Recruiting

[PeeDeeFootballFan]

Has college recruiting changed so much that now everything is about height, weight, and camps? I go to a lot of HS football games around the entire east coast. Prior to COVID I saw college coaches at games. I even saw coaches from Michigan and Rutgers at a game in NC. I don’t see that anymore. However, I do see a lot of big name recruits that don’t live up the billing in person. Some do, like the Sellers kid and the Randalll kid and the Dutch Fork running back from last year. But I’ve seen several local kids over the last few years billed as big time recruits who look the part but can’t play. I won’t name kids currently in HS but saw a QB with SEC offer this year that had trouble completing a pass at all and nothing besides tunnel screens. Saw a few edge rushers with SEC and ACC offers who look like men get dominated by 3A offensive lineman with zero offers. Just curious what others think. Seems like it’s more of a genetics game then ever and not a lot of evaluation of guys as football players. I know recruitment is about potential, but seems as if college coaches are taking the easy way out and letting the hype train from the camp circuit, media, etc. have too much input on who they offer. Heck the Sellers kid wasn’t even offered until Dec by USC and he is clearly one of the best QBs in the country but wasn’t a big camp circuit guy. Just seems weird. USC could have saved themselves a waster scholarship by watching the Manning/Sumter D end in a game on top of realizing the issues he apparently had with guns and violence. Lots of talent throughout the state and seems like only the media hyped guys or guys who spend more time at camps than with their team are being rewarded. Curious about others thoughts. Obviously things change over time and the game changes but I remember when Coaches were out there finding the guys who had the talent and the drive to win not just collect offers.

[Rebel-Fan-74]

Now it seems to be who had the best video production...

But I think it will not matter soon. With the transfer portal, many coaches are getting players there and not looking for anything less that 4 or 5 star players.

[PeeDeeFootballFan]

Agree the portal is killing HS kids but it is also killing a lot of the kids in the portal. Look at the numbers who enter with bad advice and lose a scholarship. Adults have really altered the world for kids who are just playing a sport and trying to get to school. It’s a sad situation honestly when you include the portal and the COVID year and how it has affected HS kids. Obviously it has trickled down to youth sports which is a money maker and the personal coach thing which impacts who gets the opportunities. It is becoming pay to play unless you are a physical freak. And the people benefiting are adults. Sad state of affairs but you would think it would get corrected by college coaches who need to win and want the best football players. Now they can do that with more hype through the portal and if they miss no one blames them because Ole Miss offered that kid at one point. Well maybe a reason he wasn’t playing at Ole Miss but rather take him than a HS kid. Regardless, maybe I’m just an old guy but I wish it was back to the times when the guys who worked and had the talent got those opportunities. Watching an 8th grader get offered by a P5 and then every G5 offer that kid based on that offer when the kid ends up not being a four year starter but not an elite player at HS seems ridiculous. Then at the same position a kid plays JV then varsity as a 10-12 grader and matured into an elite player his last two years but is looking at DII because he wasn’t “FBS kid” in 8th grade is crazy. I mean those 8th grade phenoms who don’t pan out later are the kids who end up in the transfer portal and take the FCS positions from HS kids later without any real commitment to winning. Free agency like that (along with the charter school issue) will kill HS football eventually. It won’t in places where it’s your only way out but it will in others which isn’t good for the game or kids. It’s why I like small towns where football is king on Friday nights but also why those places will start to go away because adults will take kids to bigger places with more opportunities that may not pan out. Wish some HS coaches would say and do more when it comes to the college coaches to push their kids instead of being enamored with the helicopter landing for 20 minutes. Tell them about the dudes you have that can play football not just the guys that some reporter who never played talks about every Friday because he has the measurables and looks good on TV in selected highlights. It’s a credibility issue for HS coaches but that is for them to decide on promotion not some media guy with a Twitter looking for clicks. Just my 2 cents and telling people to get off my lawn. We will see. I may start tracking these prospects and how things pan out from 8th grade when they are apparently identified now they college. I can tell ya the first 2 I would track out of Florence who will likely have very different paths. One everyone loves in the camp circuit and press. The other is just a football player.

[Rebel-Fan-74]

Two places that I always check, some for football, some for basketball....

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/foo ... view/rn300

https://247sports.com/season/2024-footb ... highschool

[Deputy]

It’s a weird time. Unless you are a 4-5 star it seems all the Power 5 types are looking at the portal. Then the rest of the school all the way down to D2 are waiting to see who might be available to them in the portal from a higher level. See a kid play every week that runs a laser timed 4.4. A terror on defense and a threat to go the distance offensively whenever he touches the ball. He’s been selected for the Shrine Bowl. Doesn’t have one offer. Go figure.

[1 CAT FAN]

Gray & Oceanside could give a few pointers on recruiting.

[BBurg_Wildcat 22]

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That right there!