Recruiting advice from past/current parents (or recruits)?

[richmondcuse03]

Somewhat OT topic but have a friend with a son in HS -- offensive lineman and DT in PA. Smart kid, great family.

Has received some interest from lower level D1 schools. Big kid (6'5) with some potential but a late bloomer and his parents aren't well versed in recruiting. Never done much camps or anything like that so I think his exposure has been limited, especially given part of PA they live in.

From what I've seen of his tape, he seems like with the right lower level DI program, he could be a good recruit. Needs a good S&C program to take him to a bigger level.

What advice would you give his parents about helping to push his recruiting at this late stage? He's got the typical videos and stuff like that but that's about it. Appreciate Board's insight!

 

[st_machine]

its late in the recruiting cycle. If he's not on anyones radar yet, its a tough sell.
What kind of schools is he looking at? xyz state college?
Your state U? Colgate/lehigh types? Notre dame Northwestern?
How are his grades/test scores? Is he willing to walk on?
How mature is he? A post grad yr at prep school or
a yr at community college with a team might be an option.
My advice would be to target the best schools academically he can get into
that might have struggling football programs. That might be thin at the line.
A friend of mine went this route
with his kids and it worked out well for him.

 

[richmondcuse03]

its late in the recruiting cycle. If he's not on anyones radar yet, its a tough sell.
What kind of schools is he looking at? xyz state college?
Your state U? Colgate/lehigh types? Notre dame Northwestern?
How are his grades/test scores? Is he willing to walk on?
How mature is he? A post grad yr at prep school or
a yr at community college with a team might be an option.
My advice would be to target the best schools academically he can get into
that might have struggling football programs. That might be thin at the line.
A friend of mine went this route
with his kids and it worked out well for him.

Helpful advice. Thank you. He’s been looking heavily at the Lehigh/Colgate/Bucknell type schools for some of reasons noted above including grades (he’s a smart kid with straight As). Those types of schools have shown interest. But I assume he needs to be contacting more schools and pushing the issue himself as much as possible. It’s just a foreign concept to his family so they haven’t done the proactive push as much as they should have.

I was wondering about prep school - I think physically it could probably help him a lot and give him more time to reset the recruiting game.

 

[RICuse44]

If he’s looking patriot league he should look NESCAC too. Visit and see which one he likes. Figure out which has the best program for him in whatever he wants to do with the rest of his life. And steer him to one where they put coursework first and don’t give ridiculous answers like no you can’t be that major because of football.

 

[CuseCrew08]

I would only recommend prep school if he absolutely loves football and wants to play at the highest level he can.

What about Ivies??

 

[upperdeck]

if he is smart and the family is not rich look at the ivies you might get a full ride if you choose the right one..

 

[bcubs9497]

Somewhat OT topic but have a friend with a son in HS -- offensive lineman and DT in PA. Smart kid, great family.

Has received some interest from lower level D1 schools. Big kid (6'5) with some potential but a late bloomer and his parents aren't well versed in recruiting. Never done much camps or anything like that so I think his exposure has been limited, especially given part of PA they live in.

From what I've seen of his tape, he seems like with the right lower level DI program, he could be a good recruit. Needs a good S&C program to take him to a bigger level.

What advice would you give his parents about helping to push his recruiting at this late stage? He's got the typical videos and stuff like that but that's about it. Appreciate Board's insight!

What year is he?

 

[richmondcuse03]

What year is he?

He’s a senior.

 

[bcubs9497]

Somewhat OT topic but have a friend with a son in HS -- offensive lineman and DT in PA. Smart kid, great family.

Has received some interest from lower level D1 schools. Big kid (6'5) with some potential but a late bloomer and his parents aren't well versed in recruiting. Never done much camps or anything like that so I think his exposure has been limited, especially given part of PA they live in.

From what I've seen of his tape, he seems like with the right lower level DI program, he could be a good recruit. Needs a good S&C program to take him to a bigger level.

What advice would you give his parents about helping to push his recruiting at this late stage? He's got the typical videos and stuff like that but that's about it. Appreciate Board's insight!

BTW, does he have video? For instance, HUDL? Does he have a recruiting profile to send to coaching staff? How many camps has he attended? How big is his high school?

If this kid's in his sophomore year, then there's time. If he's a junior, it's crunch time. If he's a senior graduating next year, it's going to be incredibly difficult to get an FBS scholarship.

 

[CuseLegacy]

Helpful advice. Thank you. He’s been looking heavily at the Lehigh/Colgate/Bucknell type schools for some of reasons noted above including grades (he’s a smart kid with straight As). Those types of schools have shown interest. But I assume he needs to be contacting more schools and pushing the issue himself as much as possible. It’s just a foreign concept to his family so they haven’t done the proactive push as much as they should have.

I was wondering about prep school - I think physically it could probably help him a lot and give him more time to reset the recruiting game.

There are a lot of kids that requalify and prep just because they aren't getting the type of offers they were hoping to receive. But prepping isn't a guarantee. He may be better off just looking to get accepted to a school with great academics and maybe play football. And there are those kids who go to a D1 school and walkon but that is a hard road.

 

[JackBauer44]

Somewhat OT topic but have a friend with a son in HS -- offensive lineman and DT in PA. Smart kid, great family.

Has received some interest from lower level D1 schools. Big kid (6'5) with some potential but a late bloomer and his parents aren't well versed in recruiting. Never done much camps or anything like that so I think his exposure has been limited, especially given part of PA they live in.

From what I've seen of his tape, he seems like with the right lower level DI program, he could be a good recruit. Needs a good S&C program to take him to a bigger level.

What advice would you give his parents about helping to push his recruiting at this late stage? He's got the typical videos and stuff like that but that's about it. Appreciate Board's insight!

I'm good friends with some football coaches at Bucknell. If you want me to reach out to them on your friends son's behalf, DM me and we can chat.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

You didn't describe what's motivating him to want to continue. To me, that really informs what schools he could be targeting. For your average recruited athlete, it's a really personal experience.

For example, if he just wants to play in college, and is already coming from a smaller high school environment, maybe he'd do well just to use his talent as an admissions hook to apply to top academic D3 schools (RICuse mentioned NESCAC). Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, and &M all have pretty good teams and are in the region. Muhlenberg and Susquehanna are not as strong of schools (still respectable and maybe he could get merit aid too), but play pretty good ball. At the D2 level, the PA State schools all play at that level. For low D1, he's sniffing around the right ball park.

 

[SURules]

“parents aren't well versed in recruiting”. Not uncommon actually unfortunately. Lots of good advise above.

 

[RandomGuy]

BTW, does he have video? For instance, HUDL? Does he have a recruiting profile to send to coaching staff? How many camps has he attended? How big is his high school?

If this kid's in his sophomore year, then there's time. If he's a junior, it's crunch time. If he's a senior graduating next year, it's going to be incredibly difficult to get an FBS scholarship.

+1

Being tall is great. It's hard to know if he has potential with no info. Here is a positional guideline of athletic attributes he'll need. If he's hitting on every one? Prep school could be an option. If not? Many of those players wind up d2/d3. All State / All Conference type player is desired at each level.

Introduction | Football Positional Guidelines | Go Big Recruiting

Know what stats to strive for in every position to get recruited by the best college football program you can.

www.gobigrecruiting.com

 

[richmondcuse03]

You didn't describe what's motivating him to want to continue. To me, that really informs what schools he could be targeting. For your average recruited athlete, it's a really personal experience.

For example, if he just wants to play in college, and is already coming from a smaller high school environment, maybe he'd do well just to use his talent as an admissions hook to apply to top academic D3 schools (RICuse mentioned NESCAC). Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, and &M all have pretty good teams and are in the region. Muhlenberg and Susquehanna are not as strong of schools (still respectable and maybe he could get merit aid too), but play pretty good ball. At the D2 level, the PA State schools all play at that level. For low D1, he's sniffing around the right ball park.

Thank you all for the advice and feedback. Incredibly helpful and will summarize for his dad. This board as always is a great resource and appreciate the additional DMs too.

He visited Susehanna and Lehigh recently. To your question, honestly the goal is to keep playing football at some level and try to use it to defray/eliminate cost of school. Not sure on major yet.

He loves to play the game. His would dad would prefer him to stay within a few hour drive (4-5 or less) so family can watch him play.

Need to find out current height as I thought he was closer to 6’5 but hudl says 6’3. Based on other measurables (link shared) seems like he should be able to play at low FCS or high D2 level.

Posting hudl video per other feedback:

Jordan Fernandez on Hudl

Watch Jordan Fernandez's videos and highlights on Hudl. More info: East Stroudsburg High School South - Boys Varsity Football / T, G / Class of 2020 / East Stroudsburg, PA

www.hudl.com

 

[FAL]

Thank you all for the advice and feedback. Incredibly helpful and will summarize for his dad. This board as always is a great resource and appreciate the additional DMs too.

He visited Susehanna and Lehigh recently. To your question, honestly the goal is to keep playing football at some level and try to use it to defray/eliminate cost of school. Not sure on major yet.

He loves to play the game. His would dad would prefer him to stay within a few hour drive (4-5 or less) so family can watch him play.

Need to find out current height as I thought he was closer to 6’5 but hudl says 6’3. Based on other measurables (link shared) seems like he should be able to play at low FCS or high D2 level.

Posting hudl video per other feedback:

Jordan Fernandez on Hudl

Watch Jordan Fernandez's videos and highlights on Hudl. More info: East Stroudsburg High School South - Boys Varsity Football / T, G / Class of 2020 / East Stroudsburg, PA

www.hudl.com

How about Ursinus? Great campus, good academics,close to Philly, great tradition in the Centennial League. My brother-in-law’s son played FB there; he loved the whole experience, playing the game and classwork. And probably an hour and a half drive (or less) from Stroudsburg area.

 

[bcubs9497]

Thank you all for the advice and feedback. Incredibly helpful and will summarize for his dad. This board as always is a great resource and appreciate the additional DMs too.

He visited Susehanna and Lehigh recently. To your question, honestly the goal is to keep playing football at some level and try to use it to defray/eliminate cost of school. Not sure on major yet.

He loves to play the game. His would dad would prefer him to stay within a few hour drive (4-5 or less) so family can watch him play.

Need to find out current height as I thought he was closer to 6’5 but hudl says 6’3. Based on other measurables (link shared) seems like he should be able to play at low FCS or high D2 level.

Posting hudl video per other feedback:

Jordan Fernandez on Hudl

Watch Jordan Fernandez's videos and highlights on Hudl. More info: East Stroudsburg High School South - Boys Varsity Football / T, G / Class of 2020 / East Stroudsburg, PA

www.hudl.com

Close to home would be great for his parents. also know there are a number of FCS level schools in the NE that would be close enough for his folks to visit.

tell his parents that it is ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that they get that recruiting profile finished as soon as possible. then they need to start a relentless email campaign. his high school coach isn't going to do it for them (too busy most likely).

 

[RandomGuy]

Thank you all for the advice and feedback. Incredibly helpful and will summarize for his dad. This board as always is a great resource and appreciate the additional DMs too.

He visited Susehanna and Lehigh recently. To your question, honestly the goal is to keep playing football at some level and try to use it to defray/eliminate cost of school. Not sure on major yet.

He loves to play the game. His would dad would prefer him to stay within a few hour drive (4-5 or less) so family can watch him play.

Need to find out current height as I thought he was closer to 6’5 but hudl says 6’3. Based on other measurables (link shared) seems like he should be able to play at low FCS or high D2 level.

Posting hudl video per other feedback:

Jordan Fernandez on Hudl

Watch Jordan Fernandez's videos and highlights on Hudl. More info: East Stroudsburg High School South - Boys Varsity Football / T, G / Class of 2020 / East Stroudsburg, PA

www.hudl.com

Looks like he has done S n C. Decent #'s.

5.84 40yd, and 5.2 shuttle could be problematic. For Cuse, I think there are 3 linemen with 4.7 or under shuttles. Most 40s would be about 5, with Servais breaking 5.

I know1 kid with a 5.5 forty that wound up d2. 6'7 300lbs. There are some FBS with 5 second shuttles that have demonstrated exceptional ability, or length.

I'm of the mindset that each tier is often separated by 1 inch or 1 tenth of a second. Hope this young man has a great season!

 

[Newhouser]

If he’s looking patriot league he should look NESCAC too. Visit and see which one he likes. Figure out which has the best program for him in whatever he wants to do with the rest of his life. And steer him to one where they put coursework first and don’t give ridiculous answers like no you can’t be that major because of football.

I think that may depend on what level he wants to play at as the Patriot and NECAC are night and day in terms of football.

 

[buffalorange]

Somewhat OT topic but have a friend with a son in HS -- offensive lineman and DT in PA. Smart kid, great family.

Has received some interest from lower level D1 schools. Big kid (6'5) with some potential but a late bloomer and his parents aren't well versed in recruiting. Never done much camps or anything like that so I think his exposure has been limited, especially given part of PA they live in.

From what I've seen of his tape, he seems like with the right lower level DI program, he could be a good recruit. Needs a good S&C program to take him to a bigger level.

What advice would you give his parents about helping to push his recruiting at this late stage? He's got the typical videos and stuff like that but that's about it. Appreciate Board's insight!

Maybe the MAC schools, too. I'm partial to UB . As others have stated though, his family needs to reach out to the schools. A highlight video will be a big asset.

 

[SURules]

Find schools that has his desired major and plays football ASAP, then reach out to the coaches for theses schools. Can not be shy here as the kid has to go after this rather than the parents. The coaches will want to see a profile and film. D3 is OK too as they have “academic” scholarships but are very generous with those for athletes. Academic scholarship is better than an athletic one as regardless to what happens, they will retain the scholarship.

 

[SURules]

Find schools that has his desired major and plays football ASAP, then reach out to the coaches for theses schools. Can not be shy here as the kid has to go after this rather than the parents. The coaches will want to see a profile and film. D3 is OK too as they have “academic” scholarships but are very generous with those for athletes. Academic scholarship is better than an athletic one as regardless to what happens, they will retain the scholarship.

Also work heavily with his high school coaches and counselors too. But.. the kid and family still have to do the leg work.

 

[CuseLegacy]

Also work heavily with his high school coaches and counselors too. But.. the kid and family still have to do the leg work.

Some of the problem there is that many of these HS coaches are as ignorant about the recruiting process as the parents...or just not very proactive.

 

[bcubs9497]

Some of the problem there is that many of these HS coaches are as ignorant about the recruiting process as the parents...or just not very proactive.

Outside of the "D1 Factories" that routinely send kids to powerhouse programs, this is absolutely true. The reasons are generally either a lack of knowledge of the recruiting process, or the coaches are just too busy and have budgets that don't support a "recruiting" staff.

 

[SURules]

Some of the problem there is that many of these HS coaches are as ignorant about the recruiting process as the parents...or just not very proactive.

I definitely agree with this as I’ve experienced it. Thus, the kid and family part.

Also, when taking with College Coaches the kid need to do 99% of the talking not the parents.