4 Big Things I Learned on My SEC Tour

Chad Wilson

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

The SEC is the talk of college football,  let’s be honest about that.  Either you are talking about how they are the best conference in college football or you are complaining about how the media has a SEC bias.  One way or another,  if you are talking college football,  you are talking about the SEC at some point in your conversation. A recent trip through some SEC schools shed some light on why that might be the case.

I recently took a whirlwind tour through six SEC schools (LSU, BAMA, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida) in seven days and learned some important things about football in the SEC as a result.  I will share those things with you in the article below.

1.  Winning In College Football is About Money

The biggest thing that stood out to me during the exhaustive tour through the SEC schools was that if takes a lot of money to be at the top of college football. When you tour the facilities, listen to the presentations and take note of all of the services being offered to the athletes,  you realize that you aren’t going to get it done on the college gridiron on a short budget.  One of the major reasons why the SEC is talked about is that they care a lot about their football and in return it brings in a lot of cash.  From underwater treadmills to round the clock dining,  college football athletes are “pampered” for lack of a better word.  They want for nothing in this conference which makes those who blow the opportunity even more mind boggling.  I will spare you the “in my day” speech from a 43 year old but will say,  things have changed mightily in college football through the years.

2. Indoor Practice Facility is A Must

Ask any meteorologist and they will tell you that weather is not an easy thing to predict.  It’s even more difficult to work around as mother nature does not have a suggestion box.  With this being the case,  if you want to get the most out of your allotted time with your football team per NCAA rules,  it is in your best interest to have an indoor practice facility.  Not having an indoor facility is like having a Maserati and no garage to put it in.  It’s hot in the South (yeah no $#@% Chad) and not only does an indoor practice facility protect you from the rain but it gives you a great option to escape the heat at times and get a little bit more work done in the shade than the next school who may not have one.  It’s also a great place to house a couple hundred campers and their parents for part of a camp. Five of the six schools visited had indoor facilities completed and the other (Florida) will have one completed in a month’s time.


3. Florida is the Arms Dealer of the South

One thing was present at each of the schools visited;  there was a Floridian on site.  In the SEC,  you either have a coach from Florida, players from Florida on the roster, hosting players from Florida or all of the above.  If you are in the SEC and you are not heavily invested in the Sunshine State then you are trying to become a millionaire by investing in CD’s while everyone else is in stocks and real estate.  Check your top teams in the SEC.  Many, if not all, have a dynamic player or players from the state of Florida.  It would explain why every staff has someone who is an excellent recruiter with ties to Florida and why each of these SEC schools will do all that it can to get Florida athletes on their campuses during the crucial summer months. Now the Florida angle should come as a shock to no one in the Florida area or the South for that matter but a trip to these schools sure drove that point home.

4. Construction is the Function

I’ve been visiting SEC schools for the last three years now and I can’t recall ever stepping foot on the campus of any of the schools without there being some type of construction going on involving the football program.  If they aren’t building new dorms for the players, they are building a new weight room or a new locker room or as in Florida’s case an indoor practice facility.  One thing you can count on every summer at a SEC school and that’s a hard hat and fluorescent vest being present around the football facility.  Every year there’s something new like Apple Inc.  You better have something new going up every year or in blueprint to show recruits or you run the risk of looking like your program is dying.  Build or fold.

There are a host of other things that you learn when you tour college football programs like I recently did but I would have to say that the 3 factors I outlined really stood out to me.  Perhaps,  in time,  I will share with my readers some other things I learned on this trip as it is always enlightening no matter how many times you take the trip.
About the Author

Chad Wilson is a recruiting expert and owner of GridironStuds.com a website devoted to promoting the talents of youth and high school football players. Wilson is a former college football player for the University of Miami (92-94) and Long Beach St. (’90-’91) and played briefly for the Seattle Seahawks (’95). He is also a high school football coach and father of three kids, two of which are college student athletes and another well on his way. Email: cwilson@gridironstuds.com.

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HS Football Players Better Get Their Hudl Highlights on YouTube

Chad Wilson

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

The title of this blog entry is a little intimidating. Start telling someone they better do something and their antennas go up.  Well I had to get your attention somehow,  this is important.

Hudl has revolutionized the highlight video industry for high school football players.  Prior to their existence,  high school football players needed to obtain the dvd copies of their games, seek out a local film editor, negotiate a price for development and wait several days or weeks for their highlights to be made and distributed to YouTube.  Hudl eliminated all of those steps by allowing the players to login online and view their game film under their team account.  From their team account,  players could tag their highlights and create their own library of their best plays to then distribute as a highlight video.  Genius indeed and ultra efficient.

However,  all is not well.  Your Hudl highlight video is not REALLY yours until you make it that.  At first,  the highlight video belongs to Hudl and your high school football team.  This means that while it’s on Hudl,  you are at the mercy of Hudl and the high school.  Why does that matter?  I have been hit recently with a rash of stories about players who transferred schools or experienced a coaching change and can no longer view or have access to their highlight video.  What’s that mean?  That means good luck getting recruited if college coaches can not see what you can do on the playing field.

Some bitter high school football coaches have held a player’s highlight video hostage in retaliation for the move by the player.  This is a sad practice indeed but it’s life.  Not everyone is going to behave in a manner that is appropriate.  Other potential recruits have had their highlight videos disappear when their school has experienced a coaching change.

In life,  things happen,  this is the major force behind the billion dollar industry known as insurance.  For the high school football player,  your insurance in terms of your highlight video is getting it from Hudl, owning it and also getting it onto YouTube.  Hudl allows you to order your highlight video using a credit or debit card.  You can either choose the option to download the highlight video to your computer or have a DVD of your highlight video shipped to you via mail.  Either way,  it is in your best interest to have that highlight video in your possession one way or another.  It is also a very good idea to have your highlight video on YouTube,  a service that is frequented by a billion people per day.  That’s right a billion people.  Somewhere in there are many of the people you would like to have see your highlight video like college coaches, fans and media personnel.

If you do not own a YouTube account and would like to have your highlight video placed on YouTube,  GridironStuds.com can provide that service for you.  If you do not own the highlight video,  we can download it for you and put it up on our YouTube channel that has over 600 subscribers and has had over 2 million views in it’s history.  We can also get a copy of the highlight video to you so that you can own it.  I don’t care how long you play the game of football,  at some point,  you will want to view your high school football exploits on video.  Own your highlight video.

If you would like GridironStuds.com to retrieve your highlight video from Hudl and put it up on our YouTube account,  send email to cwilson@gridironstuds.com.  There is a cost for this service but owning your highlight video and / or being able to see it whenever you want to now or at some point in the future is priceless.

About the Author

Chad Wilson is a recruiting expert and owner of GridironStuds.com a website devoted to promoting the talents of youth and high school football players. Wilson is a former college football player for the University of Miami (92-94) and Long Beach St. (’90-’91) and played briefly for the Seattle Seahawks (’95). He is also a high school football coach and father of three kids, two of which are college student athletes and another well on his way.  Email: cwilson@gridironstuds.com.

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Canes and Gator Fans Duke It Out on Instagram over ’16 WR Sam Bruce

Chad Wilson

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

Recruiting is fun isn’t it?  Fans get highly emotional about it and some swear it off but all of them will tell you that they love it.  Social Media has only heighten the awareness, stakes and the field of play.

On the GridironStuds Instagram account,  a battle of likes is currently in play as Miami Hurricane fans are going head to head with Florida Gator fans for the attention of 2016 WR Sam Bruce from St. Thomas Aquinas HS in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

GridironStuds posted what is known as a “FanCheck” in which they post a picture of a college football prospect and ask rival schools fan base to like the pic if they want the recruit to play for their school.

On June 18th GridironStuds posted a picture of Bruce on their Instagram account asking Miami Hurricanes fans to like the picture if they wanted Bruce to be a Miami Hurricanes.  One week later,  they posted a second picture of Bruce asking Florida Gator fans to like the picture if they wanted Bruce to be a Florida Gator,  another school rumored to be in the running for Bruce’s services in 2016.

As of press time,  the Gators held a slight lead in the tug of war with 118 likes on the Sam Bruce Florida Gators pic to 114 likes on the Sam Bruce Miami Hurricanes pic.  Interesting. Everyone knows that fan support is an important factor in the minds of college football recruits.  It will be interesting to see how this one ends up.  If you are a Hurricanes or Gators fan and you are reading this,  click on the appropriate link for your team and get your likes in.

Check out GridironStuds Instagram account for future FanChecks and great high school football / college football content.  GridironStuds Instagram Account.

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College Football Hit With A Rash of QB Transfers

Chad Wilson

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

It’s transfer season.  With the passing of each year,  folks in the world of college football this offseason have had the opportunity to use the word “transfer” with increasing regularity. Once a thing that was rare,  college football transfers are happening as frequently as a blown bulb on a Baylor Bears scoreboard. Most interesting during this offseason are the number of quarterback transfers that are occurring.  We seem to be at the point now where we are getting at least one per week.

Today alone, we were treated to the announcement of two.  Florida Atlantic’s Greg Hankerson, once a starter for the Owls, announced that he will be leaving the program in search of greener pastures. At the same time, one of UCLA’s quarterbacks, Asiantii Woulard, who was competing for the open spot with Brett Hundley’s departure, formerly stepped out of the race by announcing he would be transferring.

It seems more than anyone else,  quarterbacks are willing to do what they need to do to get their opportunity.  Nowadays, losing the QB battle in the Spring, almost certainly means someone’s going to transfer.  Former Oklahoma St. QB Dax Garman packed the moving fan for the 2nd time in his career this offseason when he announced he would be leaving the Cowboys to go to Maryland.  Garman began his career at Arizona before moving to Stillwater and then Maryland.

The biggest QB move this offseason was Notre Dame’s Everett Golson who just about upset the Florida St. Seminoles in 2014. Golson announced he would be joining the Garnett and Gold in 2015.  Of course,  all eyes are still on Columbus, Ohio as fans await to see if and who will be departing from the three headed race taking place for the starting QB job for the defending national champs.  The odds on favorite is Braxton Miller who will be a senior in 2015 and has graduated.  Just last week,  Urban Meyer announced that Miller would not be transferring nor changing positions for the Buckeyes.  That still doesn’t stop the public at large from engaging in the Braxton Miller watch.

List of QB Transfers in FBS this Off Season

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Interestingly,  the Michigan Wolverines end up with a pair of transfers this offseason with both being from the same high school.  Both Jake Ruddock and John O’Korn were state championship quarterbacks for St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

I am certain that this list does not show all of the QB transfers from FBS schools and I am also sure that we have not seen the end of it.  A trend is starting here and it’s one for us to follow closely.  Of note,  high school football quarterbacks,  you better start paying attention to what is going on.  Your signing day choice is not one to be taken lightly.

BIO

Chad Wilson is a recruiting expert and owner of GridironStuds.com a website devoted to promoting the talents of youth and high school football players. Wilson is a former college football player for the University of Miami (92-94) and Long Beach St. (’90-’91) and played briefly for the Seattle Seahawks (’95). He is also a high school football coach and father of three kids, two of which are college student athletes and another well on his way. Email: cwilson@gridironstuds.com.

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College Football Recruiting “Package Deal” Defined

Chad Wilson

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

If you’ve paid attention to college football recruiting you’ve likely heard the term “package deal”.  Perhaps you’ve heard it but don’t really know what it is.  Well allow me to explain to you in this brief article exactly what a package deal is in the world of college football recruiting.

Package deal consists usually of two parties (but can include more).  The parties are two prospects.  One is the prospect that the school really wants.  We’ll call that prospect Romeo because the school is in love with the guy.  The other prospect is the guy a school is being forced to take so that they can have a chance to get Romeo.  We’ll call this prospect Ogre because to the school,  this guy is ugly.

Let’s take a dip back to high school before we delve into the inner workings of the “package deal”.  Remember in high school when you really wanted to talk to the pretty girl in school but were a little too shy to approach her?  You did know her friend who was a little less attractive.  You had no problems talking to her because there was no pressure.  Well, you talked to the less attractive friend to get closer to the pretty girl you really wanted to talk to.  Don’t act like you haven’t seen this you self righteous, sanctimonious, halo wearing…..  I digress.

Well that high school example has strong similarities to our recruiting situation.  Typically, the package deal is placed upon the college by the high school coach but more often by the handler or the term I cringe at the most these days “mentor”.  Usually,  the mentor / handler has promised the lesser prospect he would get him a big time offer and will fulfill that promise by holding a highly recruited prospect hostage.

This hostage situation is accomplished by telling the college you can have Romeo but only if you offer and sign Ogre.  Now Ogre thinks this is an awesome situation.  He thinks he’s going to go to a top notched BCS school,  climb his way up the depth chart and eventually be on TV playing for one of the top schools in the country.  Not so fast Ogre. Typically, the college program and the coaches resent being put in that situation to get Romeo.  Ogre really isn’t “their guy”.  Not only that, Ogre is counting against their scholarship numbers. Ogre is going to get treated like a walk-on who’s on scholarship.  Ogre’s opportunities to play will be severely limited and they WILL recruit over Ogre’s head.  This means, next year, they are recruiting a guy or guys at your position that they will readily put ahead of you on day one.

On top of that some schools may really need Ogre’s scholarship.  They are just hoping that you miss class, get in a fight, smoke weed, get caught cheating or do anything against the code of conduct clause in your scholarship so that they can release you like hot pot handle. In the interim,  many Ogres start to hate football, become discouraged and even depressed.  All the while,  Romeo is thriving.  He’s on the field playing, getting accolades and being discussed as a potential first rounder.  This further adds to your angst as you stand on the sidelines smelling Irish Spring fresh week after week.

The moral of the story is go where you are wanted.  Pride wants to keep you away from the lower level FBS school.  Pride is telling you no way I am going to a FCS school or Division II school.  Tell pride to shut up because pride has a quiet voice when depression starts yelling.

Chad Wilson is a recruiting expert and owner of GridironStuds.com a website devoted to promoting the talents of youth and high school football players. Wilson is a former college football player for the University of Miami (92-94) and Long Beach St. (’90-’91) and played briefly for the Seattle Seahawks (’95). He is also a high school football coach and father of three kids, two of which are college student athletes and another well on his way. Email: cwilson@gridironstuds.com.

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’17 RB Chance Bell Can Make a Fool Out of You

Chad Wilson

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

Say the name Chance Bell.  It has a ring to it doesn’t it?  That sounds like the kind of football name that you would remember and one so perfect for a running back.  However,  there’s more to the prospect than the name alone. If you’ve had a chance encounter with Bell on the football field,  your ankles are likely still mad at you for it.  Bell is a cut master and we are not talking on two turntables.

Bell was a sophomore sensation for The Burroughs High School Indians in Burbank, California.  Moving from Las Vegas to Burbank,  Bell led Burroughs in rushing with 1,150 yards on just 15o carries (7.5 average).  In so doing,  Bell became the first sophomore in the school’s history to rush for 1,o00 yards. The sophomore prospect will dazzle you with vision, footwork and change of direction.  He flashes the elements that really excite college football coaches.  Bell will remind you of a young Edgerrin James who could slice an opposing defense like a butcher cuts meat.   For defenders it has to seem as though Bell has eyes on the side of his head as he makes moves on defenders that would appear to be outside of his peripheral vision.

Bell’s production will only increase as he adds size, strength and speed to his frame.  I can see him becoming a nightmare and three straight 1,000 yard season would appear to be a formality barring injury.  Watching Bell,  you realize instantly that he has likely been carrying the football for as long as he can remember.  Natural runners like Bell are what record breaking running backs are made of. I do not know the rushing records at Burroughs high school but I am fairly certain Bell will own them by the time he walks across the stage to grab his diploma.

Running back like Chance Bell is a problem for defenders in the open field as he does a solid job of setting up blocks and defenders for his myriad of jukes, fakes and escapes. Burroughs has not been a perennial power in Southern California but I suspect that their respect level will go up with Bell in the backfield toting the mail.  He is definitely one to watch out for in coming seasons as a top prospect in a hot bed of college football talent like Southern Cal.  Opposing teams and their defenders will spend the next two seasons trying to avoid wearing a dunce cap on Bell’s future highlight reels.

Check out Chance Bell’s Sophomore Highlight Video