college football recruiting

Brimming with information that high school players and their parents need

Every year across the country, a new class of high school football players and their parents begin to ask questions about college football recruiting. They want to know what college coaches are looking for in prospective recruits. They want to know how those college coaches identify and recruit those prospects. And they want to know what they can do to get and keep those coaches' attention. The answers to those and related questions about college football recruiting are here.

What others say

    "... an excellent book and resource” … “great resource for athletes and their parents” … “impressed how you were able to take all the ins and outs of the process and put it in a very easy-to-read format” … “you have done a great job.”     – former Austin (Tx.) Westlake Head Coach Derek Long, who took the team to the 5A state finals and state quarterfinals during a six-year tenure at the position.

    "Very good" ... "very factual, supported by lots of quotes from a variety in the industry" ... "easy to read" ... "seems to cover most all the points."   – Randy Rodgers, recruiting consultant and former college coach

    "... vital read for parents" ... "almost a step-by-step plan for parents and athletes who want to find the right school" ... "for anyone who has a high school football player for a child and wants to know the ins and outs of recruiting, Beyond Friday Nights is a good buy."
– Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sports columnist Wally Hall (May 25, 2010).

   "Excellent" ... "great job."   – Dean Campbell, former Director of High School Relations, University of Arkansas Razorbacks

    "The book is primarily designed for current high school student/athletes and their parents as they begin to ask questions about how to get into the sometimes confusing world of big-time, and small-time, college football. However, the book also provides a fascinating read for college football fans in general as it documents many of the inside issues that affect the game."      – Great Blue North Draft Report (May 3, 2010)

     " ... excellent "how-to-do-it" book on a very confusing subject. If you believe your high school football player has a shot at playing at the college level, any level, this book is a wise investment. It is a no-BS guide, gives no Pollyanna answers, and will instead force you to do some serious thinking and analysis before diving into the tough world of college recruiting."    – John M., parent

     "A truly informative and concise read! So helpful for college-bound athletes - for football as well as other sports. Important and timely information for athletes and their parents in navigating the 'recruiting' phase for collegiate sports."    – Contessa S., parent

      "An outstanding job ... the best book I’ve read in a long time about this type of information ... information that parents can use. If you're planning to send your kid to college and they're planning on playing football, this is the book to have."    – Randy Shortnacy, Texas Sports Reporter

In the news

Port Arthur News (Bob West's column) – February 5, 2011
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (dfwVarsity Blog) – January 31, 2011
Pilot Travel Center Challenger Magazine – January 2011
Dallas Morning News (High School Sports Blog) – August 31, 2010
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Wally Hall's "Like It Is" column) – May 25, 2010
Austin American-Statesman (print edition and sports blog) – April 28, 2010

Selected excerpts

On initial recruiting letters …

“Just because you are getting a lot of recruiting letters doesn’t mean you are getting recruited,” notes recruiting consultant and former college coach Randy Rodgers. It merely means that you are on a school’s mailing list, and that you are being evaluated – nothing more.

“Kids get letters from [high-profile Division I football programs] holding them in glue,” says Western Kentucky’s Director of Football Operations Nick Uhlenhopp. “Those kids think they are being recruited by those schools, but many of them will have to look elsewhere later.”

On high school coaches …

Few others, and perhaps no one else, have more of the right kind of knowledge about you to give you a better opinion than your high school coach. Your coach has watched and seen you develop and play football over several years. He also is in a good position to know what college coaches at each level are looking for in players. And he probably knows quite a bit about you and your personality, and which programs might be the best fit for you in that way, too.

College coaches don’t depend only on your own coaches for information about possible recruits. They also ask other coaches – those who coach opposing teams – about potential recruits on the teams they play. So it’s important for high school players to play well in every game, not only because that’s what they owe themselves, their teammates, their coaches, and their fans, but so that they can impress coaches on the opposing teams.

On parents’ expectations …

   “I have three kids of my own,” says Texas A&M recruiting coordinator Tim Cassidy, “so I know about parents’ hopes and expectations” for their kids. … In particular, parents often begin to dream of a Division I FBS scholarship that would pay all of their son’s college costs, or at least a partial scholarship to a lower-division school that would pay some of those costs. And just like many players, they often equate great football success and recognition in high school as an indicator of the type of success that can be expected for their son at the next level.

     On communicating with college coaches …

    “My world counts, yours doesn’t,” say recruiting consultant and former coach Randy Rodgers, explaining that many of the coaches who make recruiting decisions live in a different, older-generation world.“Most coaches live in an email world; most kids live in a texting world,” he adds, noting that “Kids don’t check email because their girlfriend always texts.”

   On highlight videos …

   “We never offer [a scholarship to] a kid off of a highlight film,” says Arkansas’ Director of High School Relations Dean Campbell. “We want to see the game film too.” Think of it this way – if your highlight tape has 25 of your best plays, that suggests that you played really well in only about two or three plays per game. So sooner or later, college coaches will want a game tape, which is video of an entire game in which you played.

And other sources: Other sources include Josephine “Jo” Potuto, a University of Nebraska law professor who has served on several NCAA committees and is an expert on NCAA enforcement and infractions processes; Kendal Briles, an assistant coach at Baylor University; Bert Hill, an assistant coach at SMU; Todd Ivicic, an assistant coach at the University of the Incarnate Word; Chris Sailer, kicking/punting coach and former UCLA player; and Joey Biasatti, former TCU player.

Hear interviews with
author Ray Grasshoff:

> New York-based
Football Reporters Online
(Part 1) and (Part 2)

> Texas Sports Reporter

Ray Grasshoff

Editor - Writer - Author

                                  For the latest news and insights on football recruiting,
                                  check out our blog now!

                                  BEYOND FRIDAY NIGHTS:
                                  College Football Recruiting for Players and Parents

                                  Available online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other sources,
                                          with ebook versions available for the Kindle, Nook, and others.

Additional information:
> Press kit

Press kit elements:
> news release
> Q&A with author
> fact sheet

Additional
news releases:
> Sept. 1 important
> Other teams' coaches
> Recruiting rankings

Contact author
Ray Grasshoff:
ray.grasshoff@yahoo.com

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