Saw a quote from Stanford football coach David Shaw that fits in with what the Tribe coaches have said regarding recruiting.

“It’s not about changing Stanford admissions, it’s about finding the right kids."

I'm in complete agreement. Rather than compromise the schools academics for some kids, highlight them as a major selling point.

I read somewhere that the academics have been a big part of W&M's successful recruiting in the midwest-there aren't really any top-tier universities (except maybe Michigan, but they're recruiting different guys) which gives our coaches a great selling point for high schoolers and parents. Nice to see W&M taking the same approach as Stanford.

(08-05-2014 07:18 PM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Saw a quote from Stanford football coach David Shaw that fits in with what the Tribe coaches have said regarding recruiting.

“It’s not about changing Stanford admissions, it’s about finding the right kids."

I'm in complete agreement. Rather than compromise the schools academics for some kids, highlight them as a major selling point.

I always thought Tribe football should have a dedicated recruiter for the state of Ohio. Its a football rich state that doesn't have any top tier universities playing FCS scholarship football. I also think we could compete for MAC recruits by pushing the academic angle.

I agree we should be seeking out kids that fit academically and not dropping standards to the point where kids are failing to graduate. But, if you look at our academic peers in FCS (ivies/patriot) and FBS (duke, Stanford, ND, Vanderbilt, etc), they are all recruiting kids nationally to find enough talent to compete.

Pretty amazing that the Tribe staff finds enough academically qualified talent to compete while only actively recruiting about a half-dozen states and DC. I don't think we need to recruit nation-wide to find football players, but it would be nice to expand our recruiting to about a dozen states and actively recruit Ohio, Georgia, FL, CA, WV, and TX. I know out-f-state scholarship costs are also a concern with this strategy, so we'd still need to be VA heavy squad.

I think a nation-wide approach for basketball, where in-state versus out-of-state matters much less makes even more sense.

I've been thinking about this, and here's my off the wall theory. In football, aside from the NFL there really aren't other options. The Arena League exists, but it goes through phases and every few years has to take some time off to revamp itself. In basketball there are leagues around the world that are relatively stable and provide a chance to keep playing. There is a band of student athlete that is a skilled player and up to the academic standards of WM. In basketball that person may opt for a school with a lower academic side because he has intentions of going and playing overseas and so picks the better program. In football, since there are no leagues in Europe, Asia, Australia, etc., the need for a quality degree may be a bit higher. I have no idea if this is the case, but I have a hunch it might be a factor.

Youngstown State was once a 1-AA powerhouse and looks to be building some steam.

Agree we should expand our recruiting footprint...Florida, Texas, Ohio, and Cali would be a good start.

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