E4 of recruiting real talk is down right real. Let it be known right here right now that we have clarified one simple truth about recruiting. You have to put it out on the field, and do what you need to do to show your skills off. This is the first and most important rule of recruiting. If all of your work and exposure show you not performing or having poor body language, recruiting will be very challenging for you. People notice people that perform when the lights are on. This is not to say that all of your hard work behind the scenes go to waste it just means you have to reevaluate the work and consider some changes if playing between the lines, is not translating from playing in practice.
Alright, with that clarity out of the way lets look at the rest of E4. We answered 3 questions from parents in our mailbag section. JC and Trevor can’t wait to get more from our listeners. If you had a question for Christoph Trappe please let us know we will get it to him and share the answer. So how do we connect with you is what you are asking. Simple!
All – recruitingrealtalk at hotfeetsports.com
Trevor – @hotfeetsports – twitter, www.facebook.com/hotfeetsports
JC – @thestrengthu -twitter, www.facebook.com/strengthusports
Christoph – @ctrappe – twitter www.authenticstorytelling.net
The NCAA Eligibility Clearing House has a great twitter feed. @ncaaec
Simply knowing this site exists is a step in the right direction for prospective students and parents.
Lastly be on the lookout for future episodes. We have some great guests that you don’t want to miss including a Volley ball recruiter, NAIA baseball coach, Former Chicago Bear whose son just committed to Air force. and many more. Keep it real, and keep it about recruiting.
For your twitter profile set up here are some tips.
1. make sure either your name or your handle has your actual name in it. It makes it easier for people to find you
2. Location can be city alone, school alone or both
3. Link should be set to your profile that would take a coach directly to you or your film.
4. Make the description fun and add your graduation year.
Episode 3 of Recruiting Real Talk digs deep into social media as a critical tool for taking your recruiting to another level. Social media guru and Authentic story teller Christoph Trappe, @ctrappe on twitter, joins our hosts Trevor Bollers, @hotfeetsports and JC Moreau, @thestrengthu for an information filled 15 minute discussion. Christoph was a scholarship football player from Germany who now is running www.authenticstorytelling.net and can be found posting on social media outlets about how to garner attention from fans and followers by sharing stories.
Listen to the show to find out more on the 3 keys to success
1. Share the story of your journey and who you are. Your success and your failures that drive you to future success.
2. Be careful who you follow and retweet. The content that shows on your feed could provide a negative perception of you.
3. The hot thing in the sports world is a behind the scenes look into the inner circle of the team or group. The people with good content normally get the attention.
We also discussed the use of hash tagging and mentioning people that are around you. Social media is about the conversation. Interact with people around you in fun and inviting ways. Energize those around you and congratulate them on their success it puts you in a positive interaction that is not all about you.
Episode 1 of Recruiting Real talk, with Trevor Bollers and Jc Moreau is out in the wild. The inaugural entry in this series is focused on the topic of “Getting Started”. How, When, What do parents need to do to get started. Give it a listen, give us a like, or a hate, or a question for future episodes.
Below are some of the resources that go along with this show.
NCAA Clearing House is a great place to start especially if you are a late bloomer or a late starter in the recruiting conversation. Find out what your academic needs are to be able to play. https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/
NAIA Eligibility Center is there to remind us that the NCAA is not the only option to continue your playing career. https://www.playnaia.org/
These 2 resources can help with preparing the profile and getting questions such as what classes do I have and what do I need to be eligible.
Our biggest point in this podcast for parents is, don’t fear the stigma of people that would tell you it is wrong to get started early. Your goals for your family are allowed to be set sky high. If your kids have the desire don’t let anything or anyone stop you from supporting them.
I think just about everyone loves the new 4 team college football playoff. In its first 2 years it has already produced multiple games that have been thrillers. Including its inaugural 1 vs 4 matchup in which Ohio state upset the title favorites the Alabama Crimson tide. It also produced another thriller last year in the national title game in which the afore mentioned tide beat the Clemson Tigers. It is inevitable that the playoff will expand at some point but how many more teams will be given the opportunity to fight for a national title?
Ultimately I believe that the college football playoff will expand to 8 teams. However, I believe that we are still at least 10 to 15 years away from that. So for the foreseeable future I see the playoff expanding to 6 teams. This may not make sense to some but let me explain. The number 3 seed would play the 6 seed in the first round and the 4 would play the 5. The number 1 and 2 seeds will be given byes in the “first round.” The number 1 seed will play the highest seed left after the first round, so if the highest seed after round 1 was the 4 seed then they would play the 4 and the number 2 seed would play the number 3. If an upset were to happen in the first round the number 1 could end up playing the number 6 in the second round. I know this seems like a lot of scenarios and numbers but trust me, it’s not that complicated.
One of the problems people will have with expanding the playoff is the number of games played. They will argue that the wear and tear of more games will cause more physical burden on the athletes. I think that if you were to ask the athletes they would be open to playing more games. Especially when the stakes are that high. Others will argue that if you open the playoff to more teams then the quality of football will go down. That I completely disagree with. No matter if it is 4, 6, or 8 teams every single one of them will have the same goal and that is to be national champions.
Opening the playoff up to 6 or 8 teams would also give the mid majors a legitimate spot at making the playoff. Now with the 4 team format not even all of the power 5 conference teams can get a team in the playoff. For example the big 12 failed to make an appearance in the first year just as the pac 12 did this past year. Not only would expanding the playoff allow for all power 5 conferences to get a team in the playoff but it would also allow either a mid major team or another viable power 5 team to make the playoff.
Opening up the college football playoff to 6 and eventually 8 teams is something that WILL happen, it is not a matter of if it is a matter of when.
2016 looks to be a great year for the Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes return over half of their starters from offense and defense. Today I will be discussing who I believe the key contributors will be on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
The obvious and really only reasonable choice at quarterback is CJ Beathard. Beathard will be back for his senior season in a Hawkeye uniform, and is looking to build to an already stellar resume which includes an all 2nd team big ten choice last season. I look for Beathard to take another big step forward this year. Beathard will be healthy to start the season and that is huge for Hawkeye fans everywhere. With Beathard healthy that will bring back his great mobility from the quarterback position. If CJ can stay healthy all year I see all of his stats going up, rushing yards, rushing TD’s, passing yards and passing touchdowns. I also expect CJ’s turnover numbers to remain fairly low. There is no doubt that Beathard is the unquestioned leader of the Iowa offense.
CJ Beathard giving a stiff arm to a Minnesota player
At running back, I see a minimum of 3 contributors to the offense. The top 3 would be Leshun Daniels Jr., Akrum Wadley, and Derrick Mitchell, in no particular order. All three of these players had an impact last season. Now with Jordan Canzeri gone, it is up in the air as to who will be the workhorse running back. It will most likely be running back by committee with coach Ferentz and offensive coordinator Greg Davis going with whoever has the hot hand. That being said Leshun Daniels will be the short yardage back, and Mitchell will most likely be the 3rd down back. Last year in Mitchell’s first season as a running back he excelled at picking up blitzes and catching the ball out of the backfield. Then there is Akrum Wadley, everyone in Iowa City knows he has the talent, but will ball security continue to be an issue? I see the coaching staff giving each of these 3 guys every chance to prove themselves.
Leshun Daniels (29) Akrum Wadley (25)
I’m grouping the receivers and tide ends together. We know what we have in George Kittle and Matt the meerkat Vandeberg. But outside of those two many questions surround who CJB will be throwing the ball to in 2016. I look for two young guys to step up at the receiver position in 2016. Those two guys being Jerminic Smith who showed great flashes in 2015 as a true freshman. And the other being redshirt sophomore Jay Scheel. You can make the case the Scheel is the most athletic guy on the team. Scheel, who is a former high school quarterback, I look for him to burst onto the scene as a big play receiver in 2016. Jameer Outsey is listed as the second tide end on the two deeps although he was mainly used in blocking situations last year. I think Dowling Catholic alum Jon Wisnieski will get a fair amount of playing time this year. He has all the talent and potential but health has been a problem for Wisnieski since he stepped on campus.
Jerminic Smith catching a ball against Illinois
The offensive line faces two departures of the five starters from 2015 in Austin Blythe and Jordan Walsh. However, I do not see the offensive line being an issue in 2016. All five starters listed on the early season two deeps saw a substantial amount of playing time in 2015. With only one senior (Cole Croston) this is a group that will be solid for years to come.
On the defensive side of the ball you have work horses in Jaleel Johnson, Josey Jewel, and Desmond King, these guys also have a pretty good supporting cast. Who else will step up on the defensive side of the ball in 2016? I look at a guy in outside linebacker Aaron Mends to have a huge year. Mends started seeing his playing time increase later in the season last year when Iowa used their “Raider Package” defense. I think Mends is the type of player that can reek havoc in the opponent’s backfield. Parker Hesse stepped up big last year in the absence of Drew Ott, I look for him to improve even more this year. Matt or Anthony Nelson will also have to take steps forward to see their production increase this year. The Hawkeyes are solid at the linebacker and corner back positions with the likes of Desmond King, Greg Mabin, Ben Niemann, Josey Jewel, and Aaron Mends. Miles Taylor will be back for his second season at the starting strong safety position, I only see positive progress with him. As for the strong safety position Brandon Snyder looks to be the starter. If he can just hold his ground, I see this Hawkeye defense being one of the tops in the Big Ten and the entire country.
Mends chasing down Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong
The hawks have all the pieces to succeed in the 2016 season, the only question is whether or not they can put the pieces together. I believe that if the Hawks can stay fairly healthy in 2016 they will do great things for a second year in a row.
It is August of 2015, just two weeks before the University of Iowa football team opens their season at Kinnick Stadium with a game against The Illinois State Redbirds. So, why is this important? Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz has just issued a team wide ban of social media until the conclusion of the season. Why would coach Ferentz do this, to prevent players from getting themselves into trouble, or just to make sure that the players are not reading all of the articles written about them? Either way, coach Ferentz obviously has a method to his madness as his Hawkeyes finished the 2015-16 campaign as Big Ten West Champions, as well as participants in the historic Rose Bowl Game, and his Hawks also set a school record for most victories with 12.
Kirk Ferentz Speaking at a Rose Bowl Presser
This topic is very relevant in today’s day in age. With social media usage being as high as it has ever been, yet still continuing to grow. Almost all athletes whether professional or amateur have some form of social media account. According to Christy Kingan of PIVOT Physical Therapy Blog, “A study done in 2014 by Chris Symeon from CKSyme Media Group measured social media use for Division I and Division II NACAA athletes. On average, only 26% of these athletes has protected Twitter accounts, around 61.5% did not know all of their followers, and 14% had been a victim of online harassment such as unsolicited inappropriate material, account impersonation, angry fans messaging, or cyberbullying.” So, should Kirk Ferentz’ policy become more widely adopted among the college and high school ranks? Could Ferentz’ policy be adopted by professional athletes as well? It is tough to say now, but coach Kirk has some great results to say the least.
What is the impact of social media usage on collegiate, amateur, and professional athletes? It would be very hard to get the input of professional athletes. I would do my research on the University of Iowa Football team and Men’s Basketball team.
One theory that applies to my question is the theory of social influence. Social influence is something that is very common. It is applied to my topic this way. If an athlete has a good game, he may get lots of positive tweets telling him how great he is. The athlete does not necessarily have to believe everything that the people are saying about him but the odds are that he will. The fact of the matter is the more and more people tell somebody something the more the athlete will believe it.
However, this is not always a positive. If an athlete has a poor game, then social media users will let him know. If an athlete has 100 notifications after his game in which he played poorly in, around 90 or so of those notifications are going to be people telling him that he sucks and how he should not even be on scholarship. This can be very damaging to the athletes’ self confidence as well as the athletes’ mental health. It is easy to just tell the person to not believe what everyone else says. Social influence can be very strong especially in situations such as this one, the player may start to believe all of the negative things that people are saying about him. There is one more outcome when it comes to the theory of social influence in this situation. If an athlete sees nothing but negative things posted about him he does not have to believe it. Some of the players that are more mentally strong than others will set out to prove all of his naysayers’ wrong. Meaning, he will work much harder to perform better in his next game and show all of the social media haters that they were wrong about him.
I would do my research on the University of Iowa’s men’s basketball and football teams. My study would go through both of their regular seasons as well as any post season play that either would be involved in. For my research I would give the players one week intervals. One week they would be granted access to social media, the next week they would not. These one week intervals would continue until the season had come to a conclusion. My first way of analyzing my data would be to view the player’s performances on weeks that they did or did not have social media and see if the social media or lack there of made them perform any better or worse.
I would also interview some of the star players on both teams during the weeks that they used social media. I would ask them about their mindset. I would also ask that if the things said about them were negative how they would respond to that. If they would use it as motivation or if they would let it get to them. Based on all the research I would complete, I am almost positive that I would be able to get a solid answer to my question of what the impact of social media is on student athletes.
The two main methods used in my research would be content analysis as well as experimenting. The experiments would be the games. The content analysis would be analyzing the performances of the players during the weeks with and without social media. In the end I would find that none or limited social media use would benefit the athletes more than using social media their normal amount of time.
The student athletes should be able to use social media. However, they should not be able to have access to social media while their sport is in season and going on. There are far too many distractions on social media for athletes, the safe bet would be to ban social media during the season and let the athletes use it all they want in their offseason as long as they are smart with their decisions while using it.
Honestly speaking my assumption when I started this research project was that the role of a high school coach was diminished. All of the communication methods that allow direct contact with the athlete made them irrelevant. Essentially, the gap between schools and players was closing with technology and the high school coach is the odd man out. To the contrary, what I found is the job has become more complex, enhanced and more about relationships than ever.
I talked to Tarig Holman, head football coach at Randolph High School in New Jersey. This guy has been exceptional his whole life and it shows in his coaching. Tarig’s approach to his high school team is what he terms “College Bound”. “I want our student athletes to understand that we are a college bound program” said Holman. This sparked my interest because it was a different focus than most high school programs that I have come across. At Randolph coach Holman has made it clear that he wants his players looking to further their education regardless of the level of football they play or if they play football at all. The focus is more academic. The reason for this is the numbers says Holman, who is realistic with his players. A D1 safety at Iowa in his time, he understands that D1 talent doesn’t just happen every day. “You have to build a relationship with the athletes so they believe you have their best interests in mind when you make suggestions” he said. Sometimes the reality that you are not a D1 athlete is hard to take but then seeing where your academics make you attractive at other levels opens up doors for you. Holman said, that the only way you can be real in that conversation is with a relationship.
Our conversation quickly moved from talent to relationship. It’s all about the relationship for a coach today because there are many people lining up to be that support for a price. Holman has relationships with players, other high school coaches and of course college coaches that he can keep in touch with when the dust settles from the previous season’s college football coaches carousel. A unique relationship building activity that I learned of was kind of an introduction night for athletes and schools. The event incorporates athletes from several area high schools, High School coaches and College coaches, or recruiting coordinators. When Tarig explained that they did this activity for sophomores to seniors I remembered other conversations about recruiting starting at a younger age. He said that it was all part of his goals to remind his players that the program is a “College Bound” program.
What do you make of all of the technology out there, I asked to see if he was up on the latest communication methods. Tarig was not even phased by the question. He has seen it all as it becomes popular then falls off. “Today people can reach you or find a way to reach you without you ever meeting them” he exclaimed. That difference has him also working as a sort of media / social media guide for his players as well. “We try and remind the guys that what you put out there is available for everyone to see”. With so much air time and broadcast yourself out there athletes quickly forget that it is a dangerous world out there where people are looking for anything to make a story of.
Although the role has some new wrinkles in it I like what Coach Holman had to say which reminded me greatly of the men that guided me and probably most of us back in the non-social era. It is still about a personal relationship that can impact the lives of young people. “If a coach is doing his job his players know his heart for them. I love my job”, Holman said.
Stuff to take away from this story
Be open to a relationship with your coaches that would allow them to guide you and even share their knowledge and contacts with you.
Find out about the things that your school does to help students find a college.
Your success in playing at the next level helps the program as a whole.
Tyler Schamel #14 of Norwalk HS applying a stiff arm to a defender.
A long long time ago I was recruited to the university of Iowa to play fullback for the Iowa Hawkeye football team from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I had no clue who the coaches were, where the school was, what Iowa was famous for, and the list goes on baby. Even with all of that going for me, I decided to play for coach Hayden Fry who had a legendary 20 year run as Iowa’s Head Hawk. When I say this happened back in 1994 most peoples jaws drop through the floor. They don’t understand how a kid from Canada could be recruited without tweets, grams, vines or hudls. Even then, resourceful coaches were working in the background collecting information from sources all across the world to find the next “Diaper Dandy” as Dick Vitale endearingly referred to great freshmen players.
Today, for Tyler Schamel a 5’10” wide receiver at 3A state runner up Norwalk high school in Norwalk, IA who has a profile on the web showing his picture, 4.65. 40 time and brainy GPA, the world is even smaller and the competition for the attention of coaches is even bigger. Think about the changes in just finding out about a school. In 94 there were no websites listing the coaching staff. There were no email addresses and the fastest way to send a message across the wire that was not a phone call was this old dusty technology called a FAX. In my chat with Tyler, he shared that he is smarter than your average high school kid. Why, because Tyler uses the same type of email marketing tools that big companies use to analyze the effectiveness of a message to buyers to assess the interest of a coaching staff. “I can see if they open the message and if I get a response”. He excitedly noted that it was not challenging to find the email of a coach by using the recruiting service. He said the recruiting services have really helped him reach out to coaches. So what role does that leave for your friendly neighbor hood high school coach.
When I asked if all of the services and film have diminished the role of the high school coach. Tyler laid it out there, “our coach is amazing and even more important today than ever!” He shared that, his coaching staff have supported his goal to continue playing football after high school. Tyler is primarily a D2 to D3 prospect so it’s not like he does not have to compete for the interest of coaches. His high school coaches help him and his teammates with visits, collecting assignments, and coaching him on how to connect with perspective schools. He couldn’t say enough about the support he has received from the staff. The big difference today, is that the film, if you want to watch it is online and available with a simple search for Tyler Schamel.
There is something to be said for having a strong team that believes and achieves. Norwalk is that school and Tyler is one of the keys to their success. There is nothing like winning to make people listen and Tyler found that out right away. “Before getting to the state championship game you have a few coaches that will talk to you. When we hit the championship game there were many other coaches contacting me and asking about my film”. The Warriors, like other teams to finish in the state finals, has a few kids that are being watched and offered by Power 5 conferences. What coaches know is that the talent on the team does just stop at those players. With any team to get to the finals they need horses in the stables that can catch 5 touchdowns. Coaches are always on the lookout for that kid that might have not had the biggest stats or all of the data from testing combines but show up on the big day in a big way.
Intangibles are factors like speed, strength, agility, height that although measurable beat out most other factors when looking to recruit a player. Talking to a recruiter from the Green Bay Packers last year made that absolutely clear. The intangibles for a player are the first things looked at. You can’t beat those with training. You can’t train 7 feet tall, stamina that doesn’t quit, leadership, or a fastball that is effortless. Whatever those traits are, the recruit must highlight their intangibles before anything else even your team or individual record.
At the end of the day some how years ago with no technology this world was huge and coaches still found me in the frozen tundra of Edmonton, Alberta. Today with some smarts and tools that are out there it is easier to communicate who you are to coaches, and recruiting coordinators. Tyler’s advice to all the juniors and sophomores out there that are getting started in their quest to continue playing the game that they love is “Get to camps where people can see you live, it makes a big difference”. Just remember that the opportunity you have is available to kids all around the world. The communication is easier now but the competition is a whole lot harder. Someone is working, don’t guess as to who it is, KNOW it is you.
Best of luck to 14 Tyler Schamel and thank you for taking the time to enlighten us.
Next in the series, I talk to several high school coaches about how their role has been adjusted in this ultra connected world. After that an interview with a good friend of mine who’s daughter just finished her senior season of volley ball and son is a top high school football prospect.
Hot Feet Make Plays so keep em hot and be a play maker.
Each year when the season ends for the 8th grade football team we have a small party with lots of ice cream and cookies. The event is primarily geared toward collecting the gear that we give out to all of the kids so that we as coaches are not required to chase them for a whole school year to bring back the equipment. In my first year at the school I decided to give out awards. This was met with some concern from my athletic director as many parents get caught up about distinguishing one kid from another. We had several discussions about the topic in the weeks leading up to the end of the season. My athletic director has a vision of what he would like to get the program and believes if he lets his coaches work through things they will keep the benefit of the kids in mind. I went and built the awards with materials I bought with my own money. I had a excitement running through my veins as I spray painted a rawhide bone blue for the Ready, Able, Willing award which to me was the most important one of all.
The day came to have our meeting my assistants and I had decided that all but the MVP awards would be selected by coaches. We wanted the boys to have ownership in who they chose to be their MVP. However, we shortened the list of candidates to deter the pranksters from choosing anybody and derailing my goals of having the team elevate a deserving team member that served them well through the season. I had asked the seventh grade head coach if he wanted to join us in the awards ceremonies. He smiled and said,” you are not a teacher so your job is not really on the line of some parent complains”. I smiled and said “very true my friend I will move forward on this”
The time came to unveil our work. one of the parents that helped me coach was a pretty handy guy so he built 4 of the awards and I built 4 of them. Remember it is football there are a lot of kids and reasons to award someone for their service to the team. We showed the boys the awards and their eyes lit up. They all came over to look at them and read the descriptions on each of them. Some boys walked away hoping it was theirs. Others smiled and yelled out things like winner to play off their fears of maybe actually winning and then what? Would I now be looked at as some sort of leader?
Before we gave out the first award I told the boys that for years they were all given the same medal or trophy for showing up. However, today only a few people would get to hold the awards at the front of the room as their own and only a few would get to be in the picture. I asked them to clap for their team mates that were selected. I asked them to consider their season individually and what it may have taken in order for their name to be called. I asked them to accept the challenge of being the one called in years to come because they would be entering high school. My goal was simple, applaud greatness and aspire to it. Aspire to be more than you are today and cheer on your team mates that have the ability to serve the team in a manner that would distinguish them. I told them to push to be distinguishable from all the rest so that if given an award it would not be one that was given to everyone but one that celebrates their uniqueness. The last thing I told them is that the next few years would provide them an opportunity to choose greatness as their goal in whatever they decided to pursue.
Then we called the names and the boys clapped for their team mates and we took pictures. Then we took pictures of all of them together with the recipients holding their trophies. This year was my 4th year of handing out the trophies and now boys start the season wondering what they need to do in order to be one of the guys holding one of them. Word has spread all the way down to the youth program about awards that only a few get.
I don’t believe in medals and trophies for participating. Ribbons serve the purpose very well. I don’t believe that focusing your energies to win at all costs is important either. My parents have a basement full of my awards who will care about them when I am gone? I found medals from people long gone and wondered what they needed to do in order to be selected for such an award and I realized that it as not the award that was important but the service to the society as a whole that came from a person trying to achieve greatness that helps us all.
