Recruiting 101

[NCPnthr05]

So I've been following Pitt recruiting for a long time now and, while it's fun to track everything on the websites and Twitter, I still find myself as much of an outsider as I was when I first got into it. It all comes down to the fact that I still don't understand "how" recruiting works. Maybe this is widely known and I keep missing it, but if anyone can break down the basics of it, I'd greatly appreciate it.

For example, I'll read about a defensive coach being the main recruiter for an offensive player. Why would this make sense? I'm sure there's a very reasonable explanation but damned if I know.

Or how are coaches assigned to regions for recruiting? Is it simply "you've worked there before and know people"? And how much time do they really have to get to know ALL the big high school coaches/players in a geographic footprint?

And how on earth do these guys find the right players for their scheme? I mean yeah Rivals and other sites are out there ranking guys and assigning stars, but how much do coaches really pay attention to that? Do they really watch THAT much tape on a guy before making an offer?

I realize these might sound as elementary as it gets, but it's not having a full understanding of these little things that drive me nuts about the process.

 

[thebadby2]

A couple of answers:

Recruiting is based entirely on relationships-the relationships the coaches have with high school coaches, primarily. It is very much dictated by geographical familiarity-guus who have relationships in certain parts of the country are assigned to recruit those areas. If a running backs coach who has Georgia recruitng ties, he will be the primary recruiter for that big defensive tackle in his designated recruiting region. Every D1 staff literally has a map in the coaches' meeting room with assigned regions and key prospects.

As far as finding players that fit the mold of what you're trying to do as a head coach, you rely mostly on your own camps and evaluating the players you actually spend some time with at camp. Rivals rankings provide a list, if anything, for coaches to use to invite campers. When you've identified targets you're interested in, you ask for game film and try to watch them play in person, talk to their HS coaches etc.

Recruring is a grueling job, but a critical one. Ask any position coach. That's what makes or breaks them until they ascend to a coordinator level.

 

[Dan from Howell]

It's all relationships. Usually territories are based on the following.

A. 6 Hour radius.
Generally, most of the recruiting in a lot of schools is traditionally within the 6 hour radius. That advantages some schools more than others. One of the things Narduzzi likes about Pitt compared to East Lansing is the 6 hour radius in Pitt is stronger than East Lansing. Pennsylvania has a lot of talent in its own right. To the West is Ohio, South is Maryland, DC, and Virginia, and East is New Jersey, four good football states. Further out is Indianapolis, Chicago, Fort Wayne, and SE Michigan. The neighboring schools are tough in Pitt, but there's only State Penn, West Virginia, Rutgers, and Ohio State as the main competition. MSU is in a state with less talent than Pennsylvania, has that other school in Ann Arbor, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Wisconsin as neighbors (I don't count Indiana and Purdue, and Northwestern has special criteria). Arguably Iowa and State Penn as well are "almost neighbors" as they recruit our area and state heavily. A lot of Michiganders play/played for State Penn and Iowa.

As far as coaching territories, MSU had everybody in Michigan, at least three coaches in Ohio, two coaches in Chicagoland, two in Pennsylvania, and one in Indiana and Wisconsin.

B. Big talent states.
Florida, Georgia, Ohio, California, Texas. Everyone recruits those areas, some with more success than others.

C. Familiarity.
Oftentimes this overlaps the 6 hour radius, but not always. If a coach is from an area, chances are he'll recruit it. Harlon Barnett's from Cincinnati. Narduzzi's from Youngstown and his mom lives in New Jersey. Terry Samuel is from Houston. Mike Tressel lived in Columbus.

I expect Narduzzi's Pitt to recruit Pennsylvania the most, Ohio and New Jersey heavily, and then work other areas where there are ties and/or a lot of talent. Florida. Michigan. DC, Maryland, etc.

As far as stars go, some coaches care a lot about star rankings. Narduzzi isn't one of them. He's a talent evaluator. They look at tape, but the biggest thing they do is try and get prospects on campus for junior days, camps, etc, and watch them in person. A lot of offers will come out of camp. Dantonio's best ability as a recruiter is to not have a high bust rate, and I expect similar results with Narduzzi. Some players had better careers than others, but most contributed and saw the field. While the NFL 2*'s made the news, there were a lot of solid 4 year contributors on a winning team - which wasn't easy as before Dantonio/Narduzzi arrived, MSU had one winning season the previous four years. That was not a good team inherited to say the least.