Prospects taking game to coaches

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By Steve Batterson | Wednesday, July 23, 2008 |

Kevin E. Schmidt/QUAD-CITY TIMES Joe Brown, who co-owns Davenport-based mediaWork productions, has seen a growing number of parents and high school athletes wanting videos produced to send to college coaches. Buy this Photo

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Mike Brandtner didn’t wait for potential colleges to come to him.

Instead, the Iowa State punter went to them.

The Davenport Assumption graduate actively marketed his skills to college football programs as a way to provide himself with an opportunity at the next level.

“You do what you can to get noticed,’’ Brandtner said. “Camps, combines, DVDs, they’ve become a part of the process if you want to give yourself a chance to compete.’’

Brandtner isn’t alone.

About 45 Quad-City area athletes spent a recent Saturday morning participating in a football combine, having their speeds timed and their leaps and lifts measured.

Organizers of the event promised to forward results to colleges if the competitors desired.

“Sometimes you have to take the initiative and do what you can to help yourself,’’ said Alec Fetterer, who will be a senior at Davenport North High School this fall.

A proactive approach by young athletes and their parents has changed the dynamics of recruiting, and in the pursuit of scholarships there is no question that the chase is on.

“In the past, we’d go to schools, talk to coaches, look at game tapes, and recruit from there. We still do that, but more and more people are coming to us, too,’’ St. Ambrose University football coach Mike Magistrelli said.

“It’s an entirely different game now than it was 5-to-10 years ago. There’s no question that people are marketing themselves in a number of different ways.’’

Magistrelli believes the reasoning extends beyond the confines of the football field.

“I think the rising cost of an education has a lot to do with it. People are pursuing opportunities that may be out there to help fund their young person’s college education, and obviously scholarships are one way to do that,’’ he said.

Deluge of videoThese days, the mailboxes of college coaches are filled with information on potential recruits.

At the University of Iowa, football recruiting coordinator Eric Johnson estimates the program already has video in one form or another on about 4,500 prospects for its 2009 recruiting class.

Of those, more than one-third were unsolicited videos.

“We try to get through anything we receive. Somebody on staff will put a set of eyes to it, although the task can seem a little overwhelming at times,’’ Johnson said.

These days, the task extends beyond opening the mail on a daily basis.

The ease of sending information allows prospects to send information and video clips electronically to a large number of recipients for a relatively modest cost.

“That has changed things even more,’’ Johnson said. “It’s now possible for a kid to send information to hundreds of schools with one click on the keyboard. There are days when the inboxes on the email get pretty full.’’

Johnson said Iowa is in the process of installing a tapeless system that will house a database of information on all potential recruits, something that allows multiple coaches simultaneous access to videos and information via computer.

Small schools, tooThat extends beyond the Division I level.

Augustana College football coach Jim Barnes and Magistrelli have seen increases in the amount of correspondence they receive.

Both estimate that their programs receive video of 400 to 600 prospective players during the course of a year, and most of it does get looked at.

Barnes said those accompanied by impersonal, form letters typically are the last to be seen, and coaches of both programs said information received from potential recruits within the region typically will get a closer look than those sent from a greater distance.

“We don’t typically bring in too many players from California or Arizona,’’ Barnes said. “We try to be realists as we sort though the information we receive. I would hope that people would spend enough time and thought on their future to do a little more than a mass electronic mailing. If the introduction begins only with ‘Dear coach,’ it probably isn’t going to be scrutinized that closely.’’

Prospective players are not the only ones making the most of technology.

Magistrelli has noticed a growing number of e-mails from high school coaches, complete with video attachments for multiple players they are attempting to place with college programs.

“Instead of calling us about a kid or a couple of kids, they’ll send an email with information and action of five or six kids they feel can play at our level,’’ Magistrelli said. “The days of going to a high school and sitting down and looking over game tape, trying to find a kid or two, they’ve changed.’’

Other information is received from some of the hundreds of recruiting services that now exist, which for a fee will compile and distribute information on prospective collegiate athletes in all sports.

Most charge a fee for both the athletes whose profiles are compiled and the colleges who receive that information.

Combines helpful

Like most colleges, Augustana subscribes to recruiting services that provide programs with lists of names and general background information on potential athletes.

“Technology provides us with easier access to information, but in the end it still comes down to having contact with the coaches, students and parents,’’ Barnes said.

Combine-style events provide measures that help both athletes and college recruiters.

Electronically timed 40-yard dash results — typically a couple tenths of a second slower than hand-timed results — frustrated a few participants in the recent Quad-City combine as they moved on to the next test.

“That may have bruised an ego or two, but it does give kids a good base to work from as they work to improve,’’ said Ryan Arnold, a former Northern Iowa football player who operates Acceleration Quad-Cities with former Nebraska and Iowa running back Marques Simmons.

“A combine like this, especially early on, benefits the player and the information we send out to colleges lets them know about players from the Quad-City area. It’s a win-win.’’

The NCAA no longer allows coaches to attend combine-style events, something that has led to a resurgence of players heading to on-campus camps.

“There was a time when the big combines were seen as the be all, end all, but with coaches no longer allowed to attend, we’re seeing increased interest in players coming to campus for camps,’’ Johnson said.

“The eyes that a coach can have during that type of a setting are as important as anything. In some ways, that’s not all bad.’’

Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.