Keys to Recruiting (College Football)

Recruiting is essential to building a great football program & any successful football program is built on strong recruiting. It takes great preparation, dedication, persistence, hard work, and the right coaches and scouts to find the right players that can contribute to your football program. Recruiting lies in the ability to sell the community, university, facilities, head coach, and the football program. Recruiting is developing relationships by communicating with proper grooming and social skills. “Recruiting is like shaving, you must do it everyday or you will look like a bum.”-Cary Fowler. 

“Makes no difference how good a ring master you are, if you don't have some Lions, Tigers, and Bears; you don't have much of a circus.” With the mindset of winning a National Championship, Recruiting must be done in the state, region, and in the nation to find the best players needed. There has to be a strong and competitive approach to recruiting just as it is on gameday. Organization and diligence is a need to recruit the athletes needed for your football program. Two important things, you never want to deceive the prospect athlete, and never allow yourself as a coach to be held hostage by a recruit.

Staff Effort: One important thing to know is recruiting is a staff effort and the head coach is always kept in the loop on all information on a prospect. Recruiting an athlete and signing that athlete to a football scholarship must be a product of the recruiting system. The head coach, position coaches, and coordinators will get together and approve or disapprove the status of the prospect to whether he will be offered a football scholarship. There are no individual decision on offering scholarships and recruiting prospects. It is a staff effort; just like any other team. The staff has to come together as a team to find the best players to be part of their football program. The staff always wants to locate, prioritize and evaluate athletes that will meet the needs of the team. The staff needs to make sure the prospect is the type of athlete the football program needs and wants. Not just as an athlete, but as a student and person.

 

Recruiting Character: Character plays an important role when going after prospects for your program. Questions to ask yourself as a coach. Is he committed to excellence? When we talk about commitment to excellence, coaches need to know if he strive for perfection and dedication to contribute towards the program. Can he be trusted? Can the coaches and players trust the athlete to take care of his responsibility not just as a player but as a student as well. Going to class, making study hall, making it to meetings on time and watching film. Does he care about others? Coaches should want and need an athlete that's not a selfish player. He puts his teammates first, cares about his teammates and the football program. Not a “Me “type player! The “me” type player is what destroys the locker room and foundation of the team.

Keys to remember: Recruiting is the lifeblood to building success in a football program.

a)      Identify- know who you want and the type of player you need to recruit. Understand your needs as a team at each position and what will help you win.

b)      Know a prospect - evaluate a background on each prospect with great communication among high school coaches, teacher, counselors and parents. Need to work hard to build a solid relationship with prospect and know their needs as well.

                                i)            Academics

                              ii)            Work ethic

                            iii)            Character

                            iv)            Desire to succeed

                              v)            True feelings towards football ( how important it is to him)

During recruiting meetings, make sure accurate information is given, work hard together as a staff to fill needs assessment and have a plan to close. The recruiting process must receive great attention from everyone on the staff.

Pathway to a national championship By: Cary Fowler (Recruiting Manual)

Tarleton State Football 2010