I’m a junior to be with football recruiting interest. What do I do?

For those who have just finished up their sophomore year of high school and will be juniors next fall, this article is for you.  And while there is little you really can receive during the football recruiting process at this point, it is a good time to do some early leg work that will save you when it comes time to get some things done during the fall.

Just as a reminder, juniors to be cannot receive any type of mail that is not a camp invite or a questionnaire from Division I programs until September 1st of this year.  If Division I football coaches are sending you hand written notes before then, you must be an outstanding player because the coach is breaking the rules.  Coaches that think you are good enough to play at their school will Fed Ex a scholarship offer on that date to make sure you know how wanted you are at their school.

For most juniors who will have to wait to receive scholarship offers, there are a lot of different things that you can do.  The first is to fill out every questionnaire that college coaches send you.  It doesn’t matter if it is from State University of the small school that is close to your home.  There is no reason that you can’t take a few minutes of your life to submit the information that they are looking for.

At this point, DO NOT limit your recruiting options.  You never what will happen during your junior year.  You could tear your ACL and miss the entire season.  Then if there were schools that you decided not to send back information to, they may have ended up offering scholarships to other athletes.  So no matter what level it is, show some interest in the school.  If you have time, check it out online and learn more about the program.

If you have the money and the time, you might as well try to attend some football camps at your dream schools.  You can call/email the coaches about possibly attending for just a day or two to learn more about the program and the coaches.  It would also give you a chance to showcase your skills in front of the coaches.  And from what I have seen, college coaches are more likely to offer an athlete after their junior season if they have worked with them and seen them in their camp.

While these camps would be great to get to, they are not a huge priority at this point in your recruiting.  It does help to get to some so that you can learn more about the schools but it is not going to make or break the recruiting process.  It is just something to think about if you have the time and money to do so.

A recruiting profile is something that you should be seriously thinking about right now.  Because it is already into the summer camps, now may not be a great time to be sending them out to college coaches.  It may just be better to wait until you see what you do as a junior on the football field (Click here for the full article).  At the very least, you should be at least piecing the information together to set it up.  The reason to do that early work is that once the season gets over, you can throw your stats and honors into it and then send it off to coaches.

Another area to think about is finding colleges that fit your interests.  As a junior to be, it really is tough to know exactly what you want to do with your life.  But you should at least have a good feel on a possible major, location, weather, and other areas about the future school.  Sit down with your family and talk about what you want in a future school.  Once you are done, use this article to help you find potential matches in possible colleges.

The last thing I think you should seriously look into is who will be making your highlight tape once the season gets over.  Now is a great time to shop around and look into different options.  Speak with your high school coach and the assistants about if they have done it before.  If they have, try to view the tape to see the quality.  If it is not good, then it would be worth the money to hire a professional.

You can get quotes from different companies and even line up who will make it and how much it will cost.  You should not obviously pay anything now (You might get hurt on the first play of the season) but lining it up will save you a lot of time down the road.  Also look into who will be taping the games and how you will be getting your hands on the tape.  If it comes down to it, your parents may be the ones who will tape things.