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The Recruiting Blitz

Coaches, players cope with the pressures of college football's talent search

Brandon Harrison wanted to accept immediately. It was the early winter of 2002, and the Chaminade-Julienne High School defensive back had just received his first football scholarship offer, from the University of Iowa.

As a sophomore, Harrison didn't yet know the scrutiny he would face in his next two seasons, or the weight of expectations that would follow him after many more offers. He was excited just to get his first.

"I didn't even look at the coaching staff, their record, who the players were," said Harrison, who has since given his oral agreement to attend the University of Michigan. "I didn't know any of that. All I knew was they wanted me, and I wanted a scholarship."

As the football recruiting game has evolved — it will come to its annual peak Wednesday, the first day recruits can sign a National Letter of Intent — all sides continue to face intense pressure. College coaches have to out-charm and out-sell one another in offering scholarships earlier and earlier, and high school coaches want as many of their players to receive collegiate opportunities as possible.

In the middle stand the players. While family and friends generally want them to be careful with their college decisions, it's difficult to keep a level head when hand-written notes from the nation's elite roll in on a near-daily basis. And then they must perform, so they can prove that they've earned the offer.

"The whole process has sped up, and I think all parties have to try to slow it down a little bit," University of Cincinnati coach Mark Dantonio said. "I think anything you do in football, like in life, if you slow down and re-collect yourself, it's better for you."

Players in demand

By May of a player's junior year, when the NCAA allows in-person evaluations, the process begins a mad dash to the finish. Even for the players who don't attract mass interest until after their junior seasons — such as Miamisburg defensive back David Bruton — it can be overwhelming.

"Last May, it seemed like I was always out of class meeting coaches, three or four times a day," said Bruton, who committed to Notre Dame on June 29. "My coach had my schedule, so he would send for me when a college coach came. During some periods, it seems like you have no time to yourself until at night, but then you're making up the class work."

And sometimes, the college coaches show up at uncomfortable times for the high school coaches, too.

"The college recruiting season can seriously interrupt the high school season, especially if your team is in the playoffs," said Ed Maloney, coach at Father Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor, Mich., and chairman of the American Football Coaches Association High School Committee.

Maloney, a 1969 University of Dayton graduate, has watched the process change during his 29-year coaching career. Fifteen years ago, it was rare for a college to offer a scholarship until after a recruit finished his senior season. Now, as the offers come earlier, so do the commitments.

"Assistant coaches will drop in on Friday night an hour or two before a game or call a recruit before that game," Maloney said. "That's the worst time for us, but it's the only time that works for them, and we know for our kids to have a shot we have to play along.

"The assistant coaches will admit they don't like visiting at those times, and we don't like them here at those times, but it's just how things have progressed."

Or, as C-J coach Jim Place said: "It's a runaway train, and I don't know who can stop it."

Fewer full rides

In 1992, the NCAA cut the number of football scholarships for Division I-A from 95 to 85. That number had been as high as 105 in the 1970s.

That means, on average, teams can scholarship five fewer players per class than they did 30 years ago. With fewer scholarships available, the pressure increases to fill rosters with quality players.

For the players, fewer scholarships mean their offer could dry up.

"In the past, these kids were being recruited until the middle of January, still thinking they had a chance with Ohio State," Miami University coach Shane Montgomery said. "Now, with 85 scholarships, if it's not going to happen they'll know earlier."

Or, it means an uncomfortable phone call could come in the middle of a player's senior season.

"It's called a squeeze," Place said. "Let's say you're a defensive tackle and have an offer you like. The school will call you up and say, 'We're going to take four at your position, and we have three in, what's it going to be?'

"Nobody likes this system, but it's the system."

So, the players often rush into decisions. Meanwhile, every Friday night feels like another test, and the tests become more difficult as the season progresses.

"There's a big pressure to perform," Bruton said. "The eyes are on you. Everyone's wondering what you're going to do, and when you're not playing, everyone wants to know where you're going to go. It's hard to get away from it."

There have been some suggestions for slowing the process. John Maronto, an AFCA High School Committee member who gave a presentation about recruiting to high school coaches earlier this month at the AFCA convention in Louisville, Ky., thinks that Signing Day should be delayed from the first Wednesday in February to the first Wednesday in March. College coaches could wait longer to offer scholarships and give recruits more time to consider choices.

"I've been fortunate to have scholarshipped over 200 players in my career," said Maronto, who coaches Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Fla., and formerly coached Massillon Washington, "and I've never seen such a level of disregard and disrespect."

Phones keep ringing

The pressure doesn't always end when a player commits, either. Even after Robby Schoenhoft, the quarterback from Cincinnati's St. Xavier High School, gave his commitment to Ohio State last summer, other schools kept calling.

"Michigan called until I said no five times in a row," Schoenhoft said.

When Schoenhoft would phone other Ohio State recruits to talk about the school, he sometimes met with a curt "who is this?" from players whose patience whittled after constant calls from coaches and Internet recruiting gurus. Some established certain times reporters could contact them.

In fact, for some high school players, their recruitment turns into its own soap opera for the public to see. At the U.S. Army All-American Bowl each January, the most sought-after recruits yet to commit stand in front of an athletic bag on television. They reach in and place the hat of their college coach on their head, making the announcement a reality TV segment.

For players, the recruiting process has become a test of mental strength as well as playing ability.

"It's like Darwin said," laughed Schoenhoft. "Survival of the fittest."

Contact Kyle Nagel at 225-7389.