When you hear a big time commit talk about their offers on On3Recruiting or 247Sport you usually hear something like this:
I just really loved the program, I worked hard, believed in myself and my hard work is what I credit with my success.
Maybe they don’t exactly say this, but generally the fallacy of recruiting is:
Hard Work = Success
But, this is overly simplistic and leaves a lot out of the recruiting discussion.
That’s what we’ll discuss today:
Genetics
The player’s frame recruits itself.
There is no question that size, weight, height, speed and strength are the starting block of all D1, but especially FBS P4 recruiting.
If you don’t have the measurables, you won’t get your film looked at, no matter how good your film is - maybe with 1-2 freak exceptions a year.
Yes, hard work can max out what a player’s frame and genetics are capable, but a 1000lbs squat still won’t make you 6’5.
Key Points:
Frame and measurables start the conversation the bigger the school you’re looking at.
Hard work can maximize one’s athletic potential, but it does not, itself, increase your ceiling.
Network
While it is possible to be a freak on an island - the best player in an otherwise football backwater who gets noticed despite poor competition - it is a lot easier to “cut the line” and get noticed when you play for a legendary, well-known HS head coach or have a private trainer with a large network or you crushed a few regional camps.
Behind a lot of recruits who get to that FBS P4 level - after they hit the measurables and game tape - is a head coach who relentlessly advocates for them with their college coach network.
At many schools player placement is the de facto full time gig of the head coach.
The same is true in the weird, but sometimes just as valuable private trainer world. Dive deep enough into the weeds of OL, DL, 7 on 7, QBs + WRs or kickers and you’ll find some personalities that belong more on Tiger Kings or Narcos than a football field.
But, you’ll also find some private coaches with exhaustive networks of college coaches they advocate with their players for.
Key Points:
Play for a well-known HS program.
Play for a Head Coach who is a relentless advocate for player placement.
Train with a private coach with a vast network of college coaches.
Academics
The better your grades are, the more admissible you are.
Yes, college football has changed at the D1 level, by and large, but the higher academic schools are the ones that HS players should be vying for.
They still have academic moats around them that a great GPA can overcome out of HS - even over a more physically talented portal player.
Take rigorous courses - AP, Honors. You don’t need a 4.0 or A+ in every course, but you should be able to post a B/B+ in the super hard ones. Strength of class schedule beats a very high GPA with a weak course schedule.
Test optional also isn’t quite optional. It’s significantly easier to get recruited when you simply have the ACT/SAT score coaches want to see on your X profile vs. haggling with admissions over what each course means.
Timing, Chance, Luck
If we’re really honest with ourselves, it is hard to know what was the thing that got a player over the hump to get an offer.
Was it measurables alone?
Was it game tape alone?
Did coaches not want you but their star LT just left so now they need a body?
Was it your HS coach alone?
Was it your private coach?
Was it your ranking?
Was it your GPA?
Was it your financial aid number (for higher academics)?
Where responsibility for success between one facet of recruiting ends and another begins is incredibly difficult to tell.
That’s why it is better to think of recruiting in this way:
You are stacking the deck so high by lifting, studying, playing well, networking with coaches, attending camps, playing for a great team, that it would be unreasonable for a college coach to not offer you.
Timing, chance and luck always play a role in recruiting, but how big of one is largely unknowable - even in retrospect and definitely in the moment.
Summing it all up:
I am not against hard work - I am a big fan actually.
But, hard work alone does not - and cannot- always account for recruiting success.
There are deeper things at play beneath the surface - some more controllable than others like your grades versus your 40 time.
The better you’re aware of these the better you can plan your recruiting strategy.
That’s all for now.
Brendan
P.S. When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you