Recruiting Outside the Shell

[TexasTerror]

It seems more and more FCS programs are extending their recruiting bases...

SHSU, for instance, has been getting verbals from kids in Arizona and New York. A few years ago, we didn't have a soul outside of Texas. This past year, we had Alabama, Virginia, Kansas, Oklahoma and Ohio on the roster.

Seeing a lot of SLC schools looking outside of the usual shell and even more FCS programs coming into talent-rich Texas...

What do you think is leading to more national recruiting by FCS programs? Is there just more publicity for these programs? The programs hiring coaches that are not as "regional" and have experience recruiting other parts of the country? More kids going to JUCOs further away from home and signing with schools in those areas?

What is it?

[DFW HOYA]

As well as the MEAC...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/03/AR2008020302641.html

[OB55]

I have long felt that the talent pool is much larger than the scholarship carrying capacity for major college football. I think FCS schools are just extending their range into the larger markets to draw off some of these first class athletes who are going without a scholarship.

[DetroitFlyer]

In the PFL, the range has expanded in an effort to find the student/athlete profile we need.... Great students and great football players. Butler just signed a kid from California. Dayton has talked with kids from Texas and California, among others. I fully agree that many kids fall through the traditional cracks. Schools like Dayton are expert in finding these kids and then developing them into top notch FCS players. Of course the lion's share of kids are still local, but I am amazed at how far some kids will move to go to school and play football

[813Jag]

I think more kids are becoming aware of FCS programs. There's a kid from Tampa that committed to South Dakota State. I believe the internet helps a lot it gives kids the opportunity to do research and find out about schools before they even take a visit.

I like seeing our schools recruit outside our region.

[Fordham]

Very interesting stuff. We're really having a lot of Texans on our roster now and I'm seeing more and more FL, GA, LA, TX and CA kids on other PL rosters as well. In PL schools' case, I believe it's driven by need. Being able to offer need based aid only means that we need to recruit at the margins (financially) so that a kid either comes from a family that doesn't blink at paying exhorbitant tuition or doesn't have to pay anything due to his family's financial situation. The other thing is in the Northeast, in particular, the huge increases in property values mean that parents who may not make a large amount of $$ are not receiving much in financial aid since property values are included in the financial aid analysis. Thus, we need to go all over the country to find kids now since the pool of potential talent is so thin for us up here (add to it the rise of formerly mid-major schools who now offer schollies around here and the Ivies oftentimes having better financial aid packages than us and it's even thinner for PL schools in the Northeast).

What I find most interesting is that the reverse is taking place now. Why do you guys think a) NY/NJ/OH kids are going South now to play when they didn't before and b) why would schools in such a hotbed of talent like Texas feel the need to spend recruiting $$ on recruiting an area like NY (not traditionally a hotbed of HS football talent)?

Interesting stuff.

[813Jag]

Very interesting stuff. We're really having a lot of Texans on our roster now and I'm seeing more and more FL, GA, LA, TX and CA kids on other PL rosters as well. In PL schools' case, I believe it's driven by need. Being able to offer need based aid only means that we need to recruit at the margins (financially) so that a kid either comes from a family that doesn't blink at paying exhorbitant tuition or doesn't have to pay anything due to his family's financial situation. The other thing is in the Northeast, in particular, the huge increases in property values mean that parents who may not make a large amount of $$ are not receiving much in financial aid since property values are included in the financial aid analysis. Thus, we need to go all over the country to find kids now since the pool of potential talent is so thin for us up here (add to it the rise of formerly mid-major schools who now offer schollies around here and the Ivies oftentimes having better financial aid packages than us and it's even thinner for PL schools in the Northeast).

What I find most interesting is that the reverse is taking place now. Why do you guys think a) NY/NJ/OH kids are going South now to play when they didn't before and b) why would schools in such a hotbed of talent like Texas feel the need to spend recruiting $$ on recruiting an area like NY (not traditionally a hotbed of HS football talent)?

Interesting stuff.
1. I think kids come down south to play the same reason people move down here. The weather and lifestyle is a huge factor. Also southerners move up north after college and continue to send their kids back south for college.
2. States like Texas and Florida it's hard to keep kids home with so many out of state schools recruiting in these areas. I think schools are really looking for talent any where they can find it.

[McNeese_beat]

From what I can see there are places where there are more players than scholaships (locally) and there are places where there are more programs than eligible players. California is a good example of the former. There are so few programs there and so many players, it's long been a state where out of state programs have tried to establish a recruiting base. Louisiana and East Texas are the opposite. I think some of the out-of-state BCS programs that come to Louisiana now may be barking up the wrong tree. After LSU secures its 10-15 and grades claim about 5-10 more, then what's mostly left are guys who should be playing at the FCS level or the Sun Belt (same thing, when it comes down to it).

I know Whitten has talked about moving into West Texas, which is less heavily recruited than East Texas.

I think the key to recruiting outside your area is having coaches on staff with ties to that area, whether they are from personal exposure to the area or having a good relationship with somebody from that area who will give them good information.

For a couple of years, for example, McNeese had an assistant basketball coach with strong NYC ties. Through him, they landed a couple of very good NYC-area players, point guard Chauncey Bryant from Jersey City St. Anthony's and Jason Coleman from Lincoln High in Brooklyn. If you recall, both were solid, four-year lettermen and both have two conference championship rings.

But there are definite risks with recruiting out of your area.

The problem with recruiting players outside of your "base" is it's harder to get a grasp on things you can't see on film. Like what kind of character the kid has. When you recruit in your base area with high school coaches you have a good relationship with, you're more likely to get the low-down on a kid. If you are a stranger to the high school coaches of the prospect, they are more likely to try to sell you the goods without much regard to the whole picture.

I was given an example of this about an East Texas prospect this year and I'll share the story without giving incriminating names, ha.

The kid is track star fast but he can't play football. Well, all the Big 12 schools in Texas know this because they deal with the coaches at the player's school every year (big 5A program that produces a lot of prospects) and a couple have had him in camps. He can't catch and he's not interested in contact. So they knew better.

However, a Big East school saw him on film, asked about him, and these Texas high school coaches that didn't know these Big East guys from Adam were more than happy to sell the kid to them. Looks good to be able to hang another BCS jersey in the field house, know what I mean? So this Big East school thinks it's signing the next Willie Gault, but if they knew what all the Texas schools know...

Another example

McNeese signed one high school player from California a few years back when it had an immediate position need and no obvious prospects in its local recruiting area. McNeese used a recruiting service and couldn't believe the tools the California kid had. They brought him in and were impressed. But come to find out, the kid really loved to smoke big, fat doobies, lol. NOW they know why this kid wasn't in the Pac-10. He was off the team after one year and McNeese has been a little spooked about recruiting areas where they don't have a "network" of people who can give them an honest assessment of a kid's make-up.

[813Jag]

From what I can see there are places where there are more players than scholaships (locally) and there are places where there are more programs than eligible players. California is a good example of the former. There are so few programs there and so many players, it's long been a state where out of state programs have tried to establish a recruiting base. Louisiana and East Texas are the opposite. I think some of the out-of-state BCS programs that come to Louisiana now may be barking up the wrong tree. After LSU secures its 10-15 and grades claim about 5-10 more, then what's mostly left are guys who should be playing at the FCS level or the Sun Belt (same thing, when it comes down to it).

I know Whitten has talked about moving into West Texas, which is less heavily recruited than East Texas.

I think the key to recruiting outside your area is having coaches on staff with ties to that area, whether they are from personal exposure to the area or having a good relationship with somebody from that area who will give them good information.

For a couple of years, for example, McNeese had an assistant basketball coach with strong NYC ties. Through him, they landed a couple of very good NYC-area players, point guard Chauncey Bryant from Jersey City St. Anthony's and Jason Coleman from Lincoln High in Brooklyn. If you recall, both were solid, four-year lettermen and both have two conference championship rings.

But there are definite risks with recruiting out of your area.

The problem with recruiting players outside of your "base" is it's harder to get a grasp on things you can't see on film. Like what kind of character the kid has. When you recruit in your base area with high school coaches you have a good relationship with, you're more likely to get the low-down on a kid. If you are a stranger to the high school coaches of the prospect, they are more likely to try to sell you the goods without much regard to the whole picture.

I was given an example of this about an East Texas prospect this year and I'll share the story without giving incriminating names, ha.

The kid is track star fast but he can't play football. Well, all the Big 12 schools in Texas know this because they deal with the coaches at the player's school every year (big 5A program that produces a lot of prospects) and a couple have had him in camps. He can't catch and he's not interested in contact. So they knew better.

However, a Big East school saw him on film, asked about him, and these Texas high school coaches that didn't know these Big East guys from Adam were more than happy to sell the kid to them. Looks good to be able to hang another BCS jersey in the field house, know what I mean? So this Big East school thinks it's signing the next Willie Gault, but if they knew what all the Texas schools know...

Another example

McNeese signed one high school player from California a few years back when it had an immediate position need and no obvious prospects in its local recruiting area. McNeese used a recruiting service and couldn't believe the tools the California kid had. They brought him in and were impressed. But come to find out, the kid really loved to smoke big, fat doobies, lol. NOW they know why this kid wasn't in the Pac-10. He was off the team after one year and McNeese has been a little spooked about recruiting areas where they don't have a "network" of people who can give them an honest assessment of a kid's make-up.
I agree sometimes you have to be wary of kids that you don't really get to see. But there have been local kids whose problems don't surface until they step on the campus. Basically recruiting as a whole is a crapshoot.

[Monarch History]

Great article on Coach Wilder having to recruit and sign a whole team (22 players) this year. I'm anxious to see what this class looks like!

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/odu-building-team-one-player-time