Ranking the Top 5 States for Elite Football Talent

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

It’s that time of year.  The time of year where folks anxious for the football season to start begin ranking things related to football.  Lately,  I have seen a lot of rankings related to the states that produce the “most” football recruits and it had me wondering.  What states produce the most elite football talent in the country right now?  So I set out to do some research and found a few surprises.

First let’s talk about the methods I used.  In my experience playing,  coaching and training I have determined we can determine what is elite talent by four factors.  Where do the players come from on the top ranked recruiting teams.  Where do the top ranked players come from.  Where do the players come from on the championship teams each year and where do the players come from that are at the top of the draft.  Since high school football,  college football recruiting and the NFL draft are such fluid situations,  I only used data from the last three years to achieve my rankings.  I also only used the Top 5 schools by recruiting rank and the Top 5 players from the last three completed ranking classes (2019, 2018 and 2017).  Finally,  I only analyzed the last three NFL drafts (2019, 2018 and 2017). This,  in my opinion,  gives us the clearest picture of what is happening now.  Spreading this net too wide and we risk including data from teams and programs that are no longer as strong or as relevant thus clouding the current picture.

There is no real way to be “scientific” here without going overboard so I kept it simple.  How many players from each state comprised the signing classes of the Top 5 ranked recruiting classes over the last 3 years.  Which states were represented amongst the Top 5 recruits over the last three years.  What states made up the starting rosters of the last three national championship teams (Clemson, Alabama and Clemson).  Finally,  what states represented the top 5 NFL draftees over the last three years.  After gathering that data,  I sought to determine,  which teams appeared the most in those factors and ranked the highest in those factors.  Why did I only use the Top 5 team rankings, player rankings and NFL draftees?  I did so because I am seeking to find out who produces the most “elite” talent,  not just the most college football players or drafted NFL players.  As we know,  many college football players and many NFL players don’t pan out.  Also,  we know some states are more populated than others so that can cloud the numbers as well.  My aim was to determine who is producing the most elite talent currently.

With that said,  here are the results:

5.  Louisiana

The per capita boys check in at number five on this list.  Yes,  Louisiana is still producing the most amount of NFL talent per capita in the U.S. but in terms of elite talent,  they are looking up at a few other states.  Nonetheless,  this is still impressive considering the size and population of the state and the fact that there was a mass exodus following Hurricane Katrina.

In relation to our four factors,  Louisiana ranked in the Top 5 in two out of the four of them.  In terms of placing players in the top 5 ranked team classes over the last three years,  Louisiana ranked fifth.  Over the last three recruiting cycles,  “The Boot” has tallied up some 22 players amongst the Top 5 ranked team classes according to 247sports.  Louisiana also ranked 2nd in number of Top 5 draft picks produced over the last three years.  During that time, two players from Louisiana have had their name called in the Top 5 picks (Leonard Fournette ’17 and Devin White ’19).  What kept Louisiana from ranking higher was their inability to crack the Top 5 in producing Top 5 recruits and having players on the rosters of the last three national champions.  In that latter category,  Louisiana only had one player.

4. California

The boys from California only ranked in one of the categories and that was in the Player Rankings category.  Fortunately,  the ranking was number one as they tied with Florida and Georgia for that spot.  Over the last three recruiting cycles,  the state of California has produced three Top 5 picks. Those players were Oak Christian’s Kayvon Thibodeaux who signed with Oregon in 2019.  California also produced the #1 ranked recruit in the country in 2017 with Jaelen Phillips from Redlands East Valley (UCLA) and Najee Harris from Antioch High School who signed with Alabama also in 2017.

What was surprising about California was that it could not rank in the Top 5 in any of the other three categories.  Out of the Top five team recruiting classes over the last three cycles,  California could not crack the top 5 in terms of amount of players produced.  They also had zero members on either Clemson or Alabama,  the winners of the last three national championships.  Equally as surprising was the fact that no player from California has been amongst the Top 5 players drafted over the last three NFL drafts.

3. Florida

The Sunshine State has often been a leader in producing Division I signees and NFL draftees but when it comes to producing the most elite talent in the country right now,  they are not holding that top spot.  Let’s look at where Florida is strong.  In terms of producing Top 5 ranked players in the country over the last three cycles,  Florida is tied with both California and Georgia for that spot with three since 2017.  Alex Leatherwood in 2017 from Washington HS in Pensacola signed with Alabama,  Xavier Thomas from IMG in 2018 signed with Clemson and Nolan Smith from IMG in 2019 signed with Georgia.   Yes,  I can hear the Florida haters now,  but but but Thomas is originally from South Carolina and Smith transferred from Georgia. I hear you but we made no other distinctions for anyone else in the rankings from any other states.  Let’s face it,  transferring is an art form in this day in age.  IMG is in Florida and pumping out top talent.

Florida ranked third overall in placing players on Top 5 ranked recruiting classes over the last three years.  Everyone wants a piece of Florida when it comes to recruiting it seems.  Over the last three recruiting cycles Florida has produced 44 players on the teams ranked in the Top 5 recruiting classes.  Teams like Alabama, Georgia, Ohio St. and Michigan have all feasted on some of the best talent Florida has to offer.

What kept Florida out of the top 2 spots in the rankings was failing to crack the top 5 in providing starters on the last three national championship teams. Only six Florida players have been amongst the 22 starters for the last three national championship teams.  This falls behind states like North Carolina and Virginia.  Of course,  having Clemson be the national champs in two of the last three seasons plays a big part in this.  The other surprising category that Florida failed to get into the Top 5 in was producing Top 5 picks in the last three NFL drafts.  Only one player hailing from Florida has had that honor and that’s Nick Bosa taken 2nd overall in the 2019 draft.  His brother Joey was taken 3rd overall in 2016 but that falls outside of the time period for these ranking.

2. Texas

The great state of Texas comes in 2nd on the list.  Many will argue that they are here because sheer size and while that certainly plays a part,  Louisiana has shown you the size isn’t everything.  Texas only ranked in two out of the four categories for this endeavor but it pays to rank #1 which is what Texas did in both of the categories.  In terms of producing players on the Top 5 recruiting classes over the last 3 years,  Texas was an easy #1 having doled out 67 players in those classes.  It helps that the University of Texas had the #3 ranked class in 2018 and 2019 and that Texas A&M slid in at #4 in 2019 also.  However, there’s more to the story than that.  Texas has pumped out talent to everyone in the Top 5 over the last three years.  USC, LSU, Ohio St. and Michigan have all inked prospects from the Lone Star State to help bolster signing classes into the Top 5.

The other #1 ranking for Texas came in producing Top 5 picks in the NFL draft.  Over the last three NFL drafts,  Texas is #1 in producing three (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Myles Garrett) out of the 15 Top 5 picks over that time.  20% of the Top 5 picks since 2017 are from the Lone Star State.  Falling outside of the Top 5 in the categories of supplying starters to the last three national champions and having Top 5 ranked recruits cost Texas the top spot.  However,  when Texas ranked,  they ranked big.

1.  Georgia

Many of you would be surprised by this.  Perhaps you had your mind set on Florida, California or Texas holding this spot.  I have to admit,  I was too.  I was surprised just how much Georgia just kept showing up in everything I researched.  Georgia was the only state to rank in three out of four categories.  They also tied with Texas in grabbing a #1 ranking in two categories.  Let’s take a look.

Georgia came in 2nd to Texas in producing talent to the Top 5 recruiting classes over the last 3 cycles.  Texas had 67 and Georgia had 54.  Florida finished 3rd with 44.  That’s quite a bit of top talent on top recruiting classes.  The Peach State tied with Florida and California for the top spot in producing Top 5 ranked players over the last three recruiting cycles.  All three states were able to produce three each.  For Georgia,  those players were WR Jadon Hazelwood (OU) from Cedar Grove in 2019,  QB Justin Fields (UGA/OSU) in 2018 and QB Trevor Lawrence (CLE) from Cartersville also in 2018.  Lawrence was the #1 ranked player overall that year.

Where Georgia also held a top spot was in producing starters on the last three national championship teams.  With Clemson and Alabama being the champs the last three years,  it stands to reason that a Southern State was going to hold this spot.  However,  Clemson is in South Carolina and Alabama is from, well,  Alabama.  Neither one of those states could surpass Georgia in this category. South Carolina did tie with Georgia with 11 over the last three years.  Alabama ranked fourth with six players but North Carolina was ahead of Alabama in the category with seven starters on the last three college football national champions.

Read ’em and weep as they say.  Where did your state rank?  Did your state rank?  Should your state be ranked?  Share with me your thoughts on my Twitter account @GridironStuds.

 

Hey Recruit, You’re Too Short. Now What Are You Going to Do About it?

Chad Wilson
(pictured: 5’9″ Andy Isabella who was the state 100m champ in high school and attended U.Mass. He was the 2nd round pick of the Arizona Cardinals)

By: Chad Wilson – Owner – GridironStuds.com
Twitter: @GridironStuds

We all have our deficiencies in life.  Pick someone and you can find one.  What separates the haves from the have nots or the successful from the not so successful is how they handle the setbacks that come from lacking that required ingredient.

Every recruiting cycle some recruits are left to deal with the fact that they did not receive offers or sign a scholarship.  Assuming that they were indeed talented enough,  the biggest reason for this happening is related to size and in particular,  lack of height.  Often times these recruits take to Twitter to express their disappointment, anger and displeasure with their situation.  What I have found during my time involved in the world of recruiting is that lack of height is a problem that for many,  has a solution if they are willing to tackle it.

When you’re lacking an important element while pursuing something important,  it is essential that you either seek to acquire that element or be very diligent in having an abundance of the other elements that are required.  Also key in pursuing a goal when the necessary tools aren’t readily available is being willing to take an alternate path to success.  Let’s take a look at four solid ways to overcome a lack of height in the recruiting process.

1 – Stop Complaining

There are some areas in life where complaining may yield the desired results.  I’m here to tell you that recruiting is not one of them.  Running around on social media complaining about your lack of offers because you don’t meet the height requirements of the schools you would like to be recruited by is a mere distraction from what you should be doing.  A coach that has been sent out to find 6’4″ defensive ends is not going to suddenly change his mind about you being 6’1″ because he read your 147 tweets proclaiming you to be “slept on” because you are undersized.  The constant cycle of running around crying about your lack of recruitment because of lack of height is toxic.  It only serves to cook up your negative mindset.  Eventually,  it takes over and you start to fall off in all areas.  Time spent complaining is better spent trying to find a way to get an edge on your opponent and measure up to the competition in other ways.  Try walking up to a wall that’s very high and start complaining about it.  Let me know if you ever reach the top.

2 – Stop Listening to Outsiders

I bet you think this relates to the people who say “you won’t make it”.  No,  I am not talking about them.  I am talking about people far more dangerous than them.  I am talking about the people that want to go cry on your behalf about the lack of attention you are getting.  Yes,  those people are some of the worst of all.  They might be your little league coach,  it might be your high school coach,  it might be your “mentor” or it might be some crackpot recruiting guy.  If any of the crying they are doing on your behalf is not combined with encouraging or demanding that you put in extra work then they are one of your biggest enemies.  Frequently,  those deputy complainers will ignore the fact that along with your lack of height you are deficient in other areas too.

High School football IS NOT college football.  I watched a 6′ 180 lb. defensive end get 32 sacks one year in high school football.  Guess how many he would get in college?  College scouts must make projections on your future because they know it gets a whole lot harder at the next level.  They are more experienced in knowing what your struggles will be playing college football at your height than your mom, pop, little league coach, mentor or Mr. Twitter Recruiting guy.  While they are doing all this complaining for you,  they are draining your positive energy and contributing to your demise.  Do yourself a favor and mute them. Take ownership of your situation.

3 – Be Exceptional at One or More Other Things

There is nothing you can do about your height.  It is what it is as they say.  What really boils my blood is when I watch a height challenged prospect refuse to be in the weight room or won’t run track or have a hard time watching hours of film.  These are the things you need to do to make up for your shortcoming (pun intended).  I have known plenty of undersized recruits who have felt that despite their size,  they should be getting scholarship offers because “I’m making plays” or “I’m ballin”.  Again,  high school football is not college football.  We all know guys who balled in little league and disappeared when it came time for high school.

If you aren’t willing to put in the overtime at being exceptional in the other areas then when I hear you crying about offers,  my thought process is “please shut up”.  If you play a skilled position and lack height,  go run track and work hard at it.  There’s nothing like a 10.6 100 meters to make a recruiter look beyond the fact that you are 5’8″.  If you lack height in the trenches then there’s nothing like a 350 lb. bench press and 450 lb. squat to overlook the fact that you aren’t 6’3″.   If you are a linebacker that’s 5’11”,  there’s nothing like a 350 lb. bench press and knowledge of the playbook on the level of your coaches.  When you lack a required element, seek abundance in the others.  Complaining about what you lack won’t get it done for you.  It makes you undesirable.

4 – Be Prepared to Take A Different Route

If you’ve busted your tail to be the best player you can be and still,  the big boys aren’t throwing the scholarship offers your way then you have to go a different route.  Basically,  you may feel like you have proved yourself but you’re just going to have to prove yourself some more. If I brought you a rusted 1989 Chevy and told you it has a great engine,  you are going to want to see the CarFax right?  Well,  sometimes you will just have to show your CarFax.  Perhaps Clemson or Alabama is not your route.  You will have to remain motivated and go to a smaller school.  You will have to continue to develop yourself in those other areas that are required and that you control (strength, speed, intelligence and character).  Many a NFL player have come from the ranks of sub Division I-A football.  Some have even become Hall of Famers,  many more have had wonderful college football experiences and graduated with a degree.  Have Plan B ready and be ready to execute it.

Following these four steps will have some added benefits too.  Should you fall short of your D1 college or NFL dreams,  you would have learned something about hard work,  perseverance and determination.  Those skills will undoubtedly yield you success in your next chosen pursuit.  You know what won’t get you up that ladder of success?  Complaining.  Save your tears and your slept on tweets.   The time to get to work is now.

3 Ways to Get College Football Recruiting Attention this Summer

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

It’s the summer time and that means a bunch of free time.  It also means time for high school football players that want to play college ball to start thinking about how they are going to make that happen.  Free time can be very expensive in the summer if it is not spent wisely.  One of the keys to being successful once you get to college is being able to effectively manage your time so you might as well start doing that now.  Here are three great ways to get college scouts’ attention in the summer time.

1 – Work Hard in the Weight Room

College football players look a certain way and if you are going to catch a college coach’s attention then you need to start working towards looking that way too.  The way to do that is in the weight room.  If you don’t love lifting weights then I suggest you start changing that mindset.  Football is a very tough and physical game.  The weight room is where you put on the armor to handle the rigors of the coming season.  Skipping workouts not only deprive you of the opportunity to put on the size and strength you need to excel,  it sends the wrong message to your coaches and your teammates.  Not only should you not skip workouts,  you should be doing something a little extra on top of those well attended workouts.  There is no law against extra pushups and sit ups aside from your team workouts.  Adding size and strength shows college coaches that you are willing to do the hard work it takes to win games at the college level.  It also gives you that extra boost of confidence on the field in the Fall.  Showing up on college campuses in the summer with a body that looks like it’s been in the weight room excites college football coaches that are looking to hand out offers to prospects they feel are qualified.

2. Study the Game

Looking good is great but you will also need to know what you are doing on the gridiron to match the hard exterior you are developing.  80% of the success in this game comes from your mental capabilities.  Being a football dummy is no way to get yourself a scholarship offer.  With loads of free time in the summer,  if you are not spending decent portions of it learning your team’s defensive or offensive playbook then you are only putting yourself at a disadvantage.  1000’s upon 1000’s of high school football players want the same college scouts’ attention that you want.  Are you really going to risk them knowing more about the game than you? Spending some of your social media time in your playbook instead will pay great dividends when a college coach is watching you in person or on film. On top of studying the playbook,  spend time watching some of the film from last season and finding football educational material on YouTube and online.  Learning the techniques and schemes that involve your position shows a college coach that you will put in the time to learn what it is he will try to teach you.  No college coach wants to have to repeat himself over and over again when he has limited time to get his players ready.  Having a good working knowledge of schemes and techniques gives you an edge over 1,000’s of others that want what you want.  If you are a defensive back,  go to AlleyesDBcamp.com and check out their YouTube page for tips on playing defensive back.  When the season comes around,  it will pay handsome dividends.

3. Attend Camps 

If you want to be seen by college coaches go where the college coaches are.  College coaches can’t come and see you during the summer time but you can certainly go and see them.  The way to do that is by attending their camps.  Yes,  it’s an investment of time and money but in the summer,  time is in great supply.  The money part is something you will have to sacrifice for.  I always recommend that you plan in advance by saving money during the Spring but if you haven’t,  now is the time to ask mom, dad, aunts, uncles, cousins etc.  to help you out with getting to camps.  Quality adults love to help any youth doing things to try to advance themselves.  If they have it to give you,  they will.  The only way you will know if they have it is by asking.  Perhaps you may have to provide a favor or two to get it but that’s kind of how the World works,  it’s best you learn that now.  There’s also a part time summer job. Getting a paycheck from working a couple of hours at gig can help aid your summer college campus tour.  If possible,  I recommend that you take Five trips during the summer.  Visit three schools that have either shown interest or you feel pretty certain you can earn an eventual scholarship offer from.  You can devote two other trips to schools on your wish list and get an idea of how you stack up versus what they are looking for.

The difference between how much success a prospect has in the recruiting game is based in large part how he spends the 1900 hours he gets during the summer.  Yes,  I know it’s summer and you would like to relax.  I recommend that you do relax so that you are refreshed for the coming school year and season.  However,  going overboard with relaxing only means that your competition will pass you up if they are putting in the type of work I have detailed above.  In the end,  they’ll get the offers and you’ll be grabbing a seat in the crowd during signing day watching the festivities as a spectator.

 

If You Say You Love Football but You Won’t Go to Class Then You Are A Liar

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – owner – GridironStuds.com
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Football was always important to me even before I actually started playing it in an organized fashion at age 12.  Important is one thing,  loving it is another. When you love something or someone,  your actions are different.

When we were coaching together at University School in Davie, FL,  current Toledo WR coach Kevin Beard said something that stuck with me. He said “love is an action word”.  Anyone can say they love something but it’s what you do that really shows it.  Football was important to me when I entered high school but after my freshman year,  being popular and cool was important as well.  Being popular and cool didn’t really coincide with having a high GPA and being in class all the time.  Yes,  I know,  it’s the foolish thinking of teens who often think they are the smartest people on Earth.  Despite growing up in an environment that stressed reading and education,  I decided that I need to break free from that thinking and garner the attention of the ladies.

While I was busy trying to gather votes for big baller on campus,  I was playing football and it was important to me but my grades were slipping like flip phone sales when Iphones hit the market.  Somewhere during my popularity campaign in 10th grade,  I fell in love with football and realized that it could lead me to a better future.  It wasn’t long before my actions changed.  Back then you needed a 1.5 GPA to play football.  I was quickly catapulting my GPA below that critical level.  I would not have known my homeroom typing class teacher if she knocked on my door to sell me a pair of Air Jordans.  Realizing that going to class,  getting grades and playing football were all members of the same family,  I had to make some decisions.  I was definitely keeping the wrong company in Pembroke Pines, FL.  Making the drastic change I needed was going to be difficult in my current surroundings.  Every summer I would visit my father in California.  Recently he had moved from Los Angeles to Moreno Valley into a new home in a town where there were new schools.   It was a chance for me to get a fresh start.  I made the hard decision to leave all my friends,  my mother and grandmother in Florida and move to live with my father in California.  I loved football and knew I needed my education.

Love is an action word.  The option to move 3,000 miles away to a new town and choose new friends was available to me.  For that,  I am thankful,  however had I stayed in South Florida the changes were going to be made anyway.  Why?  Because I loved football and knew I needed an education.  If you love your dog,  you don’t leave it tied up in the backyard without food or water.  If you love your car you don’t go running it into mailboxes.  If you love your girlfriend you don’t go pounding your fists in her face.  If you love football,  you don’t go skipping class and collecting F’s like they are skins for Fortnite.  If that’s what you are doing then you are a liar.

Sure,  in this day in age,  you can get someone to do the work for you or take the test for you but sooner or later,  it all catches up with you.  Go to college with nothing in your head and chances are you’ll flame out.  School teaches you how to learn.  If you don’t go,  you don’t learn.  Pretty soon it becomes difficult for you to learn how to play football.  Football may seem simple to you now in high school,  I’m here to tell you that it gets a lot more complicated as you move into college.  Now your ability to process information is not on par with the rest of the guys you are competing with for a starting job.  Now,  football is cheating on you but who’s fault is that?

Eventually,  the dog in the backyard dies,  the car you neglect breaks down and the girlfriend you are beating up on leaves you.  Rest assured, football will turn it’s back on you if your actions don’t matchup with the word “love”.   If you say you love football then you need to go to class. You need the education,  you need the grades,  you need to learn how to learn.  Very few dummies excel in this sport.  Eventually,  a player lacking brain power gets exploited.  You may not need to know what a hypotenuse angle is for your future career but learning what it means makes it easier for you to pick up on how a route might change when the safety walks down in the box from his two high safety look.

Stop lying to us and to yourself if you are on the street corner at 11 am on a school day saying you love football.  Love is an action word.

To Hell With it Then, Just Put Me in the Portal – The NCAA Transfer Portal Yields More Questions than Answers

Chad Wilson

 

By: Chad Wilson – Owner – GridironStuds.com
Twitter: @GridironStuds

Freedom of movement.  That’s the buzz line for the current generation of “workers” in this day in age.  We all want a life devoid of restrictions.  Basically we all just want to do what we want to do when we want to do it.  So when the NCAA created the transfer portal it appeared to be an outstanding idea that fell right in line with the philosophy I discussed in my opening sentence.  However,  freedom comes with it’s responsibilities and it’s consequences.

Let’s start off with some numbers shall we:

  • Number of Power 5 players entered into NCAA Transfer portal: 450
  • Number of Power 5 players in portal that are uncommitted: 240
  • Number of Power 5 players in portal that ended up at a Power 5: 90

A note about these numbers,  they change everyday with the number of those who have entered into the portal being the fastest growing one. The public at large was clamoring for this system whereby youngsters who are between the ages of (18-22) make these important choices affecting their careers and future lives as adults.  I guess it sounded good but is it really?

Has anyone really paid attention to the process of a high school athlete choosing the school he will pledge to on National Signing Day?  I don’t think it would be harsh for me to say that it is “tainted”.  Perhaps those who were so greatly in favor of this system come from a background where there is adequate guidance provided for young adults. Perhaps some of those in favor of this system are seeking to profit from a system in which a good portion of the decision makers lack adequate guidance.  Whatever the case may be,  the jury is out on the transfer portal and with the numbers of those diving into the portal’s murky waters escalating,  it may be time to consider dropping a little chlorine in the waters.

If you follow me on Twitter (@GridironStuds) then you know I was not all that much in favor of a free moving system for college athletes.  I had a reason for this.  Having coached and run a college football recruiting website for well over a decade,  I have come in contact with at least 100 athletes who have wanted to transfer from their college football program.  I would say that perhaps 10% of them have had what I would determine to be “legitimate” reasons for leaving.  For the greater majority,  they simply encountered what us adults (you know those of us with spouses, kids and jobs) would call adversity.  My advice to that larger part of the group has been to stick it out,  work on your conflict resolution skills and most of all,  take a good, long, hard look at yourself.  I am happy to say that many have heeded the advice and stayed with their university with positive results.  Some of have ignored that advice and made out ok but many more suffered as a result with several transferring a second time.

Transferring is adult business.  It involves very serious considerations.  One of those serious considerations is “honest” self reflection and assessment.  That skill is rarely ever developed in your early 20’s and literally non-existent in your teens.  Young people in those age groups have an idealistic view of the world and often an unrealistic view of themselves.  Ironically,  the skill gets more developed as you face and overcome more adversity.  So essentially,  we have a system set up where a crawling baby is told to run before they have spent anytime walking.  Holy broken leg!

Many times the athletes themselves are the problem.  They are still developing mentally and socially.  They are still working on their personal skills.  These skills that they are lacking put them at odds with their coaches and leads to their unhappiness.  Rather than identifying these shortcomings and working to improve them,  they hit the portal looking for a new group of coaches that will “put up” with them.  Maybe if I go from a Power 5 school to a Group of 5 school who needs me,  they won’t mind that I fall asleep in meetings, skip workouts, fail to show energy in practice,  don’t know my assignments, don’t talk to people in the building, smoke weed, don’t attend tutor sessions or go to class only once a week.  The thought is that I was a star in high school so this smaller school should be lucky to have me no matter what I do.  When they unpack their bag of problems in their new digs,  the problems they face start to seem all too familiar.  Guess what guys,  Group of 5, Division II and III schools all want to win too.

What’s even crazier,  in my experience,  is that some of the athletes wishing to transfer have nothing to sell to a new school.  They mistakingly believe that they can drop their high school resume off as a major feature.  Some even think they can do this when they are two years removed from the prep gridiron. They want to transfer without having taken the field for their current school and having much of nothing to show by way of practice film.  Even when you try to slide down a level in college football,  please know that Group of 5 schools want Power 5 type players.  For a new program,  taking in a transfer involves risk.  When there is risk,  there has to be adequate reward.  When an athlete is presenting himself as a transfer because he couldn’t move up the depth chart or stay out of trouble at his current school,  how will you convince them that there is a reward?  You think your “Junior Szn Beast Mode Highlights” on Hudl is going to convince a college coach that you are ready to step in and play right now?  You have only three years of eligibility left to your name.  Here’s a cold dash of water in your face,  you better wake up.

What has become even more troubling with the advent of the transfer portal is the inconsistency in issuing waivers by the NCAA.  Over the last year,  I think we have all become confused over what factors determine whether or not an athlete will be granted the right to play right away if he is even able to find another school willing to take him in.  More and more,  programs are accepting transfers based on whether or not their waiver has a strong chance of getting approved.  Guess when the players start looking into their chances of getting a waiver approved?  You got it,  once they enter the portal.

So here’s the final kicker in this whole portal business.  An overwhelming majority of the programs won’t take a kid back once he puts himself in the portal.  For the programs, it’s like taking back a spouse that was found on tape with a hooker and they weren’t at church.

So let me paint a picture for you.  Many of the athletes entering into the portal are going to fail to find a new home.  Many of them will come home and not continue their college football career.  Worse yet,  they will fail to obtain their degree.  All that training, all that hard work,  all that dreaming for nothing.  Would it have been that bad to stay where you are,  buy into the program,  punch adversity in the face and prevail.  Ok so the athlete didn’t start as a sophomore.  What if he worked hard and dominated in his 5th year as a senior?  You think if he’s NFL worthy,  the league will say no he took too long?  Highly unlikely.

The transfer portal makes it all too easy now to hop around.  It also makes it all too easy to make mistakes.  Many of these athletes think they are sticking it to the coaches when they ask to go in the portal.  Hey my man,  they are already at XYZ High working on securing a commitment from your replacement.  Perhaps a little attention span in that freshman Economics 101 class would’ve yielded a basic knowledge of supply and demand.  There is an over abundant supply of football players which decreases the demand for your individual services. To expand on that,  the portal is swelling up. There are more athletes than spots available (at least spots better than then one they are currently in).  This means the athlete can and will get replaced.  Long before the player arrived at the school,  the program existed.  Long after the player leaves,  the program will exist.  They’ll move on but will you?  That answer is not so clear.

 

 

Those Silly Combine Drills That Get Kids Recruited

Chad Wilson

By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

I hear it every year about this time.  The Twitter horde that goes on and on about a combine clip of a drill they don’t like and is unrealistic.  The mob gets all up in arms about how the drill doesn’t represent anything that will happen in a real game and schools won’t recruit a guy off of this “dumb drill”.  If only that were true.

Truth of the matter is that those silly combine drills, those irrelevant 7on7s and unrealistic 1-on-1s all serve their purpose in the whole recruiting puzzle.  All of that stuff that Mr. Muddy Trenches could careless for boosts a kid’s recruiting profile and helps to get them recruited for several reasons.

Let’s begin with the reason that you don’t like.  Let’s also begin with the drill that seems to draw the most ire.  That drill is the RB vs. the LB drill that is popular at the shoe camps.  You guys know which one I am talking about.  It’s the one where the RB has the ball in his hand and must get by the LB in between two cones set several yards apart.  What we often see are an insane amount of jukes by the RB that can result in success for him in the drill.  Let’s give college coaches and recruiting media credit.  They all know that in a “real” game,  Teddy 3 Tech is going to come through the RB’s spine if decides to kill grass in one spot too long.  So you are no genius when you point out that he would’ve gotten killed or that won’t happen in a game.

One the reasons that this absurdity helps a kid get recruited is one of the reasons that you hate,  publicity.  An amazing, athletic juke fest that results in embarrassment for the LB ends up going viral.  Viral in this day and age is a prospect’s digital bitcoin.  It builds their aura and their profile.  Right or wrong,  it does that.  It also sends people scurrying to that prospect’s game film and other pieces of potential recruiting material.  No school recruits a guy off of that one clip.  However,  we are in a time in society where bit clips can catapult you to fame.  Will some schools place too much importance on that one clip?  Perhaps but I can assure you that they don’t base their entire decision on that one rep at the one camp that one day so relax.  The same is true when a LB is over aggressive in that drill and shuts down the juking RB with a jolting two hand tag or shoulder drop.  Those videos also go viral and have the same effect.  You know who also benefits when these clips go viral?  The recruiting and shoe companies benefit when the clips are viewed thousands and millions of times so don’t bet on those drills going away any time soon.

The second reason why these drills get prospects recruited may sit a little better with you.  Anything that has the potential to display a prospect’s athleticism has value.  These players can’t be in pads all year long playing “real” football. When the offseason comes,  with the exception of one month of spring ball in select areas of the country,  evaluation comes at the hands of shorts and shirts activities.  No one is hitting anyone in shorts and shirts so athleticism becomes the focus.  We may all cringe at a 30 move ensemble by a RB at a Rivals camp.  However,  if it displays tremendous quickness, balance and flair, it gives insight into what a prospect may be able to do under more normal conditions.  Football players have been recruited by scouts watching them on the basketball court.  No one is dunking on anyone when they hit the gridiron but watching a guy move on the court may give you a clue to how athletic they may be.  Watching a QB sit in the pocket unbothered for 4 seconds at a 7on7 tournament and throw a bullet in the corner of the end zone may not simulate a realistic Friday night occurrence.  Despite that, the bullet he threw may show off the arm strength he never gets to display while running his veer offense in mid October.

The bottom line is that railing on the offseason recruiting activities like combine drills is a waste of time.  First,  they aren’t going away any time soon.  Second,  they provide more exposure for high school athletes and that’s a good thing.  Finally,  they provide another piece to the puzzle for their recruitment that fuzzy high school film that can seem like it’s filmed from Saturn may not be able to reveal.  Take all this stuff for what it’s worth.