At Norwich University, and many similar schools, March means crunch time for recruiting. The majority of our time on the road is done, hundreds of phone calls are being made, and the all-important financial aid packages are going out. With that in mind, I present a very “recruiting heavy” edition of Coach Russell’s Ruminations.
My daughter is three years old, so (fortunately) I don’t speak on this with any amount of experience…yet. The other night, while I was getting her ready for bed and keeping one eye on the Boston Bruins game on my television, I realized that being a college football coach is a lot like being a teenage girl. Let me explain. Earlier in the day, I had spoken with my top QB target for next fall. He was excited to visit campus, and we were working on nailing down a date for the trip. However, his mother wants to be sure she can accompany him, and she hadn’t yet returned home from work. He said he would call me back after he had a chance to speak with her. So, that is how I found myself trying to go about my business while anxiously awaiting a call from a high school boy…just like a teenage girl.
Keeping up with trends, as it pertains to recruiting, is critical. When a successful coach falls on hard times, you often hear “he didn’t forget how to coach”. This is, usually, a valid point. However, he may have “forgotten” how to recruit. What was effective 10, 5, or even 2 years ago may not be effective now. While I’m a firm believer in the value of an old-fashioned phone call, you’ve got to mix in emails, social media, etc. (as long as you’re following NCAA guidelines). Pay attention to what’s out there. Kids are fickle; they may have been into Facebook last year, but maybe now they’ve moved on to Twitter. Whatever the landscape is, if you let yourself fall behind, it can be very tough to make up the lost ground. Before you know it, you’ve “forgotten how to coach”.
Recruiting, obviously, is the lifeblood of a college football program. We’re all really good coaches when we have really good players. Over the course of my career, I’ve known some guys who could really recruit. I’m sure you all know some guys like this. These guys could sell sand in the desert. Every time there is a college fair, they’re rounding guys up, roping them in, and selling the dream. It’s impressive to watch. These coaches need to be careful, however. A major, major part of recruiting is WINNING. All too often, I see these guys focus almost all their energy into recruiting. This is, in some ways, human nature; we lean toward our strengths. We’ve all got to be careful that our off-field recruiting doesn’t take away from our on-field success. Here at Norwich, I’ve seen the talent level of our incoming classes slowly improve, year by year. Did we all become far better recruiters? Perhaps. However, I think it’s far more likely that winning 7+ games for 6 straight years (paired with a great academic reputation and some outstanding facility upgrades) is attracting more talented players. Recruit your tail off, for sure, but don’t allow recruiting to become more important than coaching, teaching, and winning.
I welcome all feedback, positive, negative, or otherwise. I can be reached at wrussel1@norwich.edu.