The recruiting process started because my name was in the local paper a lot, I was a three sport athlete in high school and succeeded in all of them. I started receiving a lot of information from different recruiting agencies. My parents didn’t feel like they were bringing much to the table for the amount of money they were charging. Basically, they promised to send out a mass email to a bunch of colleges and that was it. I did a lot of research myself and realized I could do the same thing, just by logging on to school athletic websites and filling out the recruiting questionnaires myself.
I went to a Nike football camp and that is where I was introduced to NCSA. I thought this would be just like every other recruiting program, but after talking with them I realized they did have more to offer. Not only would they be sending out emails, but the profile page they design for you was very appealing, especially including actual highlight footage. You will still have to send game tapes to most coaches, but at least the coaches can look at a few highlights and get a feel for your athletic abilities. If they are interested, they will definitely contact you.
Once the profile page was built and sent out the real work began. I decided I wouldn’t eliminate any area. I wanted to keep an open mind through the entire process. I never told a single coach that I wasn’t interested in their school at all. I stayed in contact with many coaches over the next year. You start to get a feel for the coaches that are really interested in you and those that are just trying to fill their roster.
The best advice I can give you is DON’T RULE OUT ANY SCHOOL. I was contacted by a small private school at the end of my sophomore year. I looked them up on line, and wasn’t impressed only because I saw that they only had 3,000 students. At that point I wanted to go to a bigger school. The coach kept inviting me down to check out the campus and I just never made the time. Finally my parents convinced me to check out the campus. After spending one day and one night on campus my entire outlook on smaller schools changed. I had no idea what a great and successful football program this college had and how prestigious the academic program was.
