My son is just 16 and a sophomore. He is 6’6" and 264 pounds. He has already had ‘off the record’ visits from 4 D1 schools, two of them Big 10. We are small town midwest and overwhelmed by this. His coaches have been telling him this would happen but we did not expect it so fast. Any advice how to navigate this is appreciated. Apparently he is quick footed (we are not a football family, we are basketball and thought that’s where his future would lie) He is a left tackle and had a very successfull sophomore year earning honorable mention in the conference. He attends a D1 highschool.
Can the coaches help? Many know something about running interference. You might also consider hiring a consulting firm if you really don’t know what your son wants.
Thirty years ago, my brother’s friend was in the same position. He was recruited by every school in the country. Head coaches from U Miami, Alabama, USC all came to his home like something out of The Blind Side except Frank just a kid from Baltimore and his parents were overwhelmed. His coaches helped a lot, and my brother helped a lot, anyone who had actually been to college (his parents hadn’t) helped.
Midwestmom,
Others like twoinanddone can give better D1 advice than I can. But here are a few thoughts for others to agree or disagree with. First, open your minds to opportunity, but do not get “wowed.” It sounds like your son is “that good.” Congratulations. If he is that good, it will allow him to more easily achieve his goals, but do keep things in perspective. Second, set goals. What kind of school is your son looking for? Is he looking for a higher academic setting or is he looking to play the best sports possible. Is he looking for a particular major? Perhaps he is looking for the best scholarship without regard to academics. If you are 15 or 16, the task of setting goals sounds easier than it actually is. Just remember that no one plays professional football. There was a good article in the New York Times a few years back by a reporter whose relative was a very good college football player and the challenges he faced in turning pro. It could be good reading. So, just be realistic about what football will bring after college. Then set those goals. Third, listen very carefully as to what these coaches can offer in terms of reaching those goals. Stay in the driver’s seat. Do not be swayed by a good pitch. Stay as involved as possible in the process. It is your son’s choice, but your job to see through the nonsense. Oversee communications with the coaches, even if it is only to give a proof read to an email from your son. This allows you to see how things are evolving.
As far as the Mickey Mouse stuff, like registering with the NCAA Clearing House, your coach or guidance counselor can lend a hand. Often club or travel coaches can help as can athletic guidance counselors at schools that have them.
Best of luck.
It can be a daunting process, for sure. The first question is what does your son want? Does he want to play at the highest level possible? Does he want high level competition, but maybe a less intense program? Does he want a good mix of academics and high level football? This decision will inform how you approach the next year or so. If your high school program has produced D1 players in the last few years, they and their parents can be an excellent resource. So can your high school coach. Use the resources you have. In addition, if your son is pointing toward Big Ten level ball then there are a plethora of Internet sites that can give you insight into each school and its recruiting practices. Find some of the recruiting sites that follow the teams where there is mutual interest. At the higher levels, there are offers out already in the Class of 17. Take a look and compare your son to the players getting offers. Also, familiarize yourself with the NCAA guidelines about when and how the schools can contact your son, so you have an idea what to expect and when. Break the process down into bite sized chunks and make a plan for each one. Sophomore summer, junior spring, junior summer.
In general, if he is pointing towards serious D1 football (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, etc) then he should hit a couple high profile camps as a sophomore this summer. The Opening camps are excellent and going on now. Rival elite will start soon. Marquee school camps are also a good idea. Ohio State, Michigan, schools like that. The idea is to generate buzz amongst the coaches and, as importantly, the stringers from the recruiting services (247, Scout, ESPN) that follow the big camps. If there is serious interest, many of those schools have invite only camps (Ohio State’s Friday Night Lights series is huge in their recruiting as an example). The more elite of a level he is shooting for, the more camping he should do this summer. Ideally, he will come out of this summer with a good star rating and some interest from schools he likes.
There are no secrets on the beach, and laying out some good tape during junior year is huge for big time ball. Assuming he has a successful junior year, then next winter and spring things will start in earnest with junior days, unofficial visits and hopefully a handful of good offers. Some guys who have offers from schools they like will not camp heavily during junior summer. Other guys who are trying to climb the food chain will camp heavily during that time. My guess is that the picture for your son will be more clear by this time next year as to what schools are interested in him and as importantly, where he is interested in attending, and the decision of where and if to camp will be relatively easy.
Take a deep breath, listen carefully to what the coaches (both high school and college) are saying to your son and enjoy.
I live in Texas were high school football is huge. My local high school puts 10 or so kids in college every year. Your sons size at his age is going to draw alot of attention from programs all over the country. Your Jr year is really the year to coaches come after you. For most big time recruits the process is fun at first but it becomes a huge drain towards the end of the process. First of all make sure he keeps his grades up. Secondly have a conversation with the high school football coach. He knows exactly what is about to happen and he can prepare you better than anyone. Let you kid take his visits but I would not allow him to announce his decision until his senior year. The earlier he commits the more likely it is for him to change his mind. Keep him level headed and focus. A big time program telling you how special you are can be a bit much for a young teenager.
Thanks all for the info! We are dizzy.The recruiters have been coming almost daily now. I REALLY appreciate the advice to not commit until senior year. And who knows maybe this will fizzle out also. My son does not eat live and breathe football. His love is basketball but the way he is built is just not going to put basketball in his future. I personally think the hype of D1 big 10 is too much for him and he will do better at smaller D2 and focus on his education. The pressure is high though w/ the D1 calling on him already. The last time we had a D1 Big 10 foottball recruit that I’m aware of is over 20 years ago at our school so I really do not know who to get advice from. I appreciate this forum.
One more question - just out of curiosity - does anyone know how these colleges are finding him? He has a Hudl video out, could that be how?
It is likely that your son was identified by one of the regional scouting services, your high school coach reaching out, or by some of the college coaches who were recruiting other players, maybe on the opposing team. Big time football programs do a very good job of finding talent.
I am going to disagree with the advice to not let your son commit until senior year, particularly if the concern is that the process will be overwhelming. Depending on how high profile of a recruit your son is, he could get a lot of pressure to commit from schools and outside sources (the scouting services, local media, friends) that really becomes difficult to deal with. I personally know six kids over the last couple years who ended up in marquee programs (top half of the Big Ten and SEC, Notre Dame), only two of whom were uncommitted during their senior season. Most of the guys at that level simply get tired of the never ending camp circuit and talking with scouting services pestering them as to when they will make a decision. Even my son, who was not an elite recruit, felt an immense amount of relief when he shut his recruiting down in July before senior year.
Also, appreciate where you are in the process, and that there is a long way between these initial contact meetings and commitable offers. Take the process piece by piece.
One last point. There are quite a few steps between Ohio State and D2 football. Take a real look at schools from various levels who are seriously interested in your son. Northwestern, Vandy, Duke, Rice all play high level football that is a bit less intense than Ohio State or Alabama with the opportunity for an excellent education. Schools in the MAC conference offer good football without the high pressure of the Big Ten. Further down the food chain the Ivys offer excellent academics with about as low intensity football as D1 gets. Check out a number of schools and see where he feels most comfortable.
I would only add, if Bobby Petrino from Louisville comes around, tell him to get lost.
Under the guise of a touch of humor, @varska highlights a very important point, and one advantage your son will have going through football recruiting rather than recruiting in a less visible sport. The internet has a plethora of information on how big D1 schools recruit. Who is oversigning, who is giving out “non commit-able offers” (last year’s buzz word on the recruiting circuit), whether schools are pulling offers from kids who visit and/or camp at other schools, etc. All of this information is available with a little bit of digging. As the process continues for your son, I would recommend that you spend some time to do some of that digging. Pay the nominal fee for a 247 VIP &/or Scout premium membership and read what you can about the schools where there is mutual interest. Recognize that the farther away from real high profile schools you go, the less information will be available. For example, my son looked for awhile at Duke, Northwestern and some of the Service Academies along with the Ivys (where he ended up). There was a decent amount of information available for Duke and Northwestern, very little for the Ivys and the Service Academies. He had four teammates this year end up at national champion level programs, and the amount of recruiting information available on schools at that level is virtually limitless.
Midwestmomrenneb, you don’t say anything about your son’s grades, but if I had a son with that kind of size and I had some reservations about big time DI football (which I do), I’d be looking hard at top academic DIII schools rather than DII. His size, together with a strong academic record, could land him in some of the very best Liberal Arts colleges in the country. In the Midwest those include Carleton, Grinnell, Kenyon, and Macalester. But also consider the NESCAC – the small school Ivies. The best of these are Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Bowdoin, and, in football at least, Trinity. In California, there are Pomona and Claremont McKenna. If your son wants to go DI, then the Ivy League is a good option. Fewer games and substantially less travel than other major DI conferences.
In short, it may make sense to try to leverage your son’s talents to get him into a top tier college. And he may well be a star at that level – in football AND basketball. Most of these DIII schools welcome two sport athletes.
SwimDad99, my sons GPA is pretty good, he stands at 3.91 right now and in upper level classes. He wants to be an engineer probably civil. He also has absolutely no desire to go to school far from home and really wants to stay midwest within 5-6 hours at most so that rules out all Ivy league and coastal states. (and mom is fine with that!). He also does not have a ‘killer’ instinct. He just has no desire to crush people ,he likes to protect though so high school O-line is great for him and he is usually the biggest kid on the field so it’s been pretty easy so far. I believe an upper level college program would be a different story. We will take it day by day and I will stay on top of it. So glad I found this forum - there is NOTHING out there on how to navigate this. Everything is how to get recruited, not what to do when you’re not sure what to do ABOUT being recruited.
@midwestmomrenneb, you are asking the right questions. The first question should always be what does the kid want. College ball, even at the D2 or D3 level, requires an immense time commitment. In D1 ball, even at the Ivy level, the commitment is substantially greater. From both my own experience many years ago and now watching my son and his teammates, very few guys thrive in college who do not intrinsically enjoy football in all its facets, meaning not only the games but the “grind”. At big time football schools, expect the athletic department to control his academic schedule and his day to day activities. Even at the normal (meaning not perennial top 20 or 25 team) D1 level, there are not a lot of engineering majors in college football. I personally know one, an offensive lineman in the MAC conference.
As an example of what to expect, a number of my son’s current teammates who will be playing D1 ball next year will leave for school in early to mid June to attend summer school and begin working out with their new strength coach, etc. Excepting my son and one teammate who will be playing in the Patriot League, every senior headed to D1 ball next year will be gone before July 1. Most will spend all summer on campus and then go right into pre season and the regular season. For those going to Bowl games, many will be working at a high level from early June through the New Year. Then a couple weeks off, and back to early morning conditioning and lifting to prepare for spring ball. It is a lot of work, and your son has to want to do it. Not to sound harsh, but he will get chewed up if he goes to school to play ball because it is expected of him or because it appears easy. Just because he is a big kid doesn’t mean he needs to try and play in the Big Ten, or at all for that matter.
Ohiodad51, - great advice thank you!!!
I don’t think that D2 football is any less time consuming, and it’s likely he’d get a lot less money. One thing about D1, Power conference football is that every expense is covered and most of the conferences are allowing a stipend of $2000-4000 extra to cover expenses. Of course other factors go into the decision, but you can’t beat the financial arrangement of D1 Power football.
He’ll have a lot of choices even in the Big 10 for engineering and big football. Although a coach can always leave, I do think it is important to pick a coach and an athletic program that you think matches your (son’s) personality. I didn’t pay attention to this and shortly after my daughter signed I read a nightmare article about a coach (happens to be another Louisville team, so Louisville is pretty much off any list I’d create for any sport) and I panicked that my daughter’s new coach would be like that. Luckily, that did not turn out to be the case. There are so many things to worry about, but I think your son will just know when the fit of the college is right.
I think the colleges are ‘finding out about him’ just from sites that post stats for your region. A write up of a championship game, coaches putting athletes in for awards (athlete of the week, all conference), and his having god grades doesn’t hurt either.
Go to the NCAA website and start reading about what contact is allowed and what isn’t. You can have unlimited unofficial visits but the official visits may be limited. I think you/he will learn a lot from the summer recruiting camps. Talk to the other parents. Come here to ask questions. I think you are doing fine.
Division 1 FBS football is a head count sport, meaning there are no partial scholarships. Each team is allowed 85 rostered scholarship players. Division 1 FCS is an equivalency sport, meaning partial scholarships are permitted. Each team is permitted 63 full scholarships split among no more than 85 players. Many but not all FCS schools supplement this athletic grant money with academic money, so there may be little practical difference at the end of the day. All of Division 1 has a limit of 110 rostered players, except the Ivy League, which has a limit of 120, because they just have to be different. Division 2 is also an equivalency sport, and permits 36 full scholarships. I do not believe there is a max number of players who can receive athletic aid or be rostered in D2.
As twoinanddone intimates, schools in D1 are now permitted to offer full cost of attendance scholarships, rather than the traditional tuition, room, board, books and fees. This is the first year for cost of attendance scholarships, and no one really knows how they will work yet. As of now, all of the Power 5 conference schools (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big Twelve and Pac Twelve) are offering cost of attendance. Other schools in D1 are offering them as well, but so far that seems to be on a school by school basis, both in FBS and FCS. Another thing to think about is that many schools are now offering four year scholarships, as opposed to the traditional one year renewable, on a case by case basis.
Of equal import to the big uglies (my kid is an o lineman too) D1 schools are now permitted to offer unlimited food. This may not sound like a big deal, but trust me it is. I was discussing this with one of the dieticians at a school recruiting my son, and the rules governing feeding kids outside of training table or the regular cafeteria were just weird, and not in any way suitable for football. She told me they used to be limited to things like bagels, but no cream cheese, no protien except nuts, no nuts if they served fruit, just weird stuff. Now if a kid is getting treatment after practice and misses dinner, they can feed him sandwiches or the like, or the kids who have early morning position meetings and film can get eggs and meat, etc. Kids being kids, my son was most excited when a couple of guys at one school said they were now getting pizza at Sunday afternoon film.
As far as the time commitment differences between D1 and D2, I guess I just disagree with twoinanddone. I know a number of kids playing in all three divisions currently, some I coached when they were in junior high, some former high school teammates of my son. One of my best friend’s son is playing in a successful D2 (GLEAC) school right now. The time and effort put in at D2 is substantial, beyond doubt. But it just is not the same thing as in D1 in my opinion
@SwimDad99 I completely agree with you. Make sure you don’t get hung up with the elite of the elite LACs and don’t be forlorn if you get waitlisted at Pomona but are accepted at Davidson. Both are great.
Good info all I enjoy the different perspectives. We are headed to two D1 - Big 10 camps coming up soon. He may just find from those alone it’s not what he is able to do nor want to do. One recruit told him to push guys out of the way to always be first in line at the drills at the camp as that this is what they want to see. He is just not wired that way so these camps will tell us a lot I think.
Tell him to act like he would at practice. In my observation, if he wants to get to the front of the line he will be able to. Lots of guys hang back a bit at camps. Some strategically, so they get a look at a drill before having to perform it. Some because they are out of shape and want a blow. Some just because that is where they lined up. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. The coaches will be far more interested in how he performs in the drills than what he does before the drill starts. Tell him to work hard and have fun. Pay attention, and he will probably get a little better.
I think you are correct and attending a couple camps will give him some idea of whether he thinks he wants to try and play at that level.
We are getting contacted by recruiting services wanting us to pay for their services. Any feedback on that is appreciated but I’m assuming that is not necessary and will just add to the confusion at this point?