Posts Tagged college football
Football Scholarships – 5 Common Mistakes
There is a proven system that will help get you recruited to play college football. Season after season the high school athletes that sign scholarships made the right decisions that placed them above the competition. There is also a wrong way to go through this process and it is the main reason you see talented football players sitting at home in the fall after they graduate.
Here are 5 common mistakes football players make when getting recruited:
- Only wanting to play big-time DI football. Some athletes let their ego get in the way of evaluating their true talent. There is nothing wrong with wanting to play at a top level school but these athletes are very few, less than 1 in 100. If you are not one of these, don’t limit your choices and shut the door on other opportunities.
- Believing everything a college coach says. Football recruiting is a game. The competitive nature of the sport makes for a live or die situation for coaches because their job often depends on it. They will string athletes along until a better player shows up right up until signing day. You as an athlete need to play the game on the coaches level and determine the true level of interest from a college coach.
- Getting a recruiting letter and thinking schools are interested. Thousands of letters are sent out by each college. These letters do not initially mean anything. What you choose to do with them from there is up to you. Some athletes will receive dozens of letters from a football program but never receive so much as a phone call from a coach. The process needs to be initiated by you to increase success.
- Not willing to play other positions. Coaches often look less at what position your currently play and look at you more as an athlete that can fit into their system of play. Too many athletes think they are only a receiver, not a defensive back, or only want to be a tight end and not an offensive tackle. You must be willing to play wherever and whenever to increase your opportunities.
- Giving up during the recruiting process. The recruiting season can be tedious, stressful and hard on your confidence. Those athletes who make it are not afraid to get turned down by colleges. They keep on searching and fighting for recognition from colleges even if they have not yet been rewarded with an offer.
You can play football in college and earn a scholarship. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes and take a no-holds-barred approach to your recruiting. You have worked too hard up to this point to let it slip away because of mistakes you make off the field towards recruiting.
Tags: coaches, college, college football, football, football player, football players, football recruit, football recruiting, football scholarship, football scholarships, high school, play college football, recruited, recruiting, scholarship, scholarshipsRelated posts
Football Scholarships – 5 Tips to Increase Your Chances
It is not easy to get a football scholarship to play in college. You are competing with thousands of other high school seniors all with the same goal as you. You must be able to separate yourself from your competition and gain a recruiting edge. The margin of those who sign a scholarship and those who don’t is very slim.
Here are 5 Tips that will help you increase your chances for a scholarship:
- Start early. Gone are the days of waiting until your senior season has ended and waiting for a couple of college coaches to contact you. Successful players are now starting in their sophomore and early in their junior year.
- Attend summer camps and combines. By selecting the right camps and combines to attend you can go from high school athlete to college recruit in one day. Not all camps and combines are created equal so make sure you choose ones that will maximize your exposure and recruiting potential.
- Get the best academic grades and test scores possible. Colleges keep raising the minimum that they will grant waivers for athletes. If you graduate with under a 3.0 GPA, you just shut the door on 50% of NCAA schools. It is never too late to increase your grades so make it a priority now.
- Play multiple sports. College coaches like to see football players who excel in other sports like track, wrestling, lacrosse, baseball and basketball. Athletic diversity shows true raw athletic talent and can make up for minor deficiencies on the football field. Football is a sport where specialization does not matter as much as raw athletic talent.
- Do it yourself. Handle the recruiting process yourself. This shows much more initiative than a player whose family pays a recruiting service to fax out online profiles and make a fancy highlight tape. College football coaches evaluate much more than your athletic ability. Determination and initiative show a lot towards whether the high school athlete will be a success in college.
There are many other little details that go into making a successful recruiting season. The most important is having the desire and wanting to play in college for the right reasons. If you have a solid strategy for recruiting, you can earn a football scholarship and beat out the thousands of other athletes all fighting for the same spot.
Tags: basketball, coaches, college, college coaches, college football, college football coaches, college recruit, football, football coach, football coaches, football field, football player, football players, football scholarship, football scholarships, high school, recruiting, scholarship, scholarships, sportsRelated posts
Football Recruiting Updates – Staying in Contact With College Coaches
If you are trying to get recruited to play college football, you need to stay in contact with college coaches. Once initial contact has been made, you need to send football recruiting updates to the coaches who have shown some interest in having you join their program.
Once coaches start communicating with you, you need to keep the communication lines open by sending them football recruiting updates. When they write or call you, they will usually ask you to take some type of action. They may ask you for game footage, for you to fill out a questionnaire and return it, or they may ask you for photos, etc. I hate to sound too obvious here, but whatever they ask you to do, do it right away!
Once you go through this initial contact, you may not hear from them for a while, especially if you are a freshman, sophomore, or junior. To make sure you stay on their radar screen and they don’t forget about you, make sure you send them updates every so often.
When To Send Updates And What To Send
I suggest sending your football recruiting updates before the season begins, mid-season, and at the end of your high school season. You can also give them an update on your summer team status after the summer season ends. Just make sure you stay in contact.
On these updates, you want to send them key statistics, your outstanding accomplishments, or any newspaper articles written about you. Remember, you have to be your own marketer and promote, unless you are blessed with a coach who takes care of this process for you.
Keep Your Updates Brief
Keep your football recruiting updates to one page. Just like with your cover letter and athletic resume, you want to keep it short and to the point. If your updates get too long and detailed, they will most likely end up sitting on the desk of the coach and never being read. The payoff for sending these updates is tremendous. In fact, it just may put you in a position to earn an athletic scholarship!
Tags: athletic scholarship, coaches, college, college coaches, college football, football, football recruit, football recruiting, high school, play college football, recruited, recruiting, scholarshipRelated posts