Taking Names and Keeping Score
Looking for the great ones
Charlie Anderson
With national signing day for high school football players about a week away, the highways and byways of this state and most of all of the other states in the union will be traversed on a daily basis for the next week by coaches from colleges and universities across this nation trying to find the best possible football players available to come to their school next year. Some of them will begin their daily expeditions on airplanes so they can travel further, faster; believing full well that no stone should be left unturned and he who gets to the rock first or checks it most often will find the proverbial worm.

Although the greater use of the non-binding verbal commitment by so many of the so called,' blue chip' players has taken a lot of the suspense out of signing day now, there are coaches who will continue to try and sell many of these young athletes up to the last minute on the virtues of their respective school and the reasons why the athlete should alter their previous decision and come join their program. There will even be some late night vigils at some of the prospective recruits' homes as those who haven't given a clear indication of their school of choice will be pursued like the prettiest and most talented freshman going through sorority rush would be. Many of the coaches on the recruiting trail will know which mommas cook the best and what their specialty in the kitchen is by the time signing day comes and goes. Even though some of the prospective recruits revel in all the attention they have been receiving since the process began, many of them will take a big sigh of relief once signing day has come and gone and the final decision has been made because the pressure to make the right choice is almost as great on them as it is the coach who is trying to sign them.

In every case the coaches who fully understand the significance of the recruiting process will be looking for what they consider to be the best players capable of filling their respective needs. Each school has a list of particular areas of need and a corresponding list of prospects that they feel can help them meet those needs. Sounds simple enough, they have a need and there is a list that can fill the need, problem solved. The catch is, there are others out there with similar needs who see the same list as the solution to filling their needs.

With so many of the coaches focusing on so many of the same athletes it makes one wonder what exactly they are looking for in a prospect. Obvious answers would be big, strong, fast and athletic. Of course that's a no brainer. But what is it beyond those physical attributes that makes a prospective player a hot commodity? First and foremost in this day and time, his ability to qualify academically has to be on top of the list with fewer and fewer schools willing to take a chance on partial qualifiers who would enter their program with one strike against them. Second, the character of the individual is becoming a prime consideration now, especially in light of all the off field problems so many good athletes have had in recent years. Besides the bad name the athlete and school get from such off the field forays into trouble, there is the loss of playing time that results from the coach taking proper disciplinary action through suspensions. Going a step further if the action is severe enough a coach may have to resort to dismissal of a player, which completely eliminates him and his talents from the program and nullifies whatever part he was playing in meeting the needs of the program. Lastly, more and more coaches are looking for players who understand the meaning of teamwork, those who, regardless of their level of individual talent, are willing to be selfless for the sake of what's best for the team.

I heard a fellow say the other day that good athletes are a dime a dozen nowadays but the great ones are a rare commodity. I know without a doubt he understands what college coaches have discovered in recent years and that is, physical attributes by themselves just aren't enough anymore and the great athletes come with a complete package of all the qualities they are looking for.

Of course the best efforts of a coach and his staff to properly evaluate a prospect before signing him don't always turn out the way they hoped they would. None of those young men they sign come with a guarantee and as my father used to say, "the proof is in the pudding", meaning that the true measure of a class of signees can't be taken until you have had them in the program for a while.

Let's hope that most of the college coaches trying to recruit football players next week will be able to sign as many great athletes as possible and won't find themselves stuck with a lot of those that are a dime a dozen.

Until next time......be safe!

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