{"id":3452,"date":"2017-05-15T06:25:29","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T11:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gridironstuds.com\/blog\/?p=3452"},"modified":"2021-12-08T16:58:08","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T21:58:08","slug":"i-commit-you-not-the-right-way-to-handle-your-college-football-recruitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/i-commit-you-not-the-right-way-to-handle-your-college-football-recruitment\/","title":{"rendered":"I Commit You Not – The Right Way to Handle Your College Football Recruitment"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Chad Wilson – Editor GridironStuds Blog<\/strong>
\n Twitter: @GridironStuds<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember when people got engaged, \u00a0got married and remained married until death? \u00a0Yeah me neither. \u00a0Divorce rates in our country have grown steadily over the years as people have found the word commitment less and less appealing in their social standards. \u00a0College football recruiting over the last decade has mimicked this pattern in a most troubling way.<\/p>\n

I am not certain who is to blame for the trend we have seen in college football recruiting recently.\u00a0\u00a0Recruits now\u00a0commit just for the hell of it and often change their minds multiple times in the process. \u00a0I do know this, \u00a0the word “offer” has seen it’s value plummet faster than United Airlines stock days after their overbooked flight fiasco. \u00a0College football coaches are passing out offers left and right, \u00a0often times in an effort to gain publicity. \u00a0Kids who have neither gained lip hair nor varsity playing time are picking up offers from Power 5 schools. \u00a0Perhaps social media is to blame as it has appeared to have\u00a0shaped society’s behavior since it arrived on the scene roughly a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Cheap offers have meant cheap commitments and in it’s wake the college football’s recruiting process has developed a three ring circus feel to it. \u00a0However, \u00a0as my mother and many other mothers told me growing up, \u00a0just because everyone else is doing it, \u00a0doesn’t mean you have to do it too. \u00a0With that in mind, \u00a0here are some small guidance tips for you in handling the commitment process in your college football recruitment.<\/p>\n

Getting Offers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Offers have taken on the role of helmet stickers in recent years. \u00a0Recruits try to stack them up and compare them with other classmates like they are Pokemon cards. \u00a0I am not going to even attempt to stop youngsters from engaging in this process. \u00a0Recruits are often judged by the number of offers they accumulate before they are signed. \u00a0Should it be that way? \u00a0Of course not but it’s a sad reality. \u00a0Now more than ever, \u00a0fans influence the actions of coaching staffs in college football. \u00a0Much heralded recruits are pushed forward by their status as fans pressure staffs to see those players on the field. \u00a0Despite this, \u00a0your ability better match your offer count or you will eventually find yourself performing the most death defying disappearing act from the field of play.<\/p>\n

Recruits should do all they can to acquire the attention from college football programs around the country. \u00a0This means train hard, practice hard and play hard. \u00a0Put good film out there each and every Friday night. \u00a0This also includes putting together a solid offseason. \u00a0A college football recruit’s offseason, among other things, \u00a0should include attending showcase camps, joining 7-on-7 teams, attending college camps in the summer,\u00a0getting your film out to college programs if your school does not already do so and creating a profile on the GridironStuds App. \u00a0When the offers come, \u00a0be thankful, \u00a0show interest in all schools that are interested in you and do honest research on all who extend you an offer. \u00a0Offers are not just to be taken, hung on your wall (aka your timeline) and then ignored as you try to appeal to the next bigger name in college football. \u00a0Somewhere along the lines, \u00a0the right school for you may be the one you’ve paid no attention to.<\/p>\n

Choosing Your School<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now that the offers are stacking up, \u00a0one of these schools will be the one your are signing a scholarship offer to once your signing day arrives. \u00a0Many young athletes lack any proper guidance in this process. \u00a0An alarming amount of prospects are choosing schools based on the school’s status and not on its fit. \u00a0It’s almost as if the recruit is choosing the school based on what the public at large will think as opposed to what would be in their best interest. \u00a0Welcome to being a teenager. \u00a0However, \u00a0the choice you make will take you out of your teens and into your early adulthood. \u00a0This is not time for a bird brained decision.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned earlier, \u00a0do honest research on every school that offers you. \u00a0Some of the schools that offer you can be a hidden gem that will bring out the best in you and help you reach your potential. \u00a0Somewhere in this process, \u00a0you will also have to be honest with yourself and your current abilities. \u00a0It’s ok to “fake it till you make it”. \u00a0In other words, \u00a0I have no problem with a recruit putting forth a superhuman persona publicly and even maintaining a high supply of confidence inwardly. However, \u00a0you must also carry a satchel of truth. \u00a0Perhaps you are a bit “overhyped”. \u00a0Sometimes that big time school signing all the top names is not the place for you. \u00a0Maybe what you need is the school not quite as big in media stature that has a staff that will commit the time and effort to you and your potential.<\/p>\n

Recruits should be researching depth charts, history of the school at your position, \u00a0background of your position coaches and coordinators along with the academic qualities of the school. \u00a0Recruits should ask themselves if they need tutors to complete schoolwork and how good is the college athletic program at providing tutors. \u00a0All of these factors should be evaluated.<\/p>\n

Taking Visits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Official visits are cool but they are not reality. \u00a0Official visits often involve trips to restaurants you will never eat at while at the school, \u00a0stays in hotels you will undoubtedly never stay in again and smiles from coaches that will decrease by over 70% after you have arrived on campus as a scholarship athlete. \u00a0The best thing an official visit will give you is a feel for the atmosphere on campus. \u00a0That is only going to be\u00a0a portion of your decision making process. \u00a0Do not make it the entire reason you choose a school.<\/p>\n

Unofficial visits during spring break and the summer time paint a better picture for the prospect. \u00a0These visits tend to be more pure in nature and give a better feel as to what things will be like if you actually decide to attend the school. \u00a0Of course, \u00a0unofficial visits mean that the recruit must come out of pocket to take the trips and they can get expensive. \u00a0I will say, \u00a0it’s the best investment you will make. \u00a0Find a way to get those unofficial visits in. \u00a0This means save money, \u00a0ask relatives for help or jump in with a group that is making those trips and pay your share. \u00a0Evaluate the campuses when you get there, observe as much as you can and ask every question imaginable. \u00a0Unofficial visits are where it’s at.<\/p>\n

How to Commit<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know, \u00a0the title of this paragraph sounds simple like I am going to teach you how to tie a tie. \u00a0However, \u00a0this part of the process has become a joke with each passing signing day. \u00a0Many recruits will commit after their first offer. \u00a0Some will commit because others are currently committing. \u00a0Others will commit to get their rating up on a recruiting website (no really) and others will quite frankly reply “I don’t know” when asked why they just committed. \u00a0Sometimes, \u00a0kids feel the pressure to commit because a school will tell them that they only have one spot left and someone else might take it. \u00a0That information from a coach is something to consider as you get late in the process (i.e. during your senior season) as opposed to January before your senior year. \u00a0If a school is pressuring you in the Spring heading into your senior season about a spot that’s going to be gone, \u00a0you have to seriously consider your value to that program.<\/p>\n

After you have done your research and taken your unofficial visits and I mean, \u00a0all of them, \u00a0you are now most likely in a position to make an informed decision, \u00a0known as a commitment. Do not commit during a trip to one of the schools as your judgement is often clouded while on campus. \u00a0Often times you will have an early leader for any number of reasons. \u00a0There’s no harm in comparing all the other schools to that number one school as you make your trips and do your research.<\/p>\n

Now that you have done your research and taken all of your trips, \u00a0you can sit down and make your decision when you are at home. \u00a0Include the sensible people in your life in this process if need be. \u00a0Honestly evaluate who the sensible people are in your life. \u00a0During the recruiting process, \u00a0you will encounter many people that have motives for pushing you in one direction or another. \u00a0Stay clear of those with motives that fall outside of your best interest. \u00a0You can take that last sentence to mean exactly what you think it means. \u00a0Stick to your research and what you observed on those unofficial visits. \u00a0Once you have decided on a school, \u00a0inform the coaches of your decision and then you can plan how you want that commitment announcement to be made. \u00a0There are a number of ways that can be done but I won’t get into that in this article.<\/p>\n

Once you have made that commitment, \u00a0stick to it barring some truly unforeseen circumstances. \u00a0Some unforeseen circumstance would be coaching staff gets fired,\u00a0change in your family situation, NCAA sanctions against the school, etc. \u00a0Let’s not go changing our commitment because your friend isn’t signing there, you simply changed your mind or the coach didn’t call you every day after you committed. \u00a0Remember that you did your research so trust it.<\/p>\n

Once you’ve committed, \u00a0it’s probably best that you don’t take any more trips. \u00a0In a perfect World that’s how it should go. \u00a0You wouldn’t be cool with your girlfriend committing to you and then telling you that she’s going to go on a few dates with some other boys in the meantime just for kicks. \u00a0Same story here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Chad Wilson – Editor GridironStuds Blog Twitter: @GridironStuds Remember when people got engaged, \u00a0got married and remained<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":4368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[767],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recruiting-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gridironstuds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}