Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football. Without a steady stream of talented players coming year-in-and-year-out, even the most storied programs can fall into mediocrity. That’s why top teams devote so much time, energy, and resources to finding and signing the best high school prospects. In this post, we will take a closer look at college football’s recruiting process and examine some of the possible strategies used by successful programs.
The Basics of College Football Recruiting
College football recruiting is a year-round process. Coaches spend countless hours traveling across the country to evaluate high school players, attending campuses, and building relationships with prospects and their families in their own homes. The goal is to identify the best players in each recruiting class and persuade them to sign a letter of intent to play for their program.
Recruiting rankings are a popular way to measure a team’s success on the recruiting trail. Websites like 247Sports, Rivals, and tdrecruits.com create rankings of the top high school prospects each year. These rankings are based on a combination of factors, including a player’s performance in high school, their physical attributes, and their potential to succeed at the college level.
Top Recruiting Strategies
Successful college football programs use a variety of strategies to build their rosters. Here are a few of the most common:
- Cast a wide net: Top programs recruit nationally, not just in their home state or region. By casting a wide net, they increase their chances of landing elite talent.
- Build relationships: Recruiting is all about relationships. Coaches work hard to build connections with prospects, their families, and their high school coaches. By establishing trust and rapport, they increase the likelihood that a player will choose their program.
- Offer early: Many top programs offer scholarships to prospects as early as their freshman or sophomore year of high school. This allows them to establish a relationship with the player and get a head start on the competition.
- Focus on position needs: Coaches prioritize positions of need when recruiting. They’ll target the best players at those positions and make sure to sign enough players to fill their roster.
- Use social media: Social media has become an increasingly important tool for recruiting. Coaches use Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms to connect with prospects and share information about their program.
The Impact of Recruiting
Recruiting has a major impact on the success of college football programs. The teams that consistently sign the best players are the ones that compete for championships year after year. But recruiting is never a sure thing. Highly touted prospects can fail to live up to their potential, while under-the-radar recruits can emerge as stars. That’s why successful programs focus not just on recruiting top talent, but also on developing and coaching their players to reach their full potential. Coaches can find an unbaised approach to finding some champion caliber football players that project to an FBS, to FCS caliber level regardless of stars our rankings at tdrecruits.com
Conclusion
College football recruiting is a complex and competitive process. Top programs use a variety of strategies to identify and sign the best high school prospects, including casting a wide net, building relationships, offering early, focusing on position needs, and using social media. While recruiting is important, it’s not the only factor in a team’s success. Developing and coaching players is just as crucial. Nonetheless, recruiting remains a critical component of building a championship-caliber program.
