May is here, Spring has sprung, and I hope everyone is able to take a few minutes to enjoy it. Here at Norwich, and at most schools playing our level of college football, the “Spring” (I put that in quotes because we had a grand total of two spring practices in 40+ degree weather) is a hybrid of getting your non-traditional season work in, as well as still recruiting your tail off. This month’s thoughts are a result of that combination.
As I touched on last month, Division III spring practices are unique. We are not allowed to wear any pads at all. Because of this, I think it’s critical that you’re very honest with yourself when looking at practice planning. As football coaches, it’s in our nature to want to be out there as long as we are allowed to by NCAA rules. However, with zero contact of any kind, practices and periods can become very long. Without question, fundamental skills are the most important part of our game. That said, there is only so long you can go over stances/starts before your kids get bored. Bored players = wasted reps. My solution is to shorten periods. Shortened periods lead to shorter practices; if not, you end up with filler, and filler is bad. My personal slogan is that bad reps are useless, so I always try to get the work done that we need, and move on. When you’re done, you’re done. Don’t try to come up with ideas to fill time; if you’re “coming up with something”, you probably don’t need it. Keep ’em interested, keep it fun, and keep ’em fresh.
For the second spring in a row, we chose to hold our spring practices at 5:30 am. I know what you’re thinking, but this is a military college. Our kids are used to being up that early. As I alluded to in my intro, we were still right in the thick of recruiting during Spring ball. Due to this, by 7:00 am or so, you were in recruiting mode for the rest of the day. It makes for a tiring month or so, but it’s never boring! As we drew near the “finish line” for our recruiting class (the deposit deadline), I reflected on this year’s recruiting, and I formulated a kind of “open letter” to high school football coaches. That letter, in and of itself, could be an entire post but instead I’ll highlight a couple of pertinent thoughts:
1. Call (or email) college coaches back. We’re trying to talk to as many quality student-athletes as we can. We’re assigned a recruiting area, and we have to “plot a course” which makes sense to blanket our territory. If I call five high school coaches to plan a Monday, I’ve already figured out the best way to get to those five schools. If four coaches call me back, and I schedule those appointments, the fifth coach calling a week later can wreak havoc on my schedule. At the end of the day, we’re coming in to talk to your kids about an opportunity. Why wouldn’t you want your players to have as many options available as possible? Help me to help you (and your players)!
2. I don’t believe it is your job to choose which schools your players are interested in. On multiple occasions, I’ve had coaches tell me “I don’t have anyone who would be interested in Norwich”, only to have a player from that school either apply on his own, or contact me directly. Again, it’s about presenting opportunities to your guys. The best programs I recruit from tend to let me talk to all of their guys who can play in college. I sat down with a coach from a state championship school this past winter, and he had four players in the room with us. Two of those players had significant FBS interest, but he thought it was important that they heard about every possible opportunity to go to school and play football. Both of those young men did indeed end up signing with FBS schools, but it was their decision to attend those schools, not their coach’s. I’ve mentioned this before, but I truly believe it is important.
3. As much as you can, mentor your guys throughout the recruiting process. Most college football programs are working with some sort of deadline, or roster limit, or something similar. Nothing can complicate that process more than a kid you really like who isn’t forthcoming with his intentions. Even worse is the kid who doesn’t respond. Encourage your guys to be honest with coaches, and mature enough to let a coach know if he is not choosing that coach’s school. No matter how much we like a player, we are working with a large pool. We will move on to the next guy, but we need to know. On behalf of every “small college” football coach in the country, I thank you in advance for all you do to help both your players and the college coaches working to recruit them.
As always, I welcome any feedback, questions, or criticisms. I can be reached at wrussel1@norwich.edu.