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Notre Dame Football Recruiting

How Do Prospects Really Feel About the Recruiting Process?

May 24, 2017
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The recruiting process is always changing with elaborate graphics, announcements, and tactics, but yet the decision has remained mostly the same. It comes down to feeling comfortable around the program and campus despite the glitz and glamor of today’s recruiting world.

We polled three signees that didn’t sign with Notre Dame to see how what went into their process. Two commits play on the offensive side of the ball, the other plays defense, and all three prospects had over 20 offers.

Three conferences are represented between the players, ACC, Big Ten, and SEC.

The first question was the best part of the recruiting process. Many prospects talk about getting to different areas of the country to see places they have never seen. Other prospects love the attention from the fans, and others love to experience college life.

“The best part was getting to see the different schools, facilities, and seeing what each school had to offer,” stated the Big 10 signee.

The four-star ACC signee had a similar response but also with a twist.  

“Overnight visits to campus and the opportunities like The Opening and playing in an All-American game were the best parts,” explained the ACC signee. “They make sure you enjoy yourself on overnight visits, and things like The Opening allow you to meet guys in your position that you wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

The SEC signee hails from the South and also had similar viewpoints.

“The visits,” he stated. “The visits were awesome. The chance to meet different people and experience college life was huge. I got a feel for each school and what kind of experience I would have.”

 We then switched gears to the worst part of the process. A lot of recruits get hounded on the phone by coaches and media, which isn’t an easy thing to do when you’re 17 years old. The attention by the fans is also an area that can be a negative as college football fans have an open forum to tweet anything to a prospect, and it is taken too far in most cases.

“As a top recruit, you are under a lot of pressure to represent yourself and your respective school in an appropriate manner,” the ACC signee stated. “It’s a pressure that many kids do not realize and it requires you to grow up fast. Something stupid like a vulgar Social Media post can land you in hot water.”

The SEC signee agreed with my initial thoughts but also brought up another good point. There is only so much time in a day and sacrifices had to be made to have some type of life outside of football.

“It’s the media,” said the SEC signee. “No offense to you because that’s how you pay your bills, but my phone didn’t stop ringing during my senior year. The top schools I was considering would call each night and then I would have 5 to 10 calls from different media outlets wanting interviews.

“I didn’t want to ignore the media, but I only have so much time in a day. Talking to five reporters in a day takes an hour, and then I have homework. I don’t get to have a social life if I talk to reporters and coaches.”

Our Big Ten signee took the question in a different way, and that is pretty tough on even the most mature kids

“The worst part of the process was picking one school,” he stated. “You had to leave the relationships you built with all of the other coaches.”

Question three lead us to changes. Recruiting changes for schools, prospects, and the NCAA. The NCAA recently approved an Early Signing Period and early official visits, which would have likely had these three guys fired up.

“I wanted to take my official visits earlier in the process,” said the SEC signee. “I didn’t feel rushed, but I had to make them in a short amount of time because I wanted to experience game environments.

“Looking back, I could have taken earlier official visits and then went back in the fall after cutting my list down even more. My family would have been more likely to spend money to send me to visit a place a second time knowing more about the school.”

The Big Ten signee didn’t take all five official visits as he committed earlier in the process and that’s something he wishes he could have changed.

“There isn’t one thing I would change except taking all five of my official visits,” he explained. “I believe those are great opportunities I missed out on. I earned them and you only get to go through the process once.”

Our ACC signee isn’t from ACC country, so the chance to get out and see schools earlier would have been positive.

“You should be able to take official visits when you want,” said the ACC signee. “I didn’t visit a lot of programs because I didn’t want to make that far of a drive. For guys who want to commit early, they have few options in that aspect.”

The final question asked was about Social Media presence from schools. Programs are sending out professional graphics to recruits on a daily basis, making videos to showcase the program, and even partnering with Bleacher Report to get exposure to prospects.

But does that make a difference in the end?

“The Social Media makes you aware, but it's getting on the campus that matters,” said the Big Ten signee.

The SEC signee held offers from every major program in the nation, so receiving elaborate graphics and seeing creative Social Media campaigns was a daily occurrence.

“It’s awesome to get cool pictures and have someone take the time to personalize stuff you can post on Twitter,” explained the SEC signee. “It allows you to have a status. I didn’t care about graphics, but they were cool to post so you can get followers and have fanbases react and give you attention.

“Posting that stuff showed other recruits schools like Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and big-time programs were recruiting you.”

The ACC signee agreed with the other two prospects and felt Social Media had an impact, but not to the point players are choosing schools because of Social Media material.

“Social Media presence is very attention-grabbing, but for most guys, it’s not the end all be all thing,” he explained. “It can get a foot in the door for a school that you would have otherwise known nothing about. It’s more hype than anything else.”
 
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