ARE THERE TO MANY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL BOWL GAMES

I find myself writing on a totally different topic today than I had planned to cover. Many might think I just pull topics out of the air and post them. Really I spend time researching and interviewing and Fielding questions from college and High school coaches, student or parents of student athletes. I look at everything and see how that topic and recruiting are connected than I put my thought on the topic down and post for all you to read. However today a topic did fall into my lap from nowhere. After a news report on the college bowl game season aired today it started a chain of unexplained coincidences that kept today's topic in front of me. Yesterday and exactly one week earlier I had two parents of student athlete's call me and say my son was invited to play in a High School All American Bowl Game and are they really worth playing in? I will get back to you on that answer. I glanced over at my writers pad to make a note and on the back of the pad was the 2015/2016 college football bowl season line up. WOW 41 College football Bowl games. We start off with the Arizona Bowl with a TBA date and Kickoff time (this really means we hope to have the money to pull this game off). Than we jump into the AUTONATION CURE BOWL never heard of it! Or how about setting your DVR for the RAYCOM MEDIA CAMELLIA BOWL really! One more the ever popular POPEYE'S BAHAMAS BOWL come on man! Out of the 41 bowls if you look hard you will find the originals like the Alamo, Liberty, Sugar, Orange, Rose, Cotton Peach, Fiesta, Citrus, Holiday, Independence, Sun and Poinsettia Bowls. These 13 bowls and I might have missed a name or two we the staples and back in the 80"s we thought there were too many now 41 bowls. We don't have 82 good D1 programs. There are so many college bowls we now call a winning season six wins so we can put some schools in a bowl. They had to make it marketable so the NCAA attached the words BOWL ELIGIBLE to ad credibility to it. So the question is "are there to many college bowl games" I am going to save my answer for the end of this blog. 

So I have had parents contact me this week and telling me their son has been invited to play in a high school football bowl game. I bet many people don't even know how many there are out there. There are about 26+ state named high school bowl games not to mention the local groups like Rotary Club, Lions Club, VFW, and State of VS? Diamond Bowl, FBU has two or three and there are even more than that out there. Then there are the top four Blue Grey All American, Army All American, Under Armour All American Game and Semper fi Bowl. Now just like college bowl games I believe the original 13 have the most tradition are more marketable most watched and get better teams. In High School I believe the same thing with the top four. The Blue Grey All American Bowl, Army, Under Armour and Semper Fi give you a national platform for recruiting and all the others are more local or grass roots. 

At the end of the day NO I don't believe there are too many college bowl games. Football is becoming more competitive because student athletes see all these schools in the bowl games and it lets them know there can go to other schools and play on a big stage. It helps the schools promote their brand and increase their recruiting reach. I believe as silly as some of these names for the bowl games are its good for college football. 

At the same time NO I don't believe there are too many High School Football Bowl Games. These games give student athlete's a chance to showcase their talents and maybe change their recruiting status or be recognized for a great high school career that could be their last on the field of glory. 

I also believe it strengthens football all the way up thru college football and even up to the professional level. 

Straight from the Recruiting Guru

OH MY GOD HOW ARE THEY PLAYING IN THE NFL

OH MY GOD HOW ARE THEY PLAYING IN THE NFL

This is what we would hear if many student athletes and a lot of parents were to research and see where a lot of NFL players came from. So many times we hear I have to go to a power five conference or no one will know who I am. REALLY, what about working hard no matter where you’re going to school. I bet the Buffalo Bills Ty Powell of Harding University a small D2 didn’t give up because he didn’t go to a big D1 program or how about the Panthers Scott Simonson of Assumption College another small D2 school . You see it’s not where you go but what you do when you get there. I will tell you this “players that go to smaller FCS programs or D2 or lower spend their full time at that school producing a smarter football player and a more socially prepared citizen. Isn’t that really what this should be about? Grooming our next Army General or President of the United States. School is so much more than sports and even more than just academics. You learn how to get along with people from different places with different beliefs and points of view. You learn how to problem solve and negotiate and manage money. College is an experience that everyone should have an opportunity to go through. Oh guess what “no matter what the size of the school or the name on the building or how big their stadium is they all deliver the varsity experience! How many of three or four QB’s at a program will have a chance for any playing time or pro career? NONE but if they didn’t have to go to USC, PSU or play in the ROSE BOWL or HOURSE SHOE if they instead had gone to William Penn or Texas College their chances would be so much greater than it was riding the bench at the BIG POWER FIVE SCHOOL. Then they say I went here for the degree. That is Bull in its self. Most NAIA or Division 2 and DIVISION 3 schools have much higher recognized degrees than 90% of power five schools.

I don’t want to hear about baseball or Basketball we are talking football and the size of the school you attend. I want to say WOW congratulations to Caushard Lyon’s of the Pittsburgh Steelers (practice squad) and from TUSCULUM COLLEGE he is getting paid!!! Or how about DAVID FOUCAUT of the Pittsburgh Steelers and out of MONTREAL UNIVERSITY think he was on the radar NOT! The one thing all the people I have named have in common is they were ready to seize the opportunity when it came by and just in case it didn’t come by they became lawyers, doctors or business people from the school they played football at.

Look this is already playing it’s self out. With FCS smaller football programs beating larger ones like  Michigan being upset by Appalachian State University (back then an FCS program) to today with NAIA and Many FCS programs flexing its muscle on D1 and D1AA or D2 programs like Colorado State –Pueblo destroying FCS powerhouse Sam Houston State University in 2014. These are programs that have not one D1 student athlete on their roster but many D1 capable student athletes. People use the word lucky I just say kids want to play and the smart ones don’t care where. We are now starting to see the equalization of sports programs due to student athlete’s willing to do anything or go anywhere to play the sport they love and maybe get a shot at the next level. White student athletes going to historically black schools to play football and get their degree or traveling from one coast to the other coast. Suiting up for NAIA and standing out athletically and still holding the degree when it is all said and done.

As I started to look at NFL players and their schools I found institutions like Tiffin,  William Penn, Baker University, Harding, Monmouth, COE, Regina(Canada),Belhaven (NAIA), Calawa, Abilene Christian (D2 at the time) and the list goes on.  While yes there are more from the big D1 programs there is a huge number of D1AA and an ever growing amount of D2, D3 and NAIA schools as well. 10 years ago it was a long shot from the smaller D1’s today you can be found at any school at any Level.

So in my final thoughts it’s not where you go but what you do when you get there. Go where you can compete to play, enjoy the college experience and get your degree. It’s not the size of where you go but how big you feel when you’re done.

"Straight from the recruiting GURU!"

Straight from The Recruiting Guru: IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS DONE THAN YO...

Straight from The Recruiting Guru: IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS DONE THAN YO...: The Underground Recruit has traveled to and done business in 19 states this year. Well really in just 7 months. We have done football comb...

IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS DONE THAN YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS GOT !

The Underground Recruit has traveled to and done business in 19 states this year. Well really in just 7 months. We have done football combines, Baseball Showcases, Soccer tournament's, Basketball clinics. We have meet with Coaches across many sports and the student athlete's that play them. At every stop we learn something collect data and ask questions. As the year ends we connect with all the people we do business with and ask questions about how we can get better as a company. We do this so we can grow as a company, deliver a better product for future clients, become a better and stronger partner to those we do business with and last how we can increase our philanthropy to better serve the human race. If we as a company didn't challenge ourselves or more importantly know where to challenge ourselves we would become stagnant and not relevant as a company. For this not to happen you must look at what was done and what was the result you achieved from it. If you continue to do the same you should be able to know the outcome or direction of the outcome with little or no effort.  

So Kenneth what does this have to do with a student athlete and recruiting? Good question and my answer might surprise you. Most people think a student athlete will get better by growing, adding weight coming into their own going to or competing in the same venues they did the year before, but, now they are bigger, stronger and remember things from last year. All this will set them up for whatever they are looking for. It is nature that will step in and guide them to the promise land. Really!

You have to know what areas to get better in and how to get better in them. You need to challenge yourself and you need to know on what. Going to camps, showcases or tournaments is not the same as a position trainer or specialty trainer. Lifting weights in the high school weight room with the math teacher is not the same as lifting weights with a program laid out by a kinesiologist. So if I want to get better I need to know where to go to get better. I should have asked my coach "what do I need to work on" look at your film does it make sense can you see it? ASK questions what is the normal time for your event and what do you want your time to be at? The more information you have the more data you have on your weakness and wants or should be at's will give you the ground work to get better. Some people will comment on how this all cost money. REALLY STOP CRYING go after what you want. Some kid in downtown Chicago is going under the elevated train and with soap he took from his bathroom is lining out a footwork ladder or making circle cones. He or she is jumping benches at the park or doing their forty yard dashed next to a traffic speed indicator. They are lifting heavy blocks of wood or cement and whatever they can use to do their own workout. They will go to the net or watch others and make do with what they have. So if mom and dad can't or won't help you and you really want it you can make it happen. So lack of money is nothing but a cop out. 

It all comes back to the title of the post. Do what you have done get what you have gotten! Getting better getting noticed and being recruited all takes challenging yourself on every metric used in your sport. 

What Camps to do and What camps not to do that is the question ??

This question is asked by a lot of sport parents " what type of events should my athlete do to get seen'? Before I answer this I want you to know it doesn't matter if we are talking about SHOW CASES, COMBINES, TOURNAMENTS, and MEETS OR EVENTS. Getting out and competing against other student athlete's is good. Even better stepping out of your comfort zone by doing camps that draw from other states or are in other states so your student athlete isn't competing against the same athlete's all the time. As you travel you will find just how small the pool of recruits are in the different sports your kids compete in. So to keep this blog a little shorter and now that we know it really is the same across all sports I will use the word camps covering all sports. Also I must tell you I do some work with a football camp company called the Blue Grey and while some say I might swing info in their favor I will tell you I have worked for other camp companies and have the insiders view on competing at these camps.

 So back to the question "What types of camps should my student athlete be doing to get seen". I am a firm believer you get what you pay for. For example a 40.00 local camp gets you working with a local group of trainers/coaches maybe. Your student athlete goes out and competes and has the best day ever, who knows? Who saw it happen? So really what did your money buy? 

So now I am looking to go to a big time free camp like Nike Spark or The Opening or whatever they are calling it this year, Under Armour whoever . Most of the time the top kids coming are already on the radar expected to compete and being looked for. What does this mean for your student athlete? Well it was a free camp that 1000+ kids came to to compete so no out of pocket spent and really no recruiting done either. 

Now we come to your national camp companies these camps offer a national data base that you can go to and look up stats after the camps are over. I know for a fact there are College and  Prep School coaches use this as a tool as do recruiters looking for the next D1 student athlete or just the next paying client no matter what your being seen and that's exactly what you were paying for. 

Then there are two types of college camps and they are all good. There is your college camp on a site selected by that school and you will be seen and they will check testing. Then there are college camps where more than one school takes part. These are also good because there are many schools and many coaches looking at you. Bottom line money well spent. 

Camps with a rich tradition are always good because they have been around for a reason. When you as a parent go to these camps with your student athlete you will pick up on things like are they organized, do you see quality coaches like former Pro athletes, do you see the same faces year in  and year out and last do they guard the data they collect? If a student athlete carries his own stat sheet vs does the camp invest in people to chat numbers? This is very important and means a lot to coaches that use them as a source for athletes. 

So here is my advice to parents. (1) Always see what a national camp have to help your student athlete be seen. (2) Are they organized (3) Are they invite only or open to anyone that walks up. (4) Is there a path to something more? Always google the company read reviews and remember are there better than bad reviews. You know some people are never happy but are they small in numbers. 

Here is my plan for my student athlete's do 2 major or national and you want to do them year over year. Take a trip and get out of your comfort zone and do some college camps. Their information can be found on their athletic site search camps. I would look at doing six to ten camps from Dec through July. Do not over camp your athlete it will hurt his recruiting. 

My final thoughts on camps is "It's not about the cost because we all know quality isn't free it's about the experience and the exposure.

Well this is STRAIGHT FROM THE RECRUITING GURU!

When should the recruiting process start ?

This is the Holy Grail when it comes to college athletics’ The Scholarship offer! I guess one of the most asked questions is when should or how early should I start the recruiting process. I believe you need to first know what are the pillars of recruiting we see them as Academics, Testing, Highlights, Training and exposure. Each of these pillars has a different start time. By knowing this information you can watch your student athlete develop and minimize any investment until its needed. So let’s take them one at a time. 

(1) Academics; here knowledge is power knowing the rules of both the NCAA and the NAIA what classes have to be done by when. The different ways grading is looked by the NCAA knowing what can be made up and what can't. What surprised us most was how out of the loop most school guidance consular are to this crucial grading information. This has to start as a freshman a student athlete's academic resume is based on the total four years. This means every grade every test will impact their recruiting. 

(2) Testing; what numbers are good? Which test ACT or SAT should I do? When should it be taken? Great questions and again the sporting world is different than the non-sports world. Back to Knowledge is power. The test should be taken and the score wanted should be recorded before the start of the student athlete’s senior year. So with study and prep work at the start of their junior year. 

(3) Highlight film; this is so important. I believe as soon as your student athlete is doing a sport and the school has filming you should start. If the school only films seniors than please go get a 36.00 video camera and film you student athlete. You can never have too much film and you never want to be caught with too little film.  As soon as your student athlete starts to compete. 

(4) Training; this really depends on the type of coach your high school has or the type of position type camps or combines you do and the passion your student athlete displays. I would say when you as a parent feels this is the direction your student athlete will travel you should invest in so kind of specialized training this will only help in the recruiting process.

(5) EXPOSURE; while all the pillars in the process are important and really all are needed the exposure opens endless opportunities for a student athlete.  You as a parent need to know * what is my student athletes skill level? This information should come from a source with no personal ties to you or your athlete. How do I best get him or her seen by college coaches? When does this all happen? Do all coaches visit all high schools? These are all good questions and to tell you the truth there are many different answers that have all kinds of rules. Here I believe exposure starts when you start camps and combines baring the fact of you having the next super star student athlete this should start in the transition period between sophomore and becoming a junior. 

My final thoughts on all this is there is a lot going on when it comes to recruiting. All the rules in and outs people selling you things camps combines which do I do what ones don't I do ? These are just some questions you will ask yourself. You can always seek help from other sports parents they are a wealth of information.  If you want more professional guidance you can always reach out to me I am a recruiter and questions are always free. 

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