The truth of the matter is that most will not, but don’t let that stop you from doing your share when trying to receive one. College football scholarships are not just for the best high school players. It’s just too few of those players out there and available to go around.

During college football recruiting, college scouts are also looking for players that are good, but has the potential to be great, once in their system. My brother and I were Blue Chip Athletes coming out of high school so we know what it takes to go through the college football recruiting process, and receive football scholarships. Believe me, it is a process.

Do you have what it takes to play college football? Consider the following…

1. Passion. Do you eat, drink and live for football? You better, if you want to survive at a Division I school.
2. Ability. If your ability level is pretty high, talent and skill drills will be force feed to you. You must have the ability to quickly learn offensive or defensive (depending on your position) schemes and more importantly, have the will to perform every day.
3. Mindset. College for a student athlete is a grind, but your mindset will become your greatest competitive advantage if it’s well trained. You must be able to balance your social life, team mates, living arrangements, intense football schedule and your work. Thinking of work;
4. Grades. Be sure you know the NCAA Eligibility requirements for freshman student athlete for the school you are looking to attend. You will be required to attend classes’ everyday and maintain at least a good enough GPA too remain eligible for the year, every year. Many schools have discipline rules in place just in case your grades become an issue.
5. Exposure. When college football recruiting starts, will you be ready to market yourself? With thousands of high school seniors seeking college football scholarships, it’s not too rare that some athletes that have the ability to play Division I end up not receiving any Division I football scholarships.

Each college has a limited amount of football scholarships available and a limited amount of time to give them out. They can not possibly know about or recruit every athlete in the country.

Therefore, sometimes, you must make first contact. We tell high school football players all the time that, college coaches must know who you are before they can recruit you. We were fortunate enough coming out of high school to not have too worry about exposure. We played in a big time conference and against some of the best players in the state of Missouri.

But what really mattered was our commitment towards achieving our goals. How committed are you to playing college football on a full-ride football scholarship? These are just a few tips you need to consider but the most important thing is to set a goal and to do everything in your power to achieve it.

During college football recruiting, don’t expect scouts to come and knock on your door; (unless you are ‘blue chip’) be prepared to take some action. When talking with college scouts, be sure you have a list of questions that you would like to have answered.

Don’t allow the scout to ask all the questions. Remember, you want to be sure the schools you are seriously considering is a good fit for you.

Some questions you might consider asking are;

1. How often during the week is tutoring available and is it mandatory for all student athletes?
2. What is the graduation rate of your athletes?
3. When is an athlete allowed to live off campus?
4. How do I fit into your plans for the up coming season?
5. How many players at my position are you currently recruiting?
6. How many verbal commitments have you received from players at my positions?
7. Are you planning to be the head coach for the next four years?
8. How many college football scholarships do you have left to offer?

Questions like these give you great insight to the expectations on student athletes off the field, rules and regulations and the coaches’ plan. College football scholarships are easier to receive if you dominate on every single play.

There is an ugly rumor that persists in the football recruiting and scholarship process. The rumor is that your football academics really don’t matter if you are good enough to play at the college level. Especially if you are a blue chip or elite level player.

Don’t believe this rumor. Academics are a crucial part of playing college football before and after your are recruited. Many players who believed this ugly rumor was true, are now watching football from the sidelines or on television!

Before You Are Recruited:

Football coaches want players who can stay academically eligible to play. Sure, they want the best talent they can get, but they also realize talent does not matter if the kid can’t stay on the field due to being ineligible. Also, coaches usually recruit five or more players for each roster spot they have. If the talent levels are pretty close, the coach will usually give the scholarship offer to the kid who has the best high school GPA. It rewards the kid for hard work in the classroom, and it helps the coach to know he has signed a player who will stay eligible to play.

After You Sign The Scholarship:

Your football academics remain vitally important after you sign the scholarship and you are on the roster. In order to stay eligible to play, you must maintain a high enough GPA to remain active on the team. If you don’t do this, the coach has no choice to make you ineligible. If he doesn’t and the program gets caught by the NCAA or NAIA, all games won will usually have to be forfeited.

If you want to be recruited, maintaining your football academics is a must. Also, you should make contact with college coaches and let them know about your performance on the field and in the classroom. All coaches are looking for athletes who can perform on the field as well as excel in the classroom.

The main reason high school players don’t play in college is simply because they don’t want to. That means if you have the desire and a little talent, you will be able to find a college to play football at.

If you just want to play in college, enjoy your social life and have a great overall experience, DIII is the place for you. Those football players who want to play in college and earn a scholarship are up against serious competition. There are 85 scholarships in NCAA DI, 63 in I-AA and 36 at DII colleges.

To compete for these and play college football you need to have a recruiting system that you are willing to put time and effort into. There is no easy way to play college football, you have to work. Those football players who put the same effort into their recruiting as they do on the field, as the ones who get invited to camp.

You can also walk-on at all NCAA football programs. What you want to be is called a “preferred walk-on.” This means you go through the recruiting process the same as you would when seeking a football scholarship. If you are not offered a scholarship by the college of your choice, you can ask to be a preferred walk-on and get invited to camp. You will have all the same privileges and access as a scholarship athlete does, but will be paying 100% until you become a contributing player.

Here are 5 quick tips to play college football:

1. Start the recruiting process early: While it is never too late to start technically, those football players who start before their Senior year have a much higher success rate.
2. Get good grades: Even though the NCAA Clearinghouse minimum can be met by anyone with a high school diploma, 50% of DI programs can’t get you past admissions without a 3.0 GPA.
3. Get great film: Make sure you get a copy of every game tape. Even if your coach films the games, give him a blank tape to make a copy. You will need these when making your personal recruiting packet.
4. Take the extra steps: Are you lifting extra during the off-season and in-season? Are you doing extra conditioning and speed work outside of practice? Putting in a few extra hours a week will show during games and is what separates scholarship from walk-on.
5. Communicate: Tell your high school coach you want to play in college. Call college coaches and tell them you want to play for their program. If college coaches don’t know about you and don’t know you are a player, they can’t recruit you.

To play college football you need to put in effort, both on and off the field. Off the field in the classroom and towards football recruiting. With a solid recruiting plan you can beat out the competition and find a great college football program to play at.