Ever showed up to a party later than you wanted only to see people filing out of the house or hall or club?\u00a0 Remember the sinking feeling you had as people walked by smiling and laughing.\u00a0 Perhaps the dagger really got stuck in your heart when you saw someone you know and they say “man you missed it,\u00a0 where were you?”.<\/p>\n
Perhaps you missed the party for the ages by moving too slowly for whatever reason.\u00a0 In time,\u00a0 you’ll get over it.\u00a0 Being late to the recruiting party can be a pain that lasts a lifetime.<\/p>\n
Every January and February,\u00a0 I am contacted by prospects and their parents in a panic.\u00a0 A young man is weeks away from signing day and there are no offers on the table.\u00a0 A lifetime journey towards a goal may be coming to a bitter end.\u00a0 One of the first thoughts and sometimes questions I ask is “where were you for the last 3.5 years?”\u00a0 Some of these individuals I am meeting for the very first time.\u00a0 Others I have known for quite some time.\u00a0 If you fall into the latter category,\u00a0 I really have to wonder “where have you been,\u00a0 man you missed it”.<\/p>\n
A truly successful journey through the recruiting process is just that,\u00a0 a journey.\u00a0 This means that there was careful planning,\u00a0 milestones set and reached along with specific steps taken.\u00a0 Skipping those steps,\u00a0 trying to take shortcuts or make up for an entire journey overnight will hardly ever yield the desired results.<\/p>\n
Human nature for most of us is to put out the fires that are hottest.\u00a0 Those that engage in this life theory often find that the stream of fires never stop and seem to only increase in frequency and intensity.\u00a0 For some,\u00a0 the recruiting fire is not hot enough to throw water on until a prospect’s senior season.\u00a0 I can tell you that it’s going to take a lot of water when it reaches that point.\u00a0 The hose is going to have to be strong.<\/p>\n
There is one trend that has consistently shown itself to be true over the last decade in college football recruiting and that is that prospects are being evaluated earlier and earlier.\u00a0 Maybe we can blame Lane Kiffin since he was one of the first to reach national headlines for offering a 7th grade quarterback a scholarship when he was coaching at USC.\u00a0 Whomever is to blame,\u00a0 the trend is moving in that direction.\u00a0 This means a prospect must get on their P’s and Q’s at an early date.<\/p>\n
The fact that offers are being handed out to 8th and 9th graders does not mean that you need to have one at that time or you’re in trouble.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 it simply means that the evaluation process has shifted and you must be executing a proper plan early.\u00a0 Really in-tuned parents have been executing a plan for their youngster since the day they first laced up their cleats.\u00a0 Some go crazy in a child’s pre-adolescence but some others take a realistic approach and gradually build towards their goal.\u00a0 Without question,\u00a0 those are the happiest group on either of the signing dates in December and February of each year.<\/p>\n
Of course,\u00a0 there are a small few that didn’t have much of a plan and got big results anyway.\u00a0 Those are the prospects that won the genetic lottery.\u00a0 Through genetics and God’s helping hand,\u00a0 the prospect was blessed with abnormal height, speed, skill and or strength.\u00a0 If your plan is to have your child hit the genetic lottery well then that’s no real plan at all now is it?\u00a0 The best I can say to that is good luck.\u00a0 Chances are real high that I will be receiving your highly panicked email, text or DM when he’s 17 turning 18.<\/p>\n
On the flip side,\u00a0 if you are the parent of a child entering high school or younger,\u00a0 don’t ignore the articles that I have written and are plastered all over this blog.\u00a0 Don’t scroll past the videos you see me post on YouTube that are shared to my Twitter and Facebook accounts.\u00a0 Don’t ignore the links I post to my Instagram account or the podcasts I upload to my SoundCloud.\u00a0 Take it from someone who has gone through the recruiting process countless times,\u00a0 the fire in the recruiting kitchen is hotter than you think a whole lot earlier than you think. Please grab the buckets of water I am sharing with you on all of these lovely social media and internet platforms.\u00a0 \u00a0There’s a party going on right here.\u00a0 \u00a0Let’s get dressed,\u00a0 get going and show up.\u00a0 I promise you,\u00a0 it’s one you don’t want to miss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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