For those who have read the site for a lengthy period of time, you likely have already heard about my distaste for football combines. Let me state for the record that if it is an event like a Nike Combine or an Under Armour Combine that is free and close to you in distance, then I am all for you going. You will get a chance to show off your skills, compete with other athletes, and potentially be coached up while there. So it should be definitely something I recommend going to.
The combines that kill me over and over again are those that charge money. I don’t care anymore if it is $10, combines that have a price tag are something that I strongly feel is worthless. I have heard over and over how little credit college coaches put into these and yet parents and athletes are wasting their money trying to get their son recognized. I have heard countless players tell me how they were named to the All Combine team, MVP while there, or some sort of fluff award that no one cares about. It doesn’t matter because you are not going to get a scholarship or even a serious look from a college coach by going to a camp that costs money.
There are a few stories recently that came to my attention that made me feel even stronger in my stance about how worthless these events are. This is an old article but it was written by the Associated Press about how high school sport combines are expanding (which makes me want to puke by the way). The first thing stood out in this article (which you can view here) about how a parent is just tossing money around with regards to the football recruiting process.
Once McCarthy factored in airfare, a hotel room and other travel expenses, he figured he’d end up spending about $2,000 for the trip to Oklahoma from Southern California. He’d already spent another $3,000 for a scouting service to help drum up colleges’ interest in Corbin, a sophomore who’s already made varsity.
“I don’t believe this is going to get him recruited,” McCarthy said. “I think this is going to give him a taste of the best athletes out there and where he has to be in order to rate.”
Seriously, why sink that much money into worthless things? His son might be a junior now and he has already blown through $5,000? Parents like these are the ones that combines and camps love to get a hold. A good example of this is Football University. This combine/camp really does have a lot of great coaches and can be a good experience. But it costs a ton of money and receiving an invite doesn’t mean s***. Again, they would invite the 50th man on a football team if he is willing to pay the $500 or whatever it is to get in. So don’t be fooled by thinking an invite really is prestigious.
In that same article, they spoke with Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops. He is one of the top coaches in the country and does a good job recruiting throughout most of the country. Here is how Stoops feels about combines overall.
That’s problematic for coaches like Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, who says he only believes what he sees with his own eyes. He has had plenty of experience with players who don’t run nearly as fast as advertised-whether it’s by their father or a combine operator.
“We realize that going in, so we pay very little attention to them,” Stoops said. “We still trust what we see when we evaluate, when we go places, when we see them practice.”
Again, if you are thinking about paying for any type of combine during the winter or the spring, think about that quote for a while. That is a major Division I coach telling them that basically combines are worthless in order to help you get on the radar.
My last story is about a combine that is for underclassmen. It is a very prominent combine that has some great athletes attend. One athlete who was named something like the 10th best player there had his dad email me. He obviously bragged this up and talked big about how his son was going to be playing varsity football and make a huge impact. Then the following year he would be the starting quarterback because of this prestigious honor he received (I really will say that I thought the award/honor was garbage when he told me by the way).
Well, the following year came and despite being named by this combine as one of the best quarterbacks there, he wasn’t even the varsity starter as a junior. He is logging scrub minutes for his team. The good news is he can always talk about how he won this honor, right?
These combines are a joke. Take care of business on the football field, market yourself properly, and attend a few college camps to showcase you overall skills and you will be much better off financially in the overall athletic recruiting process.
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