47 replies to this topic

[rallyinthe9th]

How much does size of school affect a chance at a scholarship? Who from a D4 through D6 football program has gone on to play D1 in the past 5 years in Northwest Ohio?

A conversation came up with some friends and I am curious to see your thoughts. If coaching is the same (which it can be great or not great at both levels), is a kid more likely to develop into a D1 college player at a D1 or D2 high school?

[redskin rowdy]

I think it has a lot to do with it, but at the same time the main think coaches will still look for are ability and size. Some of the small schools though can make an average player look pretty good.

[longshot89]

When you look at our area, we pretty much only have Lima Senior in the category of a "big school"

Some D-4 TO D-6 guys that come to mind in the past 5 years that are now playing D-1

Zac Dysert (Ada) Miami (OH), probably going to the NFL
Briggs Orsbon (Crestview) - Ball State, I believe led them in receiving more than once including when they were 12-2 in 2008
Jordan Thompson (Parkway) - Ohio, starting TE
The Homan Brothers (Coldwater) - Ross had an outstanding career, little brother is still at Ohio State
Ty O'Conner (LCC) - Michigan St.
Maty Mauk (Kenton) - Missouri

I think that bigger schools get more attention because there is more selection. But, I think the small schools (especially around us) put more emphasis on sports because that is all we have. I don't think the size of school has anything to do with it, I think it is the quality of the program.

[jeffcat-bucki]

There is a wide variety of reasons as to why this is and to answer the question, yes D3 and larger schools do get more attention...some reasons being justifiable, and others just get overlooked.

1: Scouting in cities is much easier
2: Potential recruits play against better competition which illustrates a more confirmed stance as a prospect playing at the next level. Sure, you may be a 5'9" D6 QB that dominates, but that doesn't mean anything at the next level or even if you were in D1 HS ball. Same goes for lineman. You might have a good 6'4" 260lb lineman in D6 tearing it up...but how does he fare against a D-lineman his own size as opposed to most of the 5'9" 190lb D6 D-linemen.
3: Bigger cities have more players than rural areas. JUST St. X alone has what?...1164 boys from 9-11 enrolled? That's 1 single school from Cincy. The entire NWC combined has 1180 boys. Now imagine a school like St. X with a line of tradition and success in their program with that amount of QUALITY athletes to work with.
4: Bigger city programs do have better players. Some of it is socioeconomic, player transfers, and quite frankly better genetics when you do the research.

Is that to say, there are no quality players in rural areas like NW Ohio?...not at all, but who really from the NW Ohio has exactly exploded into the NFL for example? The only one I can think off the top of my head is Kory Lichtensteiger from Crestview who was/is starting for the Redskins. On the other hand, how many from Cincy, Cleveland, Columbus are?...quite a few more. Several small school players get overlooked and go on to DIII, DII, and D1AA schools and dominate...they more than likely(in some, not all) could have played well enought to play D1 football if even at the MAC level, but it is what it is.

Edited by jeffcat-bucki, 11 September 2012 - 11:09 PM.

[fortfan]

Recruiting is all about going to camps these days. School size doesn't mean as much.

[oberhaus]

Cody Pettit- PH- Central MI
Elliot Mealer- Wauseon- Michigan
Colt Pettit- PH- Many D1 offers

There are more, these are just off the top of my head.

[Pulitzer]

_{Heath Jackson, Ada, BGSU
Michael Dennis, Carey, Michigan State}

[Common Sense]

longshot89, on 11 September 2012 - 11:25 AM, said:

When you look at our area, we pretty much only have Lima Senior in the category of a "big school"

Some D-4 TO D-6 guys that come to mind in the past 5 years that are now playing D-1

Zac Dysert (Ada) Miami (OH), probably going to the NFL
Briggs Orsbon (Crestview) - Ball State, I believe led them in receiving more than once including when they were 12-2 in 2008
Jordan Thompson (Parkway) - Ohio, starting TE
The Homan Brothers (Coldwater) - Ross had an outstanding career, little brother is still at Ohio State
Ty O'Conner (LCC) - Michigan St.
Maty Mauk (Kenton) - Missouri

I think that bigger schools get more attention because there is more selection. But, I think the small schools (especially around us) put more emphasis on sports because that is all we have. I don't think the size of school has anything to do with it, I think it is the quality of the program.

Not sure I agree with this. If that were the case, Delphos St. John's would have kids all over the place playing college ball. Size of school has alot to do with it. I don't know that many colleges even look much at D6 and D5 kids, i do think the summer camps and combines also play a big part.
There just are not many D1 and D2 football scholarships available. Athletic scholarships are probably one of the biggest myths out there that many people just don't understand. D3 and NAIA don't have athletic scholarships. D2 is very limited and D1 is for the elite athletes. Even the very, very good players that are named earlier in this thread are playing very little for their respective programs. And this is from a pool of hundreds and hundres of seniors who've graduated from high school in NW Ohio over the past 5-6 years.

[ADog]

A lot also is on the shoulders of the high school head coach. If a head coach promotes his players there is a lot better chance at being noticed. The comment about camps also has some merit. If a kid from D5-D6 school attends say OSU camp or other big name camps and scores well when compared to D1, D2 high school players, D1 college coaches take notice. I think in this day and age, there is a better chance for small school athletes to garner a D1 scholly than in previous years.

[Rd2Glory]

Big schools and big cities have more D1 recruits because there are more kids there. Also, kids that play at D1 schools likely become better athletes because they play against better competition on a day-to-day basis. That said, the fact that they are from a bigger school has much less to do with them being recruited relative to the level of athlete they are.

I will concede that if a kid does not make any effort to be recruited (such as going to camps, sending highlights to coaches, filling out questionnaires, etc.) playing for a bigger school may help him get noticed as recruiters may attend games for other athletes. However, an athlete can also be more easily overlooked in these situations.

10 or even 5 years ago it may have been different. But now, every school has camps specifically for recruiting and has coaches whose job is to recruit certain areas. Also, it seems like every kid has a highlight film these days. Much like going from college to the NFL, being recruited for college is based more on ability than stats and that information is obtained in camps.

Edited by Rd2Glory, 11 September 2012 - 06:48 PM.

[brunowball]

^agreed

If a kid is good enough he should be camping. If you have the right size, speed, mechanics, and so on they will take notice. Unfortunately there are a lot of coaches from smaller schools who offer little help in recruitment efforts. They should offer help getting highlight videos made, helping advise which camps to attend, and updating stats on major sports sites for all of their players - which is rare for a lot of coaches.

[cubbies4life]

oberhaus, on 11 September 2012 - 02:22 PM, said:

Cody Pettit- PH- Central MI
Elliot Mealer- Wauseon- Michigan
Colt Pettit- PH- Many D1 offers

There are more, these are just off the top of my head.

Mr Craft is pretty good

[oberhaus]

Craft isn't D1 Football.

[pan7732]

Tyler Arend, Paulding,Kent State I dont think quality of program has anything to do with it. If you have the size and speed,go to all the camps you can, you will get noticed. It also helps to send out all the game film you can.

[cubbies4life]

oberhaus, on 11 September 2012 - 08:21 PM, said:

Craft isn't D1 Football.

True, but since he got to ohio state, the joke on campus is he may be the best QB on campus.

I missed the football part.

[LimaJock]

I think ultimately it is camps. But it doesnt hurt when the college coach sees success on the field against other big fast athletes. Hard to do in div 4,5,6 unless playing against some loaded recruited team.

LJ

[jeffcat-bucki]

cubbies4life, on 11 September 2012 - 09:01 PM, said:

True, but since he got to ohio state, the joke on campus is he may be the best QB on campus.

I missed the football part.

I saw Craft in person, and he would not be a better QB. He would have had an excellent career at a MAC school though.

[Rocketman]

Size matters.............

[blldog]

I also believe that the D3 and biggers schools get more of the kids that play only one sport and can train and concentrate on that one sport specifically. Where the athletes at the smaller schools need to play multiple sports to help support the programs at their respective school. This plays huge into how an athlete progresses and improves throughout his high school days. Also give them much more time to go to camps and special tryouts for their sport. When kids at a small school are playing baseball, track or summer basketball the ones who just play football are at their camps.

[jeffcat-bucki]

blldog, on 12 September 2012 - 09:01 AM, said:

I also believe that the D3 and biggers schools get more of the kids that play only one sport and can train and concentrate on that one sport specifically. Where the athletes at the smaller schools need to play multiple sports to help support the programs at their respective school. This plays huge into how an athlete progresses and improves throughout his high school days. Also give them much more time to go to camps and special tryouts for their sport. When kids at a small school are playing baseball, track or summer basketball the ones who just play football are at their camps.

Also an excellent point.