Posts Tagged play 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 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
College Football Scholarships and How to Receive One
Most high school athletes dream of being offered college football scholarships.
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…
- Passion. Do you eat, drink and live for football? You better, if you want to survive at a Division I school.
- 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.
- 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;
- 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.
- 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;
- How often during the week is tutoring available and is it mandatory for all student athletes?
- What is the graduation rate of your athletes?
- When is an athlete allowed to live off campus?
- How do I fit into your plans for the up coming season?
- How many players at my position are you currently recruiting?
- How many verbal commitments have you received from players at my positions?
- Are you planning to be the head coach for the next four years?
- 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.
Tags: coaches, college, college coaches, college football, college football recruit, college football recruiting, college football scholarship, college football scholarships, college scout, football, football player, football players, football recruit, football recruiting, football schedule, football scholarship, football scholarships, high school, high school football, high school football players, play college football, recruiting, scholarship, scholarshipsRelated posts