they don't offer kids they don't see in person.

One big issue we have in Ky. is that our scholarship-level FCS schools have--purposely or not--concentrated all or almost all their recruiting on out of state kids. I'm sure they'd say a lot of that is due to not seeing Ky. kids in person at their camps.

 

Only camps to get eyeballs of D1 (FCS & FBS) coaches on you is at an on-campus camp. Those levels are not allowed at combines. (D2, D3, & NAIA don't have same restrictions--which is the only reason we hold the camp we do..it's got 15-20 coaches of schools at those levels directly evaluating kids in action).

 

EKU signed exactly ZERO Ky. HS players this year (signed 19--all out-of-staters). I don't know how many they offered. For our kids to get offers, I have to get them out to ON-CAMPUS CAMPS--I expect them to be able to get to the in-state schools themselves.

 

To increase their exposure, this June (as we do every year), I will take our Seniors and a few Juniors to a series of FBS school camps over 4 days that are known to have FCS coaches present: UIllinois then UMissouri then SE Missouri St. If I can get a few more Louisville kids offered at their competition, maybe our in-state FCS schools will start offering?

 

Kudos to WKU -- had commitments from double-digit Ky. HS players. Perhaps EKU & Murray assumed they took all the talent? I know the guys at EKU & Murray would probably say they don't offer kids they don't see in person.

NKY coaches need to take notes from you. My son got 0 help from the HS coach. This may be because he didn't have time or didn't know what to do. Hats off to you. I remember a statement at a football banquet made by our head coach. In my years of coaching I have never had a player play D1 on schorship. well a few years later he has two.

If anyone has a question about how the combines and camps work and if they are a waste of money etc. Look no further than the Drew Barker recruiting story at UK.

 

He went to UK's camp. It was a cattle call. One of the most recruited QB's of his class, he was basically ignored at the camp. So much so that he didn't even get to work out on their main field. The powers that be at the UK camp sent him to one of the practice fields to work out. Then when they contacted him after the fact when they showed a little interest in him they asked him to come to one of their camps. He responded by telling them he did attend their camp.

 

That will tell you how much the coaches actually pay attention at these camps. Unless they personally invite you they will pay little to no attention on who is actually there. It took a coaching change at UK for them to start recruiting him heavily.

One big issue we have in Ky. is that our scholarship-level FCS schools have--purposely or not--concentrated all or almost all their recruiting on out of state kids. I'm sure they'd say a lot of that is due to not seeing Ky. kids in person at their camps.

 

Only camps to get eyeballs of D1 (FCS & FBS) coaches on you is at an on-campus camp. Those levels are not allowed at combines. (D2, D3, & NAIA don't have same restrictions--which is the only reason we hold the camp we do..it's got 15-20 coaches of schools at those levels directly evaluating kids in action).

 

EKU signed exactly ZERO Ky. HS players this year (signed 19--all out-of-staters). I don't know how many they offered. For our kids to get offers, I have to get them out to ON-CAMPUS CAMPS--I expect them to be able to get to the in-state schools themselves.

 

To increase their exposure, this June (as we do every year), I will take our Seniors and a few Juniors to a series of FBS school camps over 4 days that are known to have FCS coaches present: UIllinois then UMissouri then SE Missouri St. If I can get a few more Louisville kids offered at their competition, maybe our in-state FCS schools will start offering?

 

Kudos to WKU -- had commitments from double-digit Ky. HS players. Perhaps EKU & Murray assumed they took all the talent? I know the guys at EKU & Murray would probably say they don't offer kids they don't see in person.

 

The thing I do not understand from this behaviour by EKU and Murray is that signing out of state kids is actually MORE EXPENSIVE because the athletic department is paying for out of state tuition. We need to remember this behaviour the next time EKU or Murray goes to the state legislature for public money!

The thing I do not understand from this behaviour by EKU and Murray is that signing out of state kids is actually MORE EXPENSIVE because the athletic department is paying for out of state tuition. We need to remember this behaviour the next time EKU or Murray goes to the state legislature for public money!

 

In reality it isn't costing them any more than it would for an instate student. It's not as if the school is actually paying the student on a full ride. It's just money they won't be taking in.

The thing I do not understand from this behaviour by EKU and Murray is that signing out of state kids is actually MORE EXPENSIVE because the athletic department is paying for out of state tuition. We need to remember this behaviour the next time EKU or Murray goes to the state legislature for public money!

 

I thought this too...but someone told me (I'm not purporting this is 100% true) that Kentucky is unlike almost all other states around us in that it DOES cost them the same to take an out-of-stater as an in-stater.

 

We had a kid I was sure was going to be offered by Southern Illinois a couple years back and one UT-Martin wanted. I was called by a coach the day before signing day in both instances and was told they had an in-state kid who they evaluated evenly with our guy and said they had to always go with the in-state kid since it costs them less.

 

BTW--kid SIU was recruiting decided to be a preferred walk-on at UofL and lettered last year as a Soph. I'm sure he'd have been a contributor at either of our in-state FCS schools. Was a 3.2 gpa kid with a high ACT score too.

That will tell you how much the coaches actually pay attention at these camps. Unless they personally invite you they will pay little to no attention on who is actually there. It took a coaching change at UK for them to start recruiting him heavily.

 

Though I very strongly lean toward on-campus 1-day camps for kids, I agree with GreyFox on this. The FBS camps have WAY more kids than can really be evaluated. Kid needs to have been invited and/or his HS coach needs to call a college coach he knows will be at the camp and encourage him to take a look at his kid.

 

Before we go to the Illinois camp, I send an email to all the college coaches who will be in attendance with a run-down of the kids I'm taking I think can play at their level. I call the FCS coaches who will be there specifically and send them an individual email with video of the one or two players with the size and/or speed to play at that level.

 

Even though no college coaches there, I will encourage our top kids to go to the Best of the Midwest combine because--though I HATE it--what the Rivals, Scout.com, etc. guys who rate kids think really does matter. Case in point: DeVante Parker--likely will be the #2 WR taken in the draft this year but was "evaluated" by Scout as only the 29th best WR in his class. Main reason? He went to zero of those type camps (couldn't have cared less about his 'star rating'--very little ego and knew he was going to UofL all along).

 

But if you want to see why these type camps are not what they purport, go to YouTube and look at Damien Harris's day at last year's BOMW Combine. He's truly a GREAT running back, but watch him run those drills on video and you decide if the effort was worthy of "Combine MVP." They already know the 'big names' coming and LOVE being able one day when he's hit it big in college or NFL to promote that "Damien Harris was MVP of our camp." Tacitly saying, 'see, coming to our camp will get you the exposure that could lead YOU to being a stud one day too!'

I will say that a very popular combine I sent my son to for 3 years he achieved awards and did well. It did not help any in his recruiting. But after he had been out of school for a year he received an email stating they had selecting him for an ultimate combine. Then after two years out he was selected by same combine as an all-star for their big all-star game. I am sure this was due to still being in their data base and them just sending it to everyone just to get the money and such out of parents who want to say their kid was selected for this. I don't think too many kids are given scholarships because of these combines. The ones that are touted at these camps are already on someone's list. I agree with Coach J, get the kids to 1 days and around the coaches that actually offer scholarships