Can High School Graduates Still Get Recruited to Play College Football: Still Don’t Have an Offer?

If you’re a high school football player, fresh out of graduation but still don’t have a college offer, don’t despair. You can still achieve your goal of playing college football. It might seem like you’ve tried everything and you can understand why you haven’t got that offer you’ve been working so hard to get. Let us point out a few things that may not have tried yet, to get you on your way to playing college football! Here’s what you need to do:

GET ALL YOUR INFORMATION ORGANIZED FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES

Being organized is going to greatly maximize your chance for being recruited. A great way to organize your information for college football coaches is to put together a football profile. Your profile should include the following information:

– Full Name
– Position
– Height
– Weight
– Graduation class
– NCAA/NAIA ID
– HS GPA
– SAT/ACT
– Video links

It is very beneficial to have all your football information organized because this allows college football coaches to quickly see all your information. They want to see this as efficiently as possible so they can figure out if you are the type of player they are looking for and, to see that you are eligible to attend their program.

Having all your information organized also helps you get your information out there (to college football coaches) quickly because it is packaged in an organized way that makes a good first impression.

TIP: Include a smiling profile picture of you in your football jersey, to add to your positive first impression.

Football Coaches have a lot to do and their time is valuable so they want to be able to make a good evaluation of you as quickly as possible. So when you are putting your profile together here are some additional pointers that will make your profile even better:

1. Clear, easy to read font writing (white on black or black on white is best)
2. Space things out
3. Don’t try to fit too much on
4. No music on your video (coaches do not like it)

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR COLLEGE FOOTBALL PROFILE

Now that you have your recruiting profile together, the next step is to contact college football coaches. You need to let them know you are still available and interested in playing for their school. To make sure you are the most efficient and effective with your time, you need to only contact schools who are specifically recruiting at your position. This will not only help you save a lot of time, it will also maximize your chances of getting an offer. You are more likely to get a response from a college football coaches who is recruiting your position specifically, than taking a shot in the dark at a school where you don’t know what they are looking for.

BE AWARE OF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL RECRUITMENT CALENDAR

If you are looking to play NCAA there are specific dates and periods within the calendar year that you must be aware of. Specifically, there are live periods where you can be recruited and sign, and there are dead periods where you cannot be contacted or recruited by a coach.

Knowing when these periods are will help you when you are contacting college football coaches. Remember, the rules and guidelines for NCAA college football coaches are very strict. They will not bend the rules for you. If you are to be successful at finding your self a college football offer you care going to need to know these dates and plan your recruitment strategy accordingly.

NOTE: You have 5 years on the clock to complete your 4 years of playing college football once you graduate from HS.

CONSIDER OTHER OPTIONS TO PLAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL

If it’s getting late in the game for you and you are still struggling to find an opportunity, you can consider walking on. Not sure what walking on is? No problem. Below you can find a detailed summary of what walking on is, why its a good option and how you can get going down this route if you so choose.

What is a Walk-On?

A walk-on player is a player who has enrolled at the college and has made their way to football tryouts and made the team. Teams need walk-on players to fill various roles with the team dynamics.  A preferred walk-on is when a coach guarantees you a spot on the roster (but you still don’t receive an athletic scholarship). A recruited walk-on is when a coach wants you on the team but your position on the roster is not guaranteed (if you are a recruited walk-on you become subject to the transfer rules) with no financial assistance. Finally, a not-recruited walk-on is when you work your way onto the team by enrolling at the school and attending an open tryout or, you have worked it out with the college by previously making contact with the coaches on your own.

NOTE: The majority of schools “leave the door open” for young, talented and ambitious football players to get an opportunity in this way and make the team.