After the lights have been shut off, the jerseys turned in and the book closed on another high school football season. A new chapter dawns as programs around the state open the offseason.
While it may not include pep talks, countless hours spent in the Florida heat, or Gatorade showers, the task is as competitive as any rivalry game or state playoff contest.
It’s the start of recruiting season.
Scouts, recruiters and even some of the top college coaches in the nation swarm to schools, lining up to meet, shake hands and make phones ring off the hook .
“It can get crazy,” Plant coach Robert Weiner says.
Along with Weiner, coaches across the Bay aren’t thinking about a vacation to Cancun. Instead their minds are on which player will go where and when. However, that process starts and ends with the coach himself, and it can get pretty competitive as schools look for an edge with Jimbo Fisher, Urban Meyer, Skip Holtz and Will Muschamp coming around.
Weiner, a four time state champion football coach with the Panthers, stresses the importance of honesty, especially with the recruiter coming to see a handful of players on his team.
“We have a responsibility (as coaches) to make sure we can tell the truth,” Weiner said. “I won’t speak about positives if (the player) doesn’t have it.”
All across the board, schools are making sure its players get noticed. Through highlight film, workouts and face-to-face conversations with players and families, programs get to understand each player a little better and move the athlete a little higher or lower on its wish list. However, according to Weiner, a program relies heaviest on the coaches themselves.
“In many cases, (the recruiter) bases it on the evaluation itself. You have to have a reputation of being honest, because if a college gets a guy that doesn’t pan out to be what you told them he would then they don’t recruit (at your school) again,” Weiner said. “That being said there is no crystal ball. We don’t know how a player will be, but I’ve never had a college coach call me and say that we dupped them, just many success stories.”
Armwood coach Sean Callahan agrees and adds that when he tells a college some information about a certain player, they listen because of his reputation as a truthful coach.
“When I say someone is going to be 6-feet tall, he’s going to be 6-feet. He’s not 5’8 or 5’10. They’ll believe me on that,” Callahan said.
He also adds that it’s up to the recruiter to be as precise as possible with the persuit of an athlete and that he has never crossed the line when it comes to discussions with college coaches.
“I have never pushed the limit with a college,” Callahan said. “I’m always a good resource and I’ll be upfront with them. Everyone has their own way.”
Smaller programs may feel pressured to give false information
Aside from the Plant’s, Armwood’s and Jefferson’s of the world that dominate Tampa sports page headlines and county polls, some programs get little to no recognition from outside fans and media alike. Which is a pressure point for what both Weiner and Callahan agree could cause some coaches to beat around the bush and give a player more credit than they deserve.
“I’m not going to name the school, but often times I have (college) coaches that will tell me ‘I won’t go to this school anymore because I get bad information’,” Callahan said. “I think some recruiters do a good job when they’re talking to a coach and can see that they may be begging. I do think some smaller schools might bend the truth a little bit.”
Weiner adds that a personal relationship with parents and players can fuel the fire and blind some coaches from the true potiental of an athlete.
“We spend so much time with these kids it’s like a family,” Weiner said. “A father and a mother may not see much difference than a coaches point of view and the coach could tell a recruiter what he truly sees, and it may not be what the college wants.
“But you really have to be way off base with a college for them to suspect something is not right.”
Steinbrenner coach Floyd Graham,whose program is entering just its third full varsity season in 2012, has dealt with plenty of personal instances where a coach gives a recruiter some false information. Graham began his career in Alabama, where he would meet with certain coaches that ended up losing the interest of many programs because of dishonesty.
“There was nothing worse than going to a school and having a coach tell you he has five or six players to offer, and they’re not good,” Graham said. “It makes you feel like you’re wasting your time and a lot of credibility is lost.”
As a head coach locally at Newsome and currently Steinbrenner, Graham says he has carried over many aspects of those moments and he strives for nothing but the truth with his budding program.
“I try to get close to all of my players and get them recruited,” Graham said. “If you have a kid that doesn’t have the GPA, you have to be honest and tell them. A lot of the time now, the kids go to the smaller recruiting fairs to get them in a school.”
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On the Pinellas side, Largo coach Rick Rodriguez says many of the tools that college programs use to point out which player could be ranked via the “star rating”, are false. He points to former Packer, ‘Ole Miss standout and current Kansas City Chief Dexter McCluster as the face behind that.
“Lots of people run good 40 times, but a lot of it isn’t even up to football speed,” Rodriguez said. “You look at (McCluster) when he was here and we sent out a lot of film all over the country. That’s why he’s there.”
He adds that because of the hard work and dedication to his players, he puts them in prime position to get to that next level.
“We have 50 to 60 colleges that come through here,” Rodriguez said. “We have no problem with that, because we’re not a small program. I can’t speak for the Armwood’s and the Plant’s, because I’m not over in Hillsborough, but even though we’re not putting guys all around the state, they go out of state and look where they are. … We have eight (Division I) guys, three of them likely going to the NFL.”
In fact, along with McCluster, Largo has sent multiple players into the professional ranks including Marcus Paschal, who led the Pack to their first district title in 2001, signed undrafted with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2007.
When the smoke has finally cleared on the battle field and the collegiate programs have made their picks from the pool before heading back north or south to close out another offseason, Graham sums it up best.
“I’ve never heard of a football coach giving out scholarships to players, it’s the (colleges) that do. I have to maintain my credibility as a coach and if a kid doesn’t qualify, I’ll let him know right off the bat.”
Follow Jeff Odom on Twitter @JeffO_LutzNews