Don’t be ignorant to the fact the high school recruiting happens all the time and at more than just the schools that are accused on a daily basis. This is not just a county epidemic, but statewide. The following is just my opinion on why parents transfer their student athletes. After you have read this and you get very defensive and argumentative, you a have totally missed the point.

If you think kids transferring from school to school just started the last 5 or so years, you are mistaken or misguided. This has been going on for years and coaches recruiting players or being accused of recruiting players has been happening for the longest.

In 1992 the Hillsborough Terriers were 6-4 under head coach Dick O’Brien before going 9-2 the following year under current head coach Earl Garcia. In 1990, Armwood was 0-10 under Ed Hoffman as the head man and 2-8, 3-7, 6-4, 3-7, 2-8 the 1st five seasons under current head coach Sean Callahan. Jefferson posted a record of 6-4 in 1997 under Darlee Nelson and backed that with a 2-8 run in 1998 under first year head coach, Mike Simmonds. Plant’s Robert Weiner took over a 1-9 1993 Panther team and went 3-7 his first season as a head coach.

I singled out the above programs because success did not come over night. The evil “R” word lingers over few Hillsborough County schools every year. Recruiting players to attend a specific school is an accusation that has hunted Hillsborough, Plant, Armwood and Jefferson (to name a few) for years. What could be said to any parent, to any kid to get them to transfer to either one of those programs when they were below average teams? Why would a young man want to play at Armwood when Coach Cal is posting a 2-8 record or Coach Weiner is looking no better than 3-7?

Now, Plant, Armwood, Hillsborough and Jefferson look a lot more attractive after state titles have been won, numerous players are signing college scholarships and the media is praising them regularly for their accomplishments.

If these coaching staffs are recruiting players to come to their schools illegally, nothing will happen until someone puts their signature on a complaint and an investigation happens. Hey, until then these schools will keep recruiting the “legal” way. Some aspects of a football program attract players and parents without a verbal conversation with school administration or coaching staff. This may rub some folks the wrong way; no matter the accusation, it would not be as easy to accuse certain teams if they did not do the following:

1) WIN! – How can I put this nicely? Very rarely do PARENTS WITHDRAW their student athlete from a school with a winning football program which they have been apart of. Everyone wants to be a winner! In my experience, the most successful teams invest time in laying the foundation to create a common framework for everyone. The building blocks are in the team infrastructure and team dynamics. “If you build it, they will come”!

2) RUN AN ORGANIZED PROGRAM – I have heard stories from kids who have never watched film on their opponent until game. I know of programs who do not lift weights during the football season and who do not put an emphasis on conditioning. There are football staffs where the head coach is absent the majority of the summer and only 1-2 coaches run the summer training. Kids need structure and should expect boundaries, consequences and rewards. They should know where to be and what time to be there and the coaches should lead by example. Staffs should be prepared for the next day’s practice before it gets there. Not throwing stuff together as the practice goes on or deciding that the team will lift weights on a given day because there is some down time.

3) BE INSTRUMENTAL IN ASSISTING KIDS SIGNING COLLEGE ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIPS – Every program will not have 4-8 D1 players. Those D1 players don’t need much help attracting college attention. The majority of your players that have the ability to play D1aa-D3 ball need max attention. Highlight films have to be made by mid season and mailed off. Phone calls have to be placed to college programs where those kids have the opportunity to play. Grade summary reports have to copied and shipped off. All that to say this, high school football staffs are 1/3 of equation that goes into kids getting attention from college programs. If the effort is made to help the kids that need the most help getting attention and ultimately earning some level of a college scholarship, the kids will trust that their football staff is the best agent they have and will stay put. If the accused schools are helping get 3-5 D2 and D3 caliber players in college yearly and your program is batting zero, ummmm!

4) GET INVOLVED IN OFF SEASON TOURNAMENTS/CAMPS – No matter what an adults’ theory is on why they don’t like 7 on 7 tournaments, showcases or combines, the fact of the matter is, the kids like them. If you are an option team, get your team to an option camp. If you have the ability to take your team to a padded camp of sorts, get them there. If you have the opportunity to involve your team in a 7 on 7 tournament, sign them up. The kids like to compete against other teams in a “competitive” environment; not just hooking up with another team on a weekly basis to put in work. Not the same! Kids like the exposure, love the attention and want to compete.

If an adult, one should think like an adult and your wants and needs differ from a teenager. But, if you allow yourself to understand what the kids want and fit that into the overall goal of your program, things can change for the better.

I can hear it now, “those teams also tell kids this and use that address, move kids here and do this and do that”. Well, I don’t see anyone using a fake address to get to Leto or kids lining up outside the doors at Riverview. Each team that gets the finger pointed at them do all of the above. Most kids want to be a winner and have a chance at winning a state championship. In my opinion, winning is a direct result of running an organized program, solid coaching and maximizing the talent on your team. If those are done, winning is a lot easier. 15-0 or 13-2 team does not have to worry about their best player transferring in the spring.