Football recruiting at Ivies and DIIIs

Athletic Recruits
1

<p>Posting on bahalf of a friend:</p>

<p>Current high school junior, starting quarterback for a high school of 1500 students.
6' 180
Academically qualified to apply to Ivies and DIIIs</p>

<p>Problem: We live in a state far from the target schools, and he has not participated in regional or national combines or other opportunities to showcase his talents. He's gone to one big D1 camp that is an unlikely match in any way.</p>

<p>I know a bit about track recruiting for these schools, so I understand the LL/NCAA rules. I'm most interested in what's different for a football recruit. Here's my guess. Please help!</p>

<p>Steps:
1. Contact coaches at all schools of interest starting now
2. Emphasize academic fit
3. Include link to short youtube video highlights
4. Indicate his willingness to attend camps this summer</p>

<p>Are there particular camps that this guy should absolutely plan to attend?<br>
Are they by invitation only?<br>
Is there a football recruiting clearinghouse that is the "go to" site for Ivies and DIIIs or do they ignore clearinghouses?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Most DIII and DIA Coaches are making the final tweaks their 2012 recruiting classes now… and they seem to take a pregnant pause, before jumping back into it again…so your friend’s son won’t need to initiate his efforts until early next spring.<br>
I just pm’d you.</p>

3

<p>Remember per NCAA rules D1 and I believe D1A coaches cannot contact you till Sept 1 of your senior year, but you can contact them, if they’ll take your call. </p>

<p>I’ve gone thru the whole recruiting process so my advice is:</p>

<p>1) for D3 schools sign up at becrecruited.com and pay the $50. Post stats, pics, and videos. This is a major recruiting site for D2, and and especially D3 schools. Do not pay for NCSA. You’re too late.</p>

<p>2) Go to camps at schools you want to attend. Most important this upcoming summer as a rising senior. For Ivy Yale’s camp has coaches from most of the Ivies and other small NE schools show up. In the midwest the ChicagoLand Showcase sponsored by Northwestern is also okay. Camp is basically a half day with 500 kids. Most Ivies show there too. Mostly measurables and some 1 on 1 work. Both the Yale and Chicago camps work best if you speak directly with the school’s coaches before and after the combine. That’s how I got interest. Know your GPA, class rank, ACT or SAT scores. They will ask.</p>

<p>3) Attend the 2 national combines --ESPN and UnderArmour. UA is better since it costs and far fewer participants. ESPN in Chicago fielded about 1000 kids and you walk away with a score that can be useful in promotion. Neither camp had scouts that I could see.</p>

<p>4) Post you video on youtube. Fill out online athletic questionnaires.</p>

<p>Think of yourself as a product. Then sell yourself.</p>

4

<p>Do not go to a combine unless you will score well.If you are average or below average (speed) it can look bad. Other that that nowhereman is right on the nose.</p>

<p>We did camps the spring and summer before senior year. The mistake we made was doing some more general camps when I think we should have been more school specific. It is important to do speed and agility training so he is in top shape for camps. The general camps turned out to be OK for D3, but for D2 and D1AA we should have gone to the school run camps. </p>

<p>Wait, you are far from the schools??? Then train hard and do the combines, but do well.</p>

<p>Our S hoped for some D2 schools, but it turned out in our region they were mostly part of a state university system, and really were interested in in-state recruits.</p>

<p>He got major D3 interest. We sent out letters with DVD’s of his film (and youtube address) and also sent emails with links to the video on youtube. Some coaches like email and youtube, some like paper and DVDs. If you don’t want to mail the DVD you can write in your letter/email that you will be happy to send a DVD if they would like one. I think our letter was a follow up type…“A few weeks ago i sent you and email with a link to my youtube video”. We included his transcript thru junior year and his jr year stats. </p>

<p>January is when the D3’s out east start visiting the high schools and meeting with kids. They wait until the D1 and some D2’s have filtered out, that is why it’s not as important to get stuff out too early. Spring of junior year into fall of Sr is fine. They spend December deciding who they want. It might be a little different if it is a majorly competitive D3 school.</p>

<p>Son chose a small LAC because he loved his overnight visit and he wanted to go away. Turns out small was not his style and neither was the foreign language requirement. The school he should have chosen in the one less than 15 miles away. He is transferring there this spring! Be sure to visit twice if possible. We saw the nearby campus on a horrible dreary day and because they are bigger, and in a more competitive conference, they have many recruits to choose from. The smaller school put more effort into wooing him, and he saw it on a nice weekend, overnight, so he thought it was the right one. Should have listened to our gut because we knew he wasn’t the small school type.</p>

<p>One more thing, if you can’t do good film, pay someone. You want plenty of clips that show the play, no cheerleaders, no celebrating. Just, here’s the play and here’s the next. etc. If he is the QB you might not need arrows or markers, but try looking at a few videos online, the ones with arrows are much easier to follow. Our coach said we didn’t need them because he was a WR and the coaches know where the receivers are. He did say it would be nice, just not required. S also played D, so arrows were more needed there. Our film ran rather long, but we had to show both sides of the ball. In the beginning of the film there was a title that said “defense starts at 3:30” Some schools wanted D, and some for O. At Delaware Valley, the recruiting coach wanted him for O, but while visiting the head coach pulled him aside and tried to talk him into D. Great program, but we KNEW that one was not going to be a social fit, so he didn’t go there. Reminds me, they do like to set up visits, sometimes overnight. Sometimes alone and other times they do groups.</p>

<p>More info than you needed? (disclaimer–son was average student-no Ivy’s for us! I think most ivy’s are D1AA)</p>

5

<p>mary, nowhere and nj, thank you so much for this comprehensive answer to my questions. This kid is going to have a lot of confidence about what he needs to do over the next year to land where he can play football and make an academic match. CC is so amazing! It’s the best use of the internet I’ve ever come across because of generous people like you.</p>

6

<p>D3’s recruit all the way thru March. Most D3 coaches are more willing to talk to you as a parent/player than other schools we’ve found. The D3’s realize they are not getting first crack at premiere players so they try to build a better relationship. NAIA schools are also a great avenue because they offer athletic as well as academic scholarships. We found most D3 and NAIA coaches will be happy to have a conversation. If your school uses HUDL sending out his highlight link is a breeze if not build him a website or a youtube page. The coaches we’ve talked to advised they’d rather click a link then take the time to watch a DVD.</p>

7

<p>Football is a meat market. Focus on d-3. If you check the ivy rosters 99% of the qb’s are over six foot. Does the athlete have track experience to sell speed? Weightlifting or wrestling to sell strength? Is he on a state or playoff team to sell winning leadership?
I recommend combines. High school coach can get their athlete invited. Nike is free.</p>

8

<p>Good luck with your friend. He may have a chance if he is really good. Harvard’s senior starting QB, Collier Winters, led Harvard to a Ivy League championship, and he was 5-11 and 200lbs, so your friend can play QB in the Ivy if he is talented. If possible, read “Playing the Game: Inside Athletic Recruiting in the Ivy League” by Chris Lincoln. It’s a little outdated since it was published in 2004, but some of the things it mentions is still relevant.</p>

9

<p>I strongly reccomend not attending the NIKE combines, they are free and that means its a cattle call. Anyone under a 4.4 40 time doesnt get a second look. We attended Houston’s in 2011 there were 700+ athletes at it, some schools bussed their entire roster of senior players to the event. For our money we found the 2 day Under Armour combine was much more effective. If your son is going to attend a combine work on his 40 time, that seemed to be the biggest factor we saw in who got attention was by 40 and shuttle drill time.</p>