Recruiting Tips
HOW DO I GET RECRUITED FREE? First of all, you should NEVER pay to be recruited.
All those so-called experts do is what I’m about to tell you anyway, and you can do these things FREE:
WesternPAFootball.net and EasternPAFootball.com will provide tips throughout the year. Please check back daily for the newest tip to help you, or your player, along in the recruiting process.
If you have any recruiting concerns or questions, email billy@westernpafootball.net. I’ll be glad to help you with your process.
- #1: You aren’t going ANYWHERE without good grades. All the football skills in the world won’t get you to college if you can’t “play school” Know your GPA from your freshman year forward AT ALL TIMES. You need to keep it above 2.5 to have a competitive chance at playing college football before you step foot in the locker room, gym or on that field.
- Our #2 tip: College coaches use twitter to communicate with players. How is anyone going to find you if your real name isn’t your twitter name? Try finding yourself on google, type “your name twitter”. If it doesn’t come up, even you couldn’t find you. They can talk to you directly even during no contact periods. FULL NAME. SCHOOL. YEAR. POSITION. HT. WT. GPA, HUDL IN YOUR TWITTER PROFILE and Pinned WOULD HELP! Twitter is a powerful recruiting tool USE IT PROPERLY! Having that info there also helps media members promote you. Use a headshot of yourself as your profile picture so college coaches can recognize you in person.
- DO NOT HAVE YOUR TWITTER SET TO PRIVATE! KEEP IT OPEN FOR ANYONE TO MESSAGE YOU. A COACH MAY WANT TO CONTACT YOU THERE!!
- If you’re on the fence about playing football after HS, always work like you will. Go to camps, contact coaches, work hard. Because at the end of the process you can always stop, but don’t get caught “wishing I had” you can’t make up the process.
NCAA Compliance tips
- Don’t wait until your senior year to begin your recruiting process. You must begin as early. The first thing you should do is visit the NCAA Eligibility center and register during your Soph year. web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/
- DO NOT SKIP THIS: Information for Core Courses, Academic requirements can be found HERE : http://www.ncaa.org/about/what-we-do/academics
- “It is now the NCAA evaluation period. What does that mean?” (ALSO, quiet period, contact period, dead period explained) HERE
- Make a list of 10 realistic schools, 20 fallback schools and 2 “dream” schools. Go to their websites, fill out their recruiting questionnaire. Find the Head Coach, Recruiting Coordinator and your position coach’s email address. Send them an intro letter. (You can find a sample letter at the bottom of this page) Then find them on twitter & talk to them, often! You should start this process at some point during your Sophomore year. After you’ve reached out to those 20, keep reaching out to different schools. Don’t stop. Know SOMETHING about each program you email, and mention that. Keep a log of each school you emailed, and each time to talk to coaches, that way you don’t forget what you’ve talked about and with whom. Also, each school has a recruit questionnaire form on their website, FILL IT OUT!
- Go to your Guidance Office. Ask to see your current transcript and take a picture of it, that way you will have it ready when a college coach asks for it. On your way, stop and look in a mirror. If a coach stopped in unannounced, would you be dressed appropriately?
- More than 80% of college athletic opportunities are at the NCAA Division II, III, NAIA, or junior college levels, with these schools often providing more playing time, strong academics, and a better fit for the student-athlete. That means most of you fit into this category. If you haven’t heard from a division 1 coach by the end of your Junior year, start courting these schools because it’s likely you won’t.
- HUDL/Highlight film tip: Put your best/toughest plays first, not your easiest plays. Show them your versatility. Breaking tackles, making a move, getting open, throwing on the run or in a tight spot. Defensively don’t show them yourself going untouched. Show them how you made a move, a quick read, running down the ball carrier. Watch your film with friends and have them rank your toughest plays. Use the spot arrows BEFORE the play starts. Coaches want to know where you came from on the play. If your showing both offense and defense, mix it up. Don’t split the film into 2 parts. Keep it under 7 minutes. Music isn’t necessary. The first screen of every video should include your jersey number and team colors. Also add any sport specific measurements like height, weight and a nice stat if available. The last part to have on your opening frame is your complete contact information (your personal phone and email along with your twitter handle.
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College Camps & Combines:
- First and foremost: do NOT attend a combine from the end of your season through April. You are wasting valuable $$ that can be put toward your summer camp tour. Plus, you are NOT in peak shape yet. Late winter/Early Spring Combines = waste of money. Give yourself 5 months to train and prepare. Attend one combine, but do this near the beginning of camp season just to register official times/lifts/etc… If you can get to one of the free combines, like the nike or scout, OR if your district/league holds one even better. Colleges will make you do the same stuff anyway.
- So you got a bunch of flyers to attend college camps. Which ones should you attend? KNOW YOUR POTENTIAL DIVISION OF PLAY. They key is to attend those camps at a level you are confident you can play. Talk to your coach, ask him if you’re a D1, D2 or D3 player. Ask him to be honest, and, this is important, be honest to yourself. It doesn’t make sense to attend a D1 camp if your a D2 or D3 player. If your coach says you’re a D3 kid, maybe attend one or two D2 camps but concentrate on D3 camps. Parents can quickly wrap up a lot of $ in camps, so it’s best to use that money wisely. College camps average $50 per camp.
- Plan your spring and summer wisely. Plan a nice camp tour, try to get to a few schools you really like, and some that intrigue you
- We will have college camps schedules on our page and be updating them regularly: http://www.westernpafootball.net/news/pennsylvania-college-campscombines/
- Another key to college camps is this: Check with the schools you like to see if they’ll be attending other schools camps so you can be seen by more than one school that day. Camps like the Laurens First and Goal camp is excellent and had over 325 college coaches last year with an 8-1 coach ratio.
- Attending spring practice is a great opportunity to start building a relationship. But don’t waste this opportunity visiting all P5 schools when you are MAC or DII at best. It registers as an unofficial visit and you get to see the program in action. Just contact the recruiting coordinator at the school you wish to visit.
- Junior days-same advice. Contact the recruiting coordinator and ask them for that opportunity. It also doesn’t hurt to talk to your position coach at that school. You may find out right away they aren’t interested. That’s ok, hit up your next choice.
VISITS:
If you need a ride to a visit, Jr Day, Camp….etc… DM us on twitter @wpafootball and we will blast it out to help you find a ride.
SAMPLE INTRO LETTER
Note: Don’t be afraid to change it up. Be personal, “hi coach David, how are you doing?” Add some comments about some of the things you’ve been doing lately. Engage
Dear [Coach’s Name],
My name is [Your Name], I am part of the class of [Your Graduating Class] at [Your High School] in [Your Hometown and State]. I am interested in [The Name of The University] and learning more about your program.
[Include information here about the research you did into their program. You should know things like if there are athletes from your hometown on the roster, how many upper-classmen at your position, the team’s record and the athletic background of the athletes currently on the team.]
I play [List your position or best events here and the name of your team]. Some of my best accomplishments to date are [list your top two or three best times, awards or recognitions]. You can view my complete online profile here [Link to your online profile if you have one]. Here is a link to my highlight tape [link to your online highlight tape]. Please feel free to contact my coach(s) [List the email and phone number for your high school team coach].
[Include your schedule i.e. lifting/spring practice – coaches need to know where/when they can watch you in person.] Here is my schedule:
Date Location Name of Event My Team Name
[List your GPA and test scores here if you have taken them]. [Talk about what you like about the academic reputations of the school and why you’re interested in their program].
I look forward to hearing back from you and learning more about your program.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Address]