Scout Trout - The Window Of Opportunity

The world of College football is much larger than what most of us see on TV. The fact of the matter is, high school football is much larger outside of that. NCAA College Football Programs are allowed to have 28 National letter of intents on signing day. Doing the math, there are over 1,000,000 football players in America. There are 128 FBS programs in America that this rule applies to, and with 28 spots in each program, only 3,584 high school football players per year receive scholarships--meaning you have less then a 3% chance of playing D1 ball. This year, only around 75% of those players who signed on signing day, received a football scholarship and the rest are walking on. Even if you are the number one player on your team, there are 14,000 high school football teams in America each with one or more super star athlete. So how do you stand out from hundreds of thousands of student athletes? Nationally known "Recruiting/Scouting Services" like NCSA, Berecruited, NSR and other computer generated programs that leave things to a screen, have upwards of over 300,000 players on their websites. Plus, they have to contract with the schools to receive payment from them in order for the coaches and recruiting coordinators to access their database. Rather than help you stand out, this system narrows your chances of the right coach catching your profile and them deeming you worth of a view, let alone a scholarship. Coaches at big time schools tend to know about in state standouts first and then turn to well-known recruit ranking sources like Rivals.com to make their recruiting boards. They also turn to well-known sources that have played the game at a high level for a long time and have a very good eye for talent, while being able to judge a player's overall potential further down the road. 

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Those who do not come from one of what I like to call the "Big Four" recruiting states, i.e. GA, FL, CA, TX. These four states alone produce about half of the college national letters of intent on National Signing Day, so your chances drastically drop further if you play ball in one of the other 46 states and even more significantly if you are outside of America. When Team North played Team South this season in the first ever Scout Trout All-American Bowl, it was proven in what Scout Trout calls a 21-7 win for Team North, that there is a vast amount of players going overlooked in the states that were represented. OH/WV/KY/TN/OK/IL were heavily represented as they defeated the "football states" top players that we located at Scout Trout. 

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With there being 130 FBS Football Programs, 124 FCS Programs, 169 D2 Programs, 88 NAIA Programs and 128 competing Junior College programs, if you want it bad enough, you can find a path to a football scholarship and/or another shot at earning one the very next year. So with 639 collegiate programs going into the 2018 season, College football recruiting is not what it used to be. The pool of athletes is just simply so large that you must be located EARLY and OFTEN through the process if you plan on landing a coveted football scholarship, especially at the Division one level. Most of the guys we work with come from various backgrounds and places that are not getting the exposure needed to even get seen by a JUCO program. There are so many areas to go in America to find football players, that College coaches have many ways to separate prospects from one another and will even kgo as far to evaluate players parents to decide on which prospect they would rather have on scholarship in their program and offer the other a walk-on opportunity.  

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Too many prospects today have the athletic attributes that are desired at the next level, yet lack the basic football fundamentals needed to excel at a high caliber. These prospects are often the 6'5-Rand-Moss-looking-receivers who go up and when it appears to be a "you got mossed" scenario, these Mega Tron wannabes turn into a pile of bricks, as the ball ricochets into the safeties hands for a interception. On the other hand, you may have the 6'6, 320LB defensive tackle, but he stands straight up when the ball's snapped and plays patty cake with the interior linemen, creating no penetration into the backfield, rendering himself almost useless on the field. Most of the time these players have never been taught the basic fundamentals needed to excel or how to use their bodies to their unique advantage.  There comes a time when all the weights and speed training in the world can not help you win a battle in the trenches, or a one-on-one match-up on the outside. However, if you combined stellar/proven techniques to that structure, you have a winner. 

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Let's say you run a 4.7,40 yard dash consistently, and in one session, you learn a perfect starting stance, and you drop your time to a 4.5 flat. This shows in a very minute and detailed way, that you are coach-able and can get better in your overall game. Upside is generated mostly in a college coach's mind as the ability to grow and get better. If you have all of the athletic tools but are lacking the knowledge needed to excel on the football field, well, all of the training is for nothing as you will get eaten alive in the trenches.

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Your window of opportunity is closing by the second to get noticed as another athlete is taking advantage of the resources and not waiting around basking in the sense of high school football glory. With over 14,000 stars of their respective high school teams (or multiple for some), how do you plan on catching a college coaches eye this spring and open the doors that were closed for those who came before you? 

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