The first Wednesday in February is a momentous day for hundreds of high school football players across the country as well as universities. It’s National Signing Day, the day prep players sign commitment letters to play college football.
How do coaches decide, of the hundreds of high school and junior college players, who to recruit and evaluate? Who will be a star or a bust? Recruiting is a year-round process. Add to this tough rules on when and how often coaches can contact players, and recruiting has become an art.
A Long Process
University of Northern Iowa Coach Mark Farley and his staff begin evaluating talent in February and March, looking at high school juniors who will be seniors in the fall. Coaches watch film, talk to high school coaches and school counselors. “We aren’t allowed to talk to the students,” said Farley, “but we can check their grades, their backgrounds, their character.”
UNI coaches evaluate where the team has needs—offensive line, defense, receivers. “On the line positions, we’re looking for growth potential, a physical frame that we can build on over the five years we have a player,” explained Farley. “At the skill positions—wide receivers, running backs, corners—we’re looking for speed and quickness more than how big their frame is. In linebackers, we look for bigger bodies at the Mike (middle) position, leaner and faster on the Sam and Will (outside) positions. At UNI we get seniors who may have been overlooked by the big schools. We try to evaluate who is going to be a good player in three years for our program.”
During June, the coaches continue to evaluate where a player might fit on the depth chart. Summer football camps play an important role in the recruiting process. UNI invites all players they are recruiting to come to their camps to get a personal look at them. Sometimes camps are a determining factor whether or not recruits will fit with the Panthers, as was the case with UNI recruit Mac O’Brien.
“When Mac went to camp last summer, the coaches were impressed with his speed and body build,” said his dad, Joe.
The fall gets busy for coaches. Not only are they in season and coaching their own team, the recruiting process picks up. Each recruit is evaluated once a week through December. Coaches are allowed one phone call per week to the recruit as well as talking with coaches, and watching film and live games. Recruits are allowed one on-campus visit to five different universities or colleges. UNI usually invites 40 prospective student-athletes to campus in the fall.
“Our success rate is pretty good,” said Farley. “If they come on campus, we have an 80 percent chance of signing them. The game-day atmosphere in and around the Dome is great. Recruits appreciate the fan support and the feeling of strong community support as well as our outstanding academic reputation at UNI. It’s a unique place.”
At the end of the season, the coaches hit the road for in-home visits. Recruiting areas are divided geographically, not by position. “We isolate a city within a five-hour radius of Cedar Falls and send one coach to each area. They’ll leave on Sunday night and hit all the towns we are recruiting along the way, then return on Friday,” said Farley. “It’s like a sales area. We want to have quality time with the recruit and his family with minimal road time.”
Coaches are allowed one home visit per week. Each recruit will get a minimum of two visits with a coach, probably three or four—first with their recruiting coach, then with their position coach and at least one visit with Coach Farley.
“I am the common denominator. Our recruiting coaches narrow the players down. I try to see everyone play in person—it’s an eye test versus what you see on tape. One kid may not look good on tape, but in person he’s good. I like to be able to compare everyone,” said Farley.
When school is out of session during December and January, coaches are not allowed contact with recruits.
The NCAA allows 63 full scholarships at the Football Championship Division (formerly Division I-AA). These can be divided up between recruits coming in. UNI usually signs between 20 and 25 players each year.
“Many people think that all of our student-athletes are on full scholarships,” said Farley. “Most of our kids coming in are on partial, some 10 percent, some 40 percent. That means they are paying for their own education. Many of our players wouldn’t be students at UNI if they weren’t recruited as football players.”
At the FBS (Division 1-A) schools, partial scholarships are not allowed. Student-athletes receive “all or none” offers—they are on full scholarship or nothing.
By February, UNI has received several verbal commitments from players. “On signing day, you just hope it all comes together,” explained Farley. “There is a lot of movement that causes a domino effect. If one of our recruits gets picked up by another school, then we have to look at our next best option. If a good player that we recruited doesn’t get signed by a big school, we’ll go after him.”
Recruiting at the Division III Level
NCAA rules are not as strict at the Division III level (Wartburg, Central, Coe, etc.). Wartburg Coach/Athletics Director Rick Willis said while Division III schools have the same goals as Division I programs—to get good student-athletes that can grow the program—there are some differences in the recruiting process.
“The main difference is at our level we don’t have scholarships. Aid is available to all students, including our athletes,” said Willis. “There is less regulation in terms of contacts with recruits. Another difference is our recruiting doesn’t stop on signing day. Our typical deadline is May 1 for financial aid, and we may extend beyond that depending on how much aid is available for us to give a student-athlete. There are no ‘dead periods’ in terms of talking to recruits for us.”
Another difference is roster size. “We’ll have 125 players on our roster this fall. We play seven junior varsity games each year. We don’t turn away players. Some come to Wartburg as students and want to be a part of our football team. As long as they are willing to do the things we ask as coaches and be a part of our team, they are welcome,” Willis said.
Division III schools rely on athletic programs as a key part of their general student recruiting efforts. At Wartburg, about one-third of the general student body also is involved in athletics. “The big schools have a limited number of players they can offer, but at Division III schools, we have a whole bunch of football players that are good athletes competing in a great conference,” said Willis.
A Family Affair
Mac O’Brien, a senior from Waterloo Columbus, signed with UNI this February. He’s following a family tradition - his father, Joe, played at UNI with Coach Farley in the ‘80’s. “I told Mac whatever direction he decided to go, it was totally his decision,” said O’Brien.
visited five Midwest universities. Some choices were eliminated early mainly due to academic offerings. A large part of his decision to come to UNI was based on his recruiting coach, Mario Verduzco.
“Mario has very high integrity. As a father, that was important to me. I’ve done the best I can instilling character and values. I was concerned about the type of kid Mac was going to be around, whohe’s going to hang with. I wanted to trust he’llbe around good people. Mario gave us that assurance,” said O’Brien.
When compared with other visits, O’Brien said it is hard to top the facilities at UNI. “Not only the Dome, but the Human Performance Center and the new training facilities and staff and the new weight room, we have the best anywhere at UNI.
“Because Mac grew up around UNI, it was good for him to visit other places. I think he realized how good it really is here,” said O’Brien. “Farley was great on his home visit. He made it all about Mac. When Mac made his decision, he called Farley himself. Mark called us and welcomed us into the Panther Family.
“I’m very proud of Mac and excited that he’s going to be a Panther. I told him there are a lot of kids on the football team but only 11 on the field on game day. He knows he has a lot of work ahead of him, but he is dedicated. The rest is up to him.” |
