CoachJ

I've heard from some other coaches I trust that the best "youth level" teaching camp you can attend is the one at U. of Tennessee.

Registration from 3:00 to 4:00. We'll keep the cost at $25 where it's always been, but for schools with 5 or more we'll cut that to $20 per player. I'm working on a way to do some pre-registration but we normally do it all walk-up due to the weather being an unknown and not wanting to get into refunds. Will make up a flyer when I get a more solid idea of which colleges are committing to definitely being there.

Most of the big school camps will have a good number of FCS, D2/NAIA, & D3 coaches there--the problem with those is the sheer NUMBERS of kids participating. My advice: if a school is in contact with a young man, you should try to get to that school's camp. If they don't hold one (neither EKU nor Murray are able to hold 1-day camps this year), call the coach recruiting you and ask which large school camps they'll be working and make it a point to get to that camp. The key is for the school recruiting you to know you're there...there are just too many kids at UK, UofL, and even UC (used to be a fairly small camp, not now) for them to "find" a kid they don't already know about. Email, text, facebook those coaches recruiting you and make sure they know you're going to be there.

Correct. It's a steady stream of filling up buckets and taking to troughs.

It's not a matter of getting enough BAGS of ice...you'd better have access to several ICE MACHINES. We use ice baths between sessions at our weekend-long camp (early August). Not every kid does it, but we encourage all to do so--especially if they're feeling soreness after day 1. Kiddie pools are a good way to go; got to be careful about sanitizing the water though -- luckily we do camp on a turf field so there's no dirt/mud in the ice baths.

3 of our underclass guys (Jr's to be) attended the South Central Ky. Showcase in BG last week. Several in-state D2/NAIA schools there. About 80 kids. The parents who took them down said it was well-organized, liked that they were able to speak directly to the college coaches, and commented that the coaches made an attempt to connect with many of the campers. I've got about 5 headed over to Ky. Wesleyan this Saturday. Most of ours are planning to attend the WKU camp at Collins HS. A couple of the kids EKU is in contact with will spend a day at the Down and Dirty camp being held on their campus. We'll have a bunch of guys going to Illinois U. and Purdue on June 19 and 20. In addition to that trip west, I have encouraged them to go in groups to TWO camps per week throughout June and early July -- one week/weekend to camps in Ohio/E. Indiana, another week in Tennessee, and any they can get to around Louisville area (UofL, Indiana St's satellite camp, the WKU camp at Collins, etc.). I'll try to report out what I hear back from our kids and their parents.

Pretty sure kHSAA recently banned us from using these at games. Don't know why practices would be forbidden though.

Amen and amen. This is exactly why we moved our small college exposure camp to late June (the 22nd). We want kids to exhaust opportunities at D1/1AA schools to see if there's an offer out there for them. Then, if at the end of June an offer has not been made, it's certainly time to be honest with yourself and get exposed to many colleges at the lower levels. The goal would be that one or more of them will eventually make a "combination offer" (academic $ + athletic $ + financial aid) that will work out to what is essentially a 'full ride.' This past year we've had kids get that kind of offer from Ky. Wesleyan, Mt. St. Joe (two kids), and Thomas More. Last year got two paying very little to attend Ky. Wesleyan and another got a great deal at Lindsey-Wilson. Those schools all cost a lot -- but if they think you could be a 'special' player at their level, there's money at the institutions they can often 'creatively' find. The key is getting them to SEE you in person -- everyone today can put together a good highlight film.

I've followed Mark Porter (scoutingohio.com) on twitter for a while and he seems to be very knowledgeable, experienced, and have the best interests of kids in mind. Here's a good, succinct article that parents of HS football players who might want to play in college at any level should probably read. Youngstown News, ScoutingOhio.com’s Porter shares 10 tips on scholarships

Great guy...great news!

What's new? Have had 3 head coaching jobs at different schools in 20 years--one a small city-school, one a mid-size county school, and one a large urban school. Not one year at any of those have I had more than one assistant coach with a teaching position in the building. Principal at one of those schools when hired basically told me I'd get support, but don't ever count on getting assistants in the building. As I was told by a good coaching buddy after I complained about things like this, "well, you know, we all made our own life choices. Nobody put a gun to our heads to do this and we pretty much knew what we were getting into." Answer to the problem(s): have low expectations for what you need, you'll be less disappointed. (and also, don't read articles/forum posts about coaching in Georgia or Texas)

The website is on the sheet. Have I sent it to you?

Almost as disturbing as the choice for coaches' shorts in the team picture. We never were much for fashion trend-setting in the 40701.

I'd guess that's kind of what happens in Ohio where the computer system determines who makes playoffs and you play in "conferences" (based totally on geography comprised of schools of various sizes) rather than "districts" based on a combination of geography AND class like we've done in Ky for as long as I've been alive.

RED helmets!!!?? :eek:

Very good point. Getting recruited as a kicker, punter, snapper, etc. is a whole different ballgame than as a position player. The camps on the list I sent out are not necessarily good options for specialists. Most of the big schools have dedicated kicking camps where they try to identify talent. Usually though, these kids are better off going to a kicking 'showcase' event from what I've heard. Good for you to figure out a way to make the N'western camp work for you by meeting face-to-face w/ coaches. A lot of this recruiting stuff is marketing yourself and being willing to network. Had a young man named Joey Bloomfield who would contact 5-7 coaches a week all over the country by Facebook, email, etc. Though he was 6'6, 310lbs, he never received an offer from UK or UofL. Due to his hard work online though, he networked his way to offers from Wyoming, San Diego State, and where he eventually landed: Kansas. ...and he absolutely loves it there now.

Whenever I hear the 'coach plays politics' brought up, all I can think of is why would I choose to play a kid I KNOW is worse than another kid if my priority is WINNING? Makes zero sense to me. What HS football coach in Kentucky who makes about $4.00 an hour and puts in about 70-90 hours a week teaching and coaching away from his family in-season would honestly think it's better to play a kid who would make him more likely to LOSE a game than win it? And just because you think you might get a bigger donation to the Booster Club? Or just because you think some kid's dad who you want to impress might think more of you? Now if the Principal is pushing for you to play his kid over a better kid, I can see why a coach might feel some pressure; but any coach I know would leave that kind of job on principle anyway...and not before making it very well known why.

My guess is someone will suggest a computer system set up by giving points for your own wins and also your strength of schedule. YOUR OWN WINS RECEIVE: 1pt. for each win vs. an opponent in a class lower than you. 3pts. for each win vs. an opponent in your own class. 5pts. for each win vs. an opponent in a class higher than you. FOR STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: 1pt. for each win any opponent of yours has against a team in a class smaller than yours. 2pts. for each win any opponent of yours has against a team in a class the same as yours. 3pts. for each win any opponent of yours has against a team in a class larger than yours. Would be tough to calcuate on your own but a spreadsheet formula could be set up fairly simply to do this. I'd say just let this system figure out the seeds for how to play the REGIONS though (first 3 rounds) -- not the entire state (travel reasons). For instance, Region 1=Western/SW Ky, Region 2=Louisville/SCentral Ky, Region 3=NKy/Central Ky, Region 4=Eastern & Southeastern Ky. Then, seed the Semi-Finals based on the winners of each region.

Very true. Took 20+ of our guys to this camp in 2013. True that there were lots of coaches there from all levels, but was MASSIVE in the numbers of kids. So many kids though that the chances yours might get seen was pretty slim unless he really stood out (very tall receiver, very 'stacked' RB, humongous OL). Very similar to the Ohio State camp I thought. I wish there'd been more of a way to run kids through 'stations' so they'd have been seen by more coaches. Their 'drill period' was N'western coaches and when they went to one-on-ones they pretty much stayed with two or three coaches -- a N'western guy and a couple/three from other schools. My preference is to go to camps with more like 100-150 kids (seemed the N'western camp had over 400 in one session). I try to hit WEEKDAY camps at the big schools rather than weekends for this reason.

Want to mention I had some GREAT help this year -- is getting just too big to do myself in a quick enough turnaround. Thank you to: Tim Champlin (new head coach at East Carter HS & a former player/student coach of mine) Chris Engstrand David Buchanan Jeremy Collins

Since I can't upload an excel file here, I suppose you'll have to email me to get the list. [email protected] One page is organized by DATE to help you make an efficient trip where you might hit 3 camps over a 7-day period while minimizing travel expenses as much as possible. My advice: never go to 2 camps on back-to-back days. Kids need to compete at these at 100%; that means they'll need a full recovery to be at their best to do it again. Given the heat of June and the body's natural recovery time, I'd say 36-48 rest minimum is the right amount of time from one camp to the next. I encourage my families to do a week like (this would be for a kid who's a 'tweener' -- not sure whether an FCS or D2/NAIA player): * MON. JUNE 8 -- Camp at Ball State (Muncie, IN)--several D2/NAIA schools will be there in addition to BSU. ** Find a campground to tent-camp that night in central Indiana (unless money isn't an object, then find a hotel). * TUE. JUNE 9 visit a couple of schools in that area like Wabash, St. Francis, Anderson, Marian, etc. ** Either tent-camp or hotel (might be best to hotel so he's well-rested for next day camp). * WED. JUNE 10-- Camp at Purdue (West Lafayette, IN)-- a lot of MAC schools will be there to evaluate -- or Illinois (Champagne, IL) -- pretty much every FBS school in Illinois (there are 4 of them) will be there to evaluate. Very well-run camp and they feed the guys a NICE buffet dinner. ** Tent-camp or hotel * THUR. JUNE 11 -- college visits on way to Marshall from Illinois or Indiana (see Hanover, Mt. St. Joe, Thomas More, Georgetown, etc.). ** Tent-camp, hotel, or maybe even sleep at home if on the way. * FRI. JUNE 12 -- Camp at Marshall. That's just ONE scenario, but in only a week's time you'd be seen athletically by many schools at all levels as well as hit college visits at 4-8 small schools -- MUCH better, even if not a 'formal visit' through the admission office, than just seeing them online. I'd work out something slightly different for the off-days if the kid is a FBS/FCS tweener. No matter what, if he's not got ACTUAL SCHOLARSHIP OFFERS, I'd be hitting the 'showcase' camps in Bowling Green on May 23 and Louisville on June 22 so he can cover his bases with SMALL COLLEGES (several schools at that level can actually attend Showcases like this -- great 'bang for your buck'). I have a couple players this year attending D2/NAIA schools paying MINIMIMALLY out-of-pocket and almost ZERO in loans at schools that cost nearly $50,000 a year because the coaches saw them at our Showcase event last year and they happened not to get that FCS offer we were hoping for. Then in the other weeks, I'd try to hit ONE camp that's within a morning's driving distance (UK, UofL, WKU, UC, UT, Vandy, etc.).

Ballard guys at signing ceremony last week: L-R: Sean Hammonds (Ball State), Ethan Landherr (Centre), Tavon Robertson (Mt. St. Josephs), Terry Calloway (Mt. St. Josephs), Kenshawn Washington (Ky Wesleyan), Isaiah Collins (Thomas More). Not pictured: Mitchell Allen (U. of Louisville: PWO)

Seeing LOTS of Ky kids in the last few years with Ky Wesleyan and Lindsey Wilson by their names. Kudos to them for taking the direction in the recent past of trying to win with in-state kids (WKU has done so at the D1 level as much as they can too). When KWC made the switch, they went from a winless season in 2013 that saw them with fewer than 40 players dressed for their final game to a winning season in 2014--after signing a boat-load of Kentucky kids and some of them contributing as true freshmen. My hope is that other Ky college programs (especially he FCS ones) will take note and realize that in-state kids are less likely to get homesick and leave so more likely to stick around all 4 years when things get tough. They're also usually more willing to play their best when their families can make it to the games.

About 5 kids from our place are headed up.

Newark: you'll be my personal guest to our game against J'town next year.