Recruiting 101
A LETTER FROM COACH PAP TO RECRUITS!
Guys,
Here are the notes that you will need as you move forward :
College football recruiting is broken into five areas; grades/test scores, film performance, camp/combine testing, reach out/relationships and decision time .
NOTE: consider looking into companies that help with highlight films, reaching out/relationships and final decisions. We recommend Premier Football Consulting. They are the best and will give you a 15 minute intro phone call. When you're talking about investing thousands in college tuition over the next four years, it's worth it!
1. Grades/Testing: it is imperative that your final grades be the best they possibly can be. This is especially true for juniors who will becoming seniors. Make sure you grind really hard for the rest of this semester and if necessary, talk to your teachers about any extra credit you can do. All Final grades go towards your final GPA. For juniors, it is important to upward trend with your grades. That is why it's so important to talk to your teachers and get the best possible grades next month.
As far as testing goes, many people hear that colleges are now test optional. Yes, many of them are test optional but none of them are test ignorant. That means that if you can test very well, it will help your cause in admissions, especially as an athlete. So we suggest that you take the SAT or the ACT at least a couple times and see how you do. If indeed you test well, use it. If not, Don't. One final bit of advice as far as testing goes, you should get tutoring before your test. Yes it's expensive but it was worth it. The tutoring company we highly recommend is Inspirica. We will include a link at the bottom of this page.
2. Film performance- no matter what you do in recruiting, the coaches want to see how well you play on film (The coaches like to say "the eye don't lie"). That is the beauty of playing in the LEAGUE. You have given yourself many more opportunities to get some great film. A film that is sent to a college coach should not be over 20 plays long. It should only include great plays. Explosive plays! The best plays should be at the front. In those plays, you should show some variation. For example if you are a running back, it should show some fast runs, hard runs, catching ability and blocking ability. That is true with any position. You can intertwine Junior plays, with League plays, with senior plays. Just as long as they are really good!
3. Camps and combine testing- First and foremost, DON'T OVER-CAMP. We suggest 4-5 college camps and the NE Elite. Everyone will be going to Camps this summer. Camps can be productive, but they're also extremely counterproductive if you do not perform well. Let's first talk about camps that Combine test. You have to be very careful to attend these if indeed you are not very fast or very strong. College coaches can sometimes over-value testing. That means if you want to go to a college camp, you must train like it's an NFL combine. You must train to run the 40, train to run the shuttle and train to benchpress. These test results will not only be used by the college but also by any colleges that are attending that camp. Again, if you are a very good player that does not test well we would highly recommend not attending that camp. Does this mean you are done recruiting, no! It just means you will have to be recruited off of your film performance.
The other type camps that we will talk about are camps that do not test. The biggest and the best is the New England Elite football clinic here in Boston. It's been in business for 27 years and has over 1000 players attend, with 400 coaches in attendance. This camp allows players to be evaluated purely as football players, not track athletes. Players wear helmets and shoulder pads and do all football drills. You will also play in padded games. Coaches will watch you in the drills and in the games. One other major bonus to the New England Elite, is the fact that there will be a college fair with all 150 colleges attending. The result last year was tremendous. 288 players who attended last year will be playing college football next fall. We highly recommend attending the New England Elite football clinic! Details below.
4. Reachout/relationships- there are three major ways to form a recruiting relationship with a college football coach.Twitter, email or meeting them at a camp. Twitter is the easiest and sometimes most effective for initial relationships. Everyone should have a clean Twitter account, meaning that nothing controversial should be on your Twitter account. Coaches have them and coaches love to DM players. That's pretty simple.
When sending an email, make sure you send it to the recruiting coordinator at the school and the position coach. They could be found on the website. An email should be very short and to the point. It should have your name, contact information, academic information and a link to your football film. You should also ask the visit if indeed that Coach is interested in recruiting you.
The third way of meeting coaches is through football camps. Do not attend camps that do not have college coaches working at. When you do attend a college camp, make sure to be your own advocate and talk to any coach of a college you think he would like to attend. Don't wait for them to approach you; you approach them. Make sure to address the Coach by name if possible and have a firm handshake. Follow up with either an email or a text. That is very important!
When on a college visit, we suggest being clean-shaven, get a haircut and no jewelry. Basically, make yourself as professional as possible. We say that because some coaches don't care about appearance but many others do, and have opinions on how they think a player should look. You want to be as clean as possible. Again, know the coaches name and have a firm handshake. When talking to the coach make sure to ask questions. We suggest three types of questions. The first question should be about football, the second should be about academics and the third should be about social life. That allows you to make an impression on the coach and that can go a very long way in recruiting.
5. Final Decision and financial aid- Recruiting in previous years was pretty much all done early decision 1. Times have changed. Many schools will still ask you to make the condition in early decision 1, but most of them wait until early decision 2 a regular decision. All this means you must be patient. The word "offer" is overused more than any term in college football today. If indeed you are offered, you want to make sure it is a "committable offer", which means if indeed you want to go to that school at any time they are holding a spot for you. That is a simple question that you should ask the coach when he presents you the offer. Early decision is binding and you can only apply to one school. If indeed you do not go early decision 1, then you must go if accepted. Many players are going either early decision 2 or regular decision. That gives you a few more months to make that decision. We have found that many of our players have waited longer in the process with the hopes that more recruiting opportunities pop up later in the calendar year. Is that a gamble? Yes, but it sometimes works very well for guys who want to play at a higher division.
Financial aid at many schools can vary. When you get outside of the Ivy League, the Patriot league in the NESCAC, many schools will not only offer you financial aid, but academic or performance scholarships. This has been a trend of late. Bottom line, is if you go to a slightly less rated academic school, you could go for a very reduced price. We suggest that if money is important in your decision, that you talk to the coach recruiting you about how you can get a maximum financial aid award.
IMPORTANT LINKS FOR RECRUITING:
BEST FOOTBALL CLINIC: The New England Elite Football Clinic: https://newenglandelitefootballclinic.com/
BEST TUTORING: https://inspirica.com/
FINANCIAL AID HELP: COLLEGE FUNDING SERVICES: https://ineedfinancialaid.com/
BEST COLLEGE RECRUITING CONSULTANTS: PREMIER FOOTBALL CONSULTING: http://premierfootballconsulting.com/