I will beg to differ just slightly here. My son played at Highlands and kicked in State Championship games as a frosh, sophomore and junior. During his sophomore season, one game was shown on ESPN and there were several others where the competition faced was very strong. Due to some circumstances, we were not able to get him on the camp circuit and get his NAME out there. Yes there was contact from several schools from D1 all the way down to D3, but not many put anything out there on the table. There was plenty of exposure by playing at Highlands in addition to playing 14 or 15 games in each season. That did not help as much as doing the camp circuit would have IMO.

 

Dante did the camps, all of them lol. My point is just that where you play and the exposure you get matters

Dante did the camps, all of them lol. My point is just that where you play and the exposure you get matters

 

I would disagree with that. My son playing at Highlands did nothing for him collegiately and he played in many high profile games.

 

I actually feel that there are many high school coaches that do not do nearly enough to get their kids into college if the kid so desires. Almost act as if "put off" when a coach or coaches come in for visits.

Go to camps, win ball games, and be the best player on the field. Nothing is ever guaranteed. I played for a small high school, went to camp at UK, did well but I was not an SEC player. An FCS School noticed me at UK and asked if I would go to camp there. The next week I went to camp and was offered a scholarship after the season from that school. Things might be different now, but in that time my recruiter told me that going to camp and proving myself did more for my exposure than anything. Good Luck!

I would disagree with that. My son playing at Highlands did nothing for him collegiately and he played in many high profile games.

 

I actually feel that there are many high school coaches that do not do nearly enough to get their kids into college if the kid so desires. Almost act as if "put off" when a coach or coaches come in for visits.

 

I here this more and more that coaches don't help the player get recruited. I think teams should hire someone just for this job sending film out, getting camp/combine dates to help the players out.

In talking to a few college coaches over the years, who coach at the D-3 level. Kids have to feel out the questionnaires, if the colleges have sent them out. Going online as posted earlier is also great starting step.

 

Sending film is also a great tool, as posted earlier is a must.

 

I had a former coach tell me to make sure the young man puts education before football.Meaning make sure the school offers something that the student athlete wants to make a living at, after football is over.

The Rivals and Nike camps have became a necessary evil.

 

There are a lot of these imposter camps but the two that College Coaches still care about are Rivals and Nike. Unfortunately, and though they may deny it, college recruiters still depend on these camps heavily to evaluate talent and recruiting rankings do matter.

 

The other thing that is important is getting kids involved early. FBU (Football University) has had a lot of clout in terms of starting the recruiting process at the Junior High Level. Once again, there are a lot of money rackets out there though.

 

As mentioned, the most important thing I would say is to make sure players have highlight videos put together on Hudl and to be proactive in engaging the Coaches you have some ability to form a bond with. You may not have the ability to have a Coach from UK or Louisville stop in, but engage Murray State, Austin Peay, and the local NAIA and lower Division Coaches.

 

Support their programs in response! Attend Junior Day events and take unofficial visits on gamedays (having lots of kids on the sidelines makes them look better and gives credibility to higher profile recruits they are targeting), and engage them on what measures you can take to assure eligibility and a smooth transition if they were to offer a kid.

 

 

 

The other thing I would stress is have your kids active, but respectful on social media. Make sure they are never bad mouthing a school or coach and have them actively send their highlight videos to positional coaches at schools and following them on Facebook or Twitter.

 

Really, really, really like this post. :thumb:

 

Earlier exposure to camps the better. I'd have my kids in college camps no later than summer before sophomore year. Some universities do a really good job of inviting coach volunteers from all levels to asses talent. The kids will learn where and how they stack up as well.

 

It should be your student-athletes goal to learn the importance of eye contact, good handshake, and be prepared for a 1-2 min long conversation with a coach. At camps end your kids need to be introducing themselves to coaches. Then follow up with an email, hudl video, and leave messages with appropriate fits.

 

Then attend those specific universities camps. If they like your athletes they will be invited for game day visits and if they want your kids....official visits. It's tough to ask teenagers to take on the responsibilities of "selling themselves" to adult decision makers. The ones that do however, are ahead of the game.

 

Ideally your kids have choices as a result of their efforts and can identify the best fit for them and their family. My own son insisted that he wouldn't make a decision until he had overnights at the schools who had offered him. He wanted to make sure the player culture matched what the coaching staffs were selling.

 

We did use NCSA because it took me out of the controlling Dad mode and placed accountability on him via a third party. The connections, knowledge, and staff guidance benefited our situation and helped equip him with the tips he needed to ask and answer questions to identify the "best fit!"

 

I had a great conversation with an at the time WKU coach who is now at Purdue who shared the following..."We are simply looking for kids that want to be with us and put forth the effort to win championships!"

 

Coach, i think it's great you are pro-actively seeking insight to better equip your student-athletes. You can compliment their efforts by networking those potential fits, encouraging camp involvement, and winning! And for your own well being know that most of the responsibility falls on the players and their families efforts.

 

Thank you for caring as much as you do. Good luck to yall this season and best wishes on preparing your kids for the "game of life!" :thumb:

I commend you Coach Adler for trying to figure it out ... sounds like your heart is in the right place .... I have a son that is a sophomore and would like to play at the next level so we are also trying to figure it out ... and it's tough at a small 1A school to get noticed if you have some talent ... I agree with a lot of the other posts have said with film and camps ... the more the better it sounds like ... hudl is a really nice tool for film whether it be for recruiting or scouting.... like I have always said it only takes one pair of eyes to see you to see your talents ... good luck to you Coach and your future teams at Logan County High School ...

@CoachAdler I really appreciate your zeal to help the kids of Logan County! No one has to revamp records or expectations, but 1 committed leader the kids can rely on WILL make all the difference in the world. Whether they go to college on an athletic scholarship or not, your help and guidance will be invaluable for that and their path through life.

 

I would agree with most of what everyone has put on here. My contribution to you would be this: IMHO, Coach Kevin Wallace at BGHS has done a tremendous job placing his players in great positions during their time at BG to get noticed and recruited based on their god-given abilities. I realize Logan County and Warren County are not the same, but I recommend you reach out to Coach Wallace and take him to lunch and pick his brain for the best way to set up your recruiting system, along with the networking component. He is in the western part of the state and not too far from you. I thing you will find that $10 lunch to be invaluable.

 

I love western kentucky football and am pulling for you guys! Best of luck Coach!!!!

My example is Dante Hendrix out of Cooper...this young man could play DB at a major D1 level (Power 6 Conference, not necessarily Alabama or Clemson) but because Cooper did not get the exposure, not a ton of big schools went after him. He had some MAC interest, but I think Indiana State got a steal with this kid...

 

So, non-Power 5 schools looked at him and didn't offer, but he should have gotten looks from Power 5 schools?

 

Dante did the camps, all of them lol. My point is just that where you play and the exposure you get matters

 

So, he went to all the camps where they could look at him up close and they didn't offer but if he had worn a different helmet with a better school's logo, they would have offered. Schools offer kids, not who they played for.

So, non-Power 5 schools looked at him and didn't offer, but he should have gotten looks from Power 5 schools?

 

 

 

So, he went to all the camps where they could look at him up close and they didn't offer but if he had worn a different helmet with a better school's logo, they would have offered. Schools offer kids, not who they played for.

 

I am going to throw an asterisk at you on this one.

 

I think your point is accurate and correct, but at the same time there are noted exceptions to the rule here.

 

D-1 factories such as some of the powerhouse schools from Georgia, Florida, Texas, etc definitely have kids who get offers and scholarships for a political reason.

 

Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain may produce 6 to 10 D1 kids a year and I would say every year they have at least 2 or 3 of those (UK has even had a few of them) who received Power 5 offers that they would not have had they attended a different school.

 

This is for various reasons:

1. It's almost pay to play... if you want to have access to have the Stephenson Coaches endorse you and let you recruit their kids they may ask a couple "favors" in terms of sending some scholarship love.

2. If a stud prospect is friends or family with a recruit coaches may use this as an "in" to get some leverage with the bigger recruit.

3. If you are targeting a player and get a commitment it may be prudent to take multiple guys to establish a "pipeline" for future underclassmen.

 

Moreso than High Schools I think you see this VERY commonly at the JUCO level. IMG Academy is another prime example.