Jake Frantl Tranfers to....
- Thread starter wvkeeper(HN)
- Start date
I'm not really sure where a walk-on QB is supposed to land. He's still playing college football which is still better than the vast majority of HS players.
Good for him. He took a shot at D1, it didn't work out. Now he gets to try and compete for a D3 national championship in a game he loves. Nothing wrong with that at all.
I really, really hate this notion that any kid playing lower than a D1, P5 school is somehow a failure or just not any good. There are a ton of names that never get uttered in big time recruiting circles because kids decide to prioritize academics or just don't want to do the D1 grind.
easiest way to look it is think of the best players from your own high school. How many went D1, 1 or 2 on a great year at most? Maybe 2-3 more of the best went D2 or 3, again in a good year. Look at the average first team all county player from 95% of the counties in just about any state that isn't Florida, Cali or Texas. They are D2 and D3 prospects at best.
you have to be really good to play college football at any level. You have to be elite to play D1.
And while it obviously isn’t the quality of FBS, the lower levels of college football is still a huge step above high school and a shitload of fun to watch if you have a rooting interest.
My nephew could have went FCS Patriot League, but chose D3 John Carroll. He felt the academic situation was equal enough and he liked JCU better than the 4 PL schools that were interested in him. His tution was heavily discounted (around $10k compared to his sister who paid $30k to go there) Now that he has been out 3 years, he is very happy with his decision.
Compared that to me, who went to Robert Morris. I should of went the D3 route. Instead I got injured (could of happened anywhere) but being so buried on a depth chart it discouraged me out of the sport all together. If I was at a PAC school and was close to cracking the 2 deep if not already in the 2 deep, I probably would of kept with it. Today I have regret for not seeing it through.
There is nothing wrong going D3 and playing and enjoying yourself.
Great post. One of my sons played D3 and loved his experience. My wife & I loved it as well. Great balance between football and school, reasonable tuition cost (about the same as our best offer for in-state Ohio public schools), the guidance and career counseling was fantastic - far better than I expected and light years ahead of what I got at Pitt as a non-athlete, a cushy campus job in the spring semesters and other fringe benefits. The football is competitive, especially where he went, and it forced some discipline on him that is starting to pay off big time now that he is one semester away from graduation (already has a job and will have enough credits to sit for his professional certification exam, which most kids don't get in 4 years). He has personal relationships with most of his professors, the AD and even the school president. I can count the number of Pitt professors that even knew my name on one hand and zero that I had any kind of personal relationship with. D3 football has been really good for him. I'm hoping my other son who is going to decide on a college here in the next few weeks chooses the same path for baseball and maybe a special teamer only (long snapper) for football because he is really good at it. The offer from the D3 school that he likes the best is less than half of what I'd have to pay for him to go to Pitt and even less than his initial financial package from Miami of OH. I'm going to let him make the decision himself, but I'm really struggling to not show my bias. Many kids at my older son's school are getting accepted to good law and med schools and other graduate schools. His close friend just got accepted into Pitt Law and he has two friends that graduated last year that got into Georgetown's MBA school. And many that aren't pursuing grad school at this time (like my son) have post graduation jobs already. I always thought you had to go to a highly ranked big school to get ahead in life and that D3 schools where were you went if you couldn't get into a big school or were afraid of a big school. I don't think that way anymore.
I'll be honest, academically, D3 schools are typically a bit better than D2. At least in PA. There are also a surprising number that have scholarships that pay all or most of the tuition. Of course you must have the grades or it's a no go.
I'll go as far as saying that many D3 schools rival the top 100 D1 schools academically as well.
My kid is just wading into the recruiting process and that's been my impression, so far. She's not going D1 unless a gamma radiated spider bites her or something but I kind of like the programs some of the D3 schools offer.
Feel free to DM me is you have any questions about my experience or my son's experience. It isn't all good, but overall it has been a very positive experience.
I guess everyone has their own experience. My brother-in-law went to a D3 school (PAC) and hated it and tells everyone that it is not worth the price tag and don't bother giving such a school any consideration. Some people probably thrive in a small school environment and can take advantage of what it has to offer, while it's not a good fit for others.
100% fit matters. And I'm not even talking athletically, but socially and educationally I would have done horrible had I gone to a Duquesne size school let alone a Pitt or Penn State size school. Everyone needs to find the right fit for them, there is no one size fits all solution.
100%. And which D3 you go to matters as well. As someone above stated, some are excellent, better bang for your buck academic/career/grad school-wise than just about any of the big D1s.
D2s are more the Slippery Rocks and Ferris States of the world, $hitty, less selective academic schools with bigger enrollments.
The Slippery Rock's, IUPs, etc of the world have their place too. If you want to be a teacher, nurse, etc there is no need to spend money on the state related or private schools. They have their fair share of successful businessmen, doctors and lawyers too.
But to your point, they also have too many that just want to go to college for the experience and party.
I don;t disagree--they just get a different average level of student than the more academically inclined colleges and universities. There are some very good D2 schools, and some very highly accomplished people that came from them.
I would guess that the percentage of graduates that go on to grad school from the average D2 is significantly lower than it is for the average D3 though, one of the reasons being, many kids that go to D3s are planning to go to grad school before they even start their first undergrad class. Many kids that go to D2s are there for 4 year degrees that place them in specific fields.
Huh. Like Vegas, I had pegged him for Community College of Allegheny County. Or LaRoche College.
Perhaps in a few subjects. Across the board? No way. That's a big reason I chose Pitt: academic greatness permeates. I changed majors three times without having to transfer to a school that was very solid in my newly chosen major.
Appreciate that. She has some good people working with her that are current D2 and D3 coaches with her club. It's changed a lot.
Yeah, I agree with that. It is the key difference. The breadth of offering at most D3's is nothing compared to what larger Universities can offer. And areas of specialization are minimal. If you don't know what you want to be when you grow up or you know what you want to be and it is very specialized, D3 is probably not for you. But if you want to major in something that is available at a D3 and don't care about specialization, D3 is a very attractive option if you want to have the opportunity to continue to play a sport.
Got a club soccer girl Dan? I’ve got two of those myself but not that age yet, the oldest is a soph in HS. She is on track to have some D2-3 opportunities as well.
That’s why such a high percentage of D3 kids go to grad school. You’re basically limited to liberal arts type degrees at most D3s.
Good luck to him. But I don't get it. I mean a Pitt education is worth more. He isn't going to play in the NFL.
Maybe he loves playing football, wants to do it as long as he can, and is planning to go to grad school for something specific, in which case where he gets his undergrad degree from won’t matter too much.
Volleyball. She's started late and are undersized but she's decent. We've been told that if she wants to play in college badly enough, there will be a place for her.
Most liberal arts schools offer "programs of emphasis" that are pretty similar to a major. You just take a broader range of classes but you don't necessarily need a graduate degree depending on the program and the school. I think you'd be surprised what programs D3 schools offer.
Do we know whether he graduated or not? He was at Pitt for 4 years.
I wouldn't be surprised at all. I have plenty of friends and a few family members who have gone to small lib arts schools, there were a bunch of them in my law school class and several of them were college athletes. I know you can get a marketable 4 year degree in a specific area, but it seems like the schools themselves focus on prepping kids for grad school admissions to law schools, med schools, and masters programs, and it seems like most of the grads go to grad school.
Similar threads
