<p>Gang,
Thanks for all of the input. It takes a village sometimes to recruit a football player. I will let everyone know after this weekend how the visit went and what his decision is if he
is in a position to make a choice by then.</p>
<p>Good luck! We wish you the best.</p>
<p>In order to separate the coaches who are just good at wooing from those generally interested in the kids, you’ll need to talk to present and past players to see how genuine that interest is. You’ll find that many of the coaches who’ve lasted a long time and have the devotion of their alums share that interest in the kids.</p>
<p>Many years ago I worked alongside a fellow who played football at U. of Alabama under the legendary ‘Bear’ Bryant; Steve was a starter but not a star and not a pro prospect. Bryant always made the point that his door was open to all his players. Steve told me that one time he had a personal problem and popped thru Bryant’s office door to get his read on it, only to discover a bunch of guys in suits (who, it turned out, were top NCAA officials). Steve started to back away, but Bryant shooed the NCAA officials out while he dealt with Steve’s issue, then resumed his meeting. Needless to say, Steve would have run through walls for Bryant, and in a figurative sense did so, as he was an undersized fullback. Those are the stories that tell you something about a coach.</p>
<p>Great point Ursa ^^^… Mustang dad, I recall I called current players family, (not a star player) when my son was getting ready to make a decision and got some great info that sold me on the coach. Ask the coach for a contact list of past/present players… he ought to be glad to give it to you unless he has something to hide.</p>
<p>Here’s an example…[Schiano</a> Leaves Rutgers For Tampa Bay | Fox News](<a href=“http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/01/26/schiano-leaves-rutgers-for-tampa-bay/]Schiano”>Schiano leaves Rutgers for Tampa Bay | Fox News)</p>
<p>Our local HS star player, very highly recruited, chose Rutgers over MANY others (FL, Penn State, USC, Iowa (22 D1 offers!) etc) He chose it because he could fit his engineering studies in with practice. I HOPE he didn’t choose it because of the coach…I know a lot of recruits changed their mind last year with Pitt. At least this came out before signing day.</p>
<p>Don’t count on the coach you love being there is all I’m saying. Pick it for everything else as well.</p>
<p>Everyone, Thanks for your kind words and advice during my son’s journey. We are pleased to announce that he has verbally commited to the NAIA program that has done such a good job recruiting him. At the end of the day it came down to faith and he made the decision to go to a school where he felt the Lord was calling him towards.</p>
<p>Congratulations… Nice to be over with I bet!!!</p>
<p>mustangdad: Congratulations to you and your son. </p>
<p>Although not exactly the same, we had a similar experience: Son (current high school senior) is a baseball player. He also played football in high school, but no intent to play football at the next level, just baseball. He has been in contact with several coaches, with varying degrees of intrerest (both ways). His football season ended early, due to a broken collar bone suffered in his week one game. Son and I talked and decided he should immediately disclose the injury, via email, to the interested coaches. Luckily, the coach at the school that he is most interested in was great about it. In fact, just about all the coaches thanked him for his up front honesty about the situation.</p>