First of all - where is he body wise? If he had to play varsity tomorrow does he measure up and can get by on natural strength until he hits the weights consistently? Is he a varsity player immediately or you project him to play sub varsity for a year or two?
Is he fast already?
Once you get the measurables down then it’s about production and is he playing the right position for his size which plagues small rosters. A 5-11 left tackle ain’t gonna cut it but a 5-11 slot receiver, DB has a shot with good film. Can he play special teams?
Dead on. I’d add don’t get all hung up on the “D1 or bust” or all these personal trainers saying they’ll get your kid there. Don’t look down at D2/D3/JUCO/NAIA…playing at any level collegiately is heck of an accomplishment
I don’t know anything about recruiting and am finding this to be very interesting. Please update us as you can on how the process works. Let us know if his school gives him or you any guidelines about what is allowed and what isn’t. Thanks
Exactly. Even though DIII technically can’t give out athletic scholarships, there are work-arounds that provide academic and other scholarships for athletes. BUT, the better your grades, the easier it is for the school to justify the dollars.
My son was a later bloomer, grew about 6 inches his first year in college. As such, he went DIII and saved me many $$$$. You don’t have to be near the top of your HS class, but you do need to show you take academics seriously.
Hi too think this is a very interesting and positive line of posts. It’s nice to read from those with first hand experience and advice from the likes of Gienna, CoachV and others. I wish we had more of these types of posts.
This kinda fun going down memory lane. I miss those days!
Here is a list of all D3 schools, not all play football.
80% of D3 are private, many are liberal arts. Despite the hefty price tag, in many cases 35-55k per year, it ended up being less expensive attending a 45k private than it would have cost him to attend UH or A&M. (I know…I failed as a parent and Coog there. )
Again, good grades are essential, but these schools place value across a much broader criteria, such as clubs, leadership, etc. Fortunately my son tested better than he studied in HS (2nd qtr) which helped his chances.
I’m not sure how it would have gone if he hadn’t been a good athlete and applied just on the basis of grades and testing. Pretty sure he probably would have been admitted, but probably with less assistance.
One last thought, out of state schools are very receptive to Texas applicants, don’t limit the search to in-state.
Obviously this is not for the elite athlete but for the many who just want to keep competing. Plus, there is the benefit, even encouraged, of playing multiple sports as well.
If he’s looking for a solid DIII program, tell him to look at my undergrad alma mater, Case Western Reserve U. They were in some pre-season DIII Top 25 rankings before the DIII season was cancelled.
12 years ago we started The Senior Showcase. We host 500 kids all with college qualifying grades and 40-50 D3 & NAIA colleges. We started it for the HISD kids who were at a severe disadvantage but grew it to be citywide. In fact, due to demand, I have 30 slots set aside for small town kids. The definition of small town was whether or not I have ever heard of it. I realized kids that came from those towns, this was their only shot to get out. The big number is 72% of those that participate receive an offer. Kids with ability and good grades will receive double digit offers. That’s 72% of, on average, 450 kids annually. Even had a kid from Dulles with no D1/D2offers takes an offer to Trinity International, get his degree and makes the Arizona Cardinal roster.
I have a benefactor by the name of Murry Bowden. He’s a Hall of Famer from Dartmouth and is the Chairman of Hanover Corporation. He also sits in the NFF Board. Any time I was short of cash to put it on, I could call Murry and he would cover me. I’d bring him a polo & hat and invite him to attend. He never did until about 4 years into it.
We were standing on the sidelines when this young kid in dreads wearing a Texas Lutheran jacket walked by and I said “TLU is in the house!” He replied “I was here”. “You’re here now”
“When I was a senior at North Shore, I didn’t think I could go to college, so I came to this event. Texas Lutheran offered me a scholarship and now I’m a coach at TLU. This thing changed my life”
Guess what? He went on to GA at Baylor with Ruhle and now a defensive back coach with the Carolina Panthers.
This is true but film don’t lie. Some coaches do a great job of promoting kids and others do nothing. That is especially true if your kid isn’t D1 caliber. Some coaches only care about D1 recruiting. However, college coaches will find kids on film looking at someone else. Film is key. HUDL is an advertisement to order film.
I will give props to my boy’s HS for really helping with recruiting. Even the one who was not interested in college ball was offered a few DIIs. And yes, D1 is not the only avenue. Derek really put himself out there because that was his goal. In the end, whether it’s D1 or NAIA, the objective is to earn that degree, make lifetime friends and play a sport you love.
I had a co-worker that played for the Rose-Hulman Fighting Engineers in Indiana. They didn’t schedule around football for practice or games. Freshmen had Saturday classes and if classes conflicted games or practices, they just missed the games or practices.
I’d sign him up for football camps at UH etc that the coaches run. It’ll give them a chance to see him in person, work with him, and how he responds to coaching and what to work on.
Honestly i dont know objectively. I think hes as good or better then his teammates.
I just measured his and hes 5’6" 122lb
Not trying to make excuses but we’ve had a string of serious issues with coaching who have refused to play him because his twin sister was also playing or just had no clue about football. and while the new Crosby HS coach looks good the MS coaching leaves a lot to be desired. we have had some social/political issues with the coaching staffs before and look like we will have them in HS as well.
There is a lot of great advice and knowledge for your son on this thread. It’s obvious folks want him to do well. SPEED is a variable that may set him apart from others. I have coached and I can watch kids for about 20 minutes and I can tell you pretty fast who the good athletes are. The fast kids always seem to jump out. It is also one of the hardest thing to change- either you have it or you don’t. Good track coaching can greatly improve his mechanics and make him a little faster, but his genetics have as much to do with it as anything.
Coaches in some cases can make or break recruiting- some will hate on certain schools cause they were rivals or they heard things about them. Others get caught up in the process trying to befriend a college coach and will ignore other schools
Not as bad as it used to be thanks to the Internet but they played a role at one time.
Speed is a huge factor in why Derek was recruited. He also ran club track and worked with former college track athletes. His coaches were amazing and they trained him with HS kids when he was in junior high. Speed and agility drills are great too. Speed in any position will get an athlete noticed.
Also encourage your son to play every sport he can. Makes him a better athlete and college coaches love multi-sport kids. I can speak for baseball and they LOVE kids that also played football in particular
)