A New Trend In Recruiting HS Players to Play HS Football
Tim Adams (The Indiana Gridiron Digest/Scout.com
August 25th, 2009
Just before football season started, a post on The Indiana Gridiron Digest told the story of a Metro Indianapolis player who was denied a transfer to compete for a varsity spot at Pike HS, but was granted limited eligibility to play JV football and would be eligible in 2010 to play varsity. This involved the son of Jack Trudeau, who was a college and professional quarterback.
Mr. Trudeau made his anger felt in a local media outlet and also at the scrimmage between Zionsville and Pike. Far be it for me to judge anyone with regard to how much a father cares for his son. I have been a part of the public school arena long enough to know that when adults get involved in a situation that involves value judgments made for young athletes, the adult decisions that involve emotions and anger usually mean less opportunities for athletes. Young people who just want to play sports are best served by the interpretation of rules set down to govern fairness.
There are ways to manipulate the rules and when two schools have to sign off on a transfer, it is possible that a school can put a decision on hold to the last possible minute. Such seems to be the case in this matter. With a scrimmage scheduled for Friday and one school pressing for a decision, waiting 3 to 4 hours before the athlete is to participate in the scrimmage doesn't seem fair. But none of these cases are ever deemed fair.
The New Wave of Recruiting Bubbling to the Surface
For some reason in the past all of us have turned our eyes toward private and parochial schools when we talk about recruiting. The average football fan seems to think that P/P coaches sit in the stands at public schools and pick out players to recruit to their schools. There is a roster full of former public school superstars on P/P rosters. Players are “stolen” out from under the public programs.
This is not happening on a scale that is depleting public school rosters. Now, I will say that players are matriculating to some P/P schools from public middle schools and all public schools have to do is prove undue influence, but there are very few cases of this in Indiana. Anyone who is a member of the IHSAA school has to do is "deny" a transfer and usually it is rubberstamped by the IHSAA. Transfer denied or there are sanctions on the eligibility.
But the trend that is starting to bubble and I am writing concerning this trend because from my perspective I am beginning to see it more and more. Players are transferring from schools because parents want to give their sons a better opportunity to win and be recruited. I have always said parents are the biggest reason that allegations of recruiting take place. I feel sorry for the IHSAA and for the most part they are allowing the members schools to police themselves.
This year alone I have come across parent after parent who has told me that their coach does not care to promote their son toward playing college football. There seems to be some ambiguity as to whether that is in the job description of a coach.
There are some coaches who are tremendous PR agents for their players and some who only get ready for football season. So when a "talented" player wants to play at the next level, his current school may not be as advantageous, so he moves. I have had a parent tell me he moved because of the lack of academic offerings or to be closer to work. The move benefited the student and now everyone is happy with the new school. Interestingly enough, both schools signed off on the transfer. But honestly, I see a dangerous trend beginning.
The Football Magnet School
It has happed in Ft. Wayne. It may be happening in South Bend and it is already established in Indianapolis. If I moved to Ft. Wayne and wanted my son to go to the public school most known for producing college players and winning, where would you take him? Now a whole argument has broken out about South Bend as to what schools are football schools and who is going to emerge as the best public institution for football recruitment. Finally, choose a school on the north - south - east and west side of Indianapolis that has a state championship pedigree. There are 4 obvious choices.
Spend some time going through the IHSAA minutes and count the number of transfers. Is it bothersome to you that schools who have open enrollment are encouraged to automatically sign transfer papers with no questions asked? I think that transfers and recruiting is miniscule in Indiana P/P's compared to what is happening in the public schools among players who want to go and play at the next level.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
June 18th, 2009 - "My World Is Not Round"
June 18th, 2009
My World is Not Round!
Tim Adams Scout.Com Recruiting Analyst
Indiana HS Football
There have always been two aspects of my life that have had a profound affect on me. The first is my spiritual life which has been ordered by the faith I grew up with and the second is high school sports which has occupied much of my adult life.
I believe I could have been a head football coach, but I never wanted the parental problems that came with the job. As my wife always told me, “Tim, you have no tact.” I can be offensive and not very considerate when I deal with others. Well, after I started with Scout.com, I found some tact because I deal with more parents in a single day than most head coaches do in a week!
The 21st Century Sports Mantra “It is what it is”
My work is simple. I am to seek, find, write, and promote Indiana high school football players who have the ability to play D1 (BCS) football. I discuss it on a public forum and write my “tactless” opinions about everything and anything that is Indiana high school football. If you want to read my player stories, you must subscribe to Indiana Varsity Scout. If you want to banter back and forth on my public forum, find The Gridiron Digest. It has always been free and is the center of the Indiana high school football community. “It is what it is!”
A Sucker Born Every Minute
My directive from Scout.com is that I am to promote high school players who have the skills and abilities to play for BCS (Bowl Championship Series) schools. I figure if I just keep writing stories and promoting Indiana high school football players, I will succeed at this directive.
Much of the feedback I get is from parents who are bewildered at this 1 day camp concept. Every spring in Indiana 3 clinics take place that help players at all levels to develop football skills. After the NCAA open contact period ends, college camp season begins in the form of team camp and 1 day camp. The NCAA is absolutely clear that no major D1 school can attend a clinic in Indiana to evaluate talent. But they can host as many players on their campuses as they can hold to evaluate talent. There are some huge ethical problems that loom in this approach. Parents are beginning to complain and see it for what it is.
A player is contacted by a state university or college to come to their one day camp on a particular date where they will be taught and evaluated. The message that is delivered is - this is a recruiting opportunity! Athletes assume that invitations only go to those who have potential. Assumptions are you don’t get invited unless the college is aware of you and you have potential. In two notes I received from parents, their son checked in at camp with 500+ other campers and went through some drills. The top players were asked to stay an extra 2 hours and were further evaluated. As one parent wrote, “My son got a grand total of 20 seconds of individual attention from this school’s position coach and they got my 75 dollars.” For some athletes, the one day camps are college recruiting’s biggest shams. It is all about money. Five hundred players at $75 a pop and that one day camp brought in over $37,000 for that school. I am told it is how they pay their graduate assistants.
College coaches tell me their hands are tied because it is the NCAA that will not allow them to go to combines and spring clinics. But truthfully, they are too busy counting the money they make from summer camp season. I want the happy medium. I want to see the college coaches coming to Indiana’s spring clinics and then they can spend their summers at the college accountants.
Parents: Get A Clue
For 4 months those of you who have signed up for the Indiana Varsity Scout have gotten my e-mail updates about the recruiting process. Don’t waste your hard earned cash believing your son is at the top of the college recruiting list because they have been invited to a 1 day camp. If a college coach hasn’t talked to you personally, it will be highly unlikely that “little Johnny” is on that “must have” list. There are 45 days of open contact before the summer camps. If you haven’t talked to a recruiter as a parent, why would you believe your son is being recruited?
My World is Not Round!
Tim Adams Scout.Com Recruiting Analyst
Indiana HS Football
There have always been two aspects of my life that have had a profound affect on me. The first is my spiritual life which has been ordered by the faith I grew up with and the second is high school sports which has occupied much of my adult life.
I believe I could have been a head football coach, but I never wanted the parental problems that came with the job. As my wife always told me, “Tim, you have no tact.” I can be offensive and not very considerate when I deal with others. Well, after I started with Scout.com, I found some tact because I deal with more parents in a single day than most head coaches do in a week!
The 21st Century Sports Mantra “It is what it is”
My work is simple. I am to seek, find, write, and promote Indiana high school football players who have the ability to play D1 (BCS) football. I discuss it on a public forum and write my “tactless” opinions about everything and anything that is Indiana high school football. If you want to read my player stories, you must subscribe to Indiana Varsity Scout. If you want to banter back and forth on my public forum, find The Gridiron Digest. It has always been free and is the center of the Indiana high school football community. “It is what it is!”
A Sucker Born Every Minute
My directive from Scout.com is that I am to promote high school players who have the skills and abilities to play for BCS (Bowl Championship Series) schools. I figure if I just keep writing stories and promoting Indiana high school football players, I will succeed at this directive.
Much of the feedback I get is from parents who are bewildered at this 1 day camp concept. Every spring in Indiana 3 clinics take place that help players at all levels to develop football skills. After the NCAA open contact period ends, college camp season begins in the form of team camp and 1 day camp. The NCAA is absolutely clear that no major D1 school can attend a clinic in Indiana to evaluate talent. But they can host as many players on their campuses as they can hold to evaluate talent. There are some huge ethical problems that loom in this approach. Parents are beginning to complain and see it for what it is.
A player is contacted by a state university or college to come to their one day camp on a particular date where they will be taught and evaluated. The message that is delivered is - this is a recruiting opportunity! Athletes assume that invitations only go to those who have potential. Assumptions are you don’t get invited unless the college is aware of you and you have potential. In two notes I received from parents, their son checked in at camp with 500+ other campers and went through some drills. The top players were asked to stay an extra 2 hours and were further evaluated. As one parent wrote, “My son got a grand total of 20 seconds of individual attention from this school’s position coach and they got my 75 dollars.” For some athletes, the one day camps are college recruiting’s biggest shams. It is all about money. Five hundred players at $75 a pop and that one day camp brought in over $37,000 for that school. I am told it is how they pay their graduate assistants.
College coaches tell me their hands are tied because it is the NCAA that will not allow them to go to combines and spring clinics. But truthfully, they are too busy counting the money they make from summer camp season. I want the happy medium. I want to see the college coaches coming to Indiana’s spring clinics and then they can spend their summers at the college accountants.
Parents: Get A Clue
For 4 months those of you who have signed up for the Indiana Varsity Scout have gotten my e-mail updates about the recruiting process. Don’t waste your hard earned cash believing your son is at the top of the college recruiting list because they have been invited to a 1 day camp. If a college coach hasn’t talked to you personally, it will be highly unlikely that “little Johnny” is on that “must have” list. There are 45 days of open contact before the summer camps. If you haven’t talked to a recruiter as a parent, why would you believe your son is being recruited?
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