NIL, Win Now, and College Football Recruiting
Cover photo: Bredell Richardson, one of the top 2024 wide receivers in the country from Tampa (Fla.) Carrollwood Day School.
From traveling around Dixie and listening to top college football prospects on and off the record, in addition to college coaches and other scouts that cover the recruiting beat, there’s been more change during the last year than at any point in recent memory, if ever.
These are some of the recruiting topics that have come up that need to be discussed.
1) NIL causing some schools to back away from prospects.
While not supposed to be an inducement, there are a handful of college football programs that are absolutely using up-front NIL money to completely change the recruitments of some players. In return, it’s also caused some other schools to reevaluate recruiting certain players regardless of the talent level because they will not pay those recruits.
Kind of a "pick a side" situation.
Most college programs aren’t going to pay money to kids that have never made a tackle, or blocked anyone, a big sum of money before they come to class and the practice field.
Now, other programs are throwing around money like it’s nothing. It’s really wild how different some of the programs have been. Should be an interesting 2023-24 recruiting cycle as it relates to NIL.
2) There has been less and less patience from coaches with high school players that are not polished.
What does polished mean? Players that openly accept coaching and come to the college level with advanced technique. Why are coaches not waiting?
Boosters and school administrators are not waiting on wins, i.e. players to get coached up. College coaches need to win now or risk being fired.
Some might say that it’s been that way in the college football world for a long time, but it’s to the point now that a coach may not last two years if there’s not enough “progress” within the program that's being discussed. It used to be three or four years.
Thus, regardless of position, recruits that are not polished have far fewer chances to earn scholarships.
Few prospects catch 50-50 balls better than Bredell Richardson.
A great example is Bredell Richardson, the player on the cover of this article and in the photo right here. He's advanced with his route running and ball skills for a player going into his senior season next fall. Richardson earned a plethora of offers eary on because it was obvious that he could contribute early at the college level.
Additional point: This situation with impatience extended to the classroom and social behavior over the past year. Recruits that messed up often lost that scholarship offer a lot faster than ever before.
3) Where are the versatile players?
With so many players leaving and going to the Transfer Portal, there’s a larger need for a player that’s willing to help out a college team and switch positions. Sometimes a squad just goes through a tough stretch with players leaving, in addition to injuries, that needs a fix right away.
That means that recruits that openly admit they are willing to play multiple spots will have a better shot to earn scholarship offers.
4) In-person evaluations matter.
Most college coaches loved the workout videos and all the different camps and combines that come up on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter among other social media outlets.
They’ve also loved all the camps and combines put on by different organizations that lead to college coaches seeing how kids performed. Those opportunities have helped college football coaches across America.
Unless a player is a truly elite player, however, college coaches generally wanted to see recruits literally come to their campus so they can get their own measurements for height, wingspan, weight, and different testing numbers like the L drill or 40-yard dash.
Yes, it’s been inconvenient for recruits and those that helped them travel. It’s not changing though. Coaches have trusted very few people. Many coaches simply preferred to see a kid in person, and that means prospects that came to their campuses or they probably lost a shot at an offer. With impatience rising, that's likely not changing because every scholarship has a chance to make a difference in the win-loss record.
5) Seven-on-seven season is almost here.
That means prospects can make a name for themselves and earn offers.
Every year a few players seem to come out of the blue and become much more highly recruited than before because of seven-on-seven. It’s been fun to watch it happen and nothing less will be expected between now and mid-summer when seven-on-seven concludes.
Who’s next?
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