2022 Recruiting - Football

NRHorn said:
Orange- I do agree with this.
I see it when I coach Little League football. It actually starts there with the star players being treated differently.
Coaches, other parents, and fans make a big deal of some kid who’s bigger and he should be for his age.

I know of a coach who bought a kid a bicycle to come back and play for his team. The kid didn’t want to play because he had exceeded the weight limit to run the ball
Click to expand...


Indeed. I spent a bunch of years coaching very high level baseball and softball travel ball (select) and was the conduit between the recruits and universities/colleges and, well it seems like everybody. The college coaches, families and friends of the players, local radio stations and businesses, etc., etc., etc. spend outrageous amounts of time and energy over years kissing these kids butts and convincing them they are God's gift to the universe. I spent my time having to try to keep the players heads in the same area code as their bodies. It wasn't easy. They are kids getting treated like royalty by powerful adults and their heads tend to swell up very fast. Honestly, its hard for me to fathom what must be happening now with NIL. Most of the players have a very big learning curve ahead of them when they arrive on campus and get knocked on their A__ by a bunch of players who are just as good or better than them. Usually, that is the case even for highly talented just because they are young and not yet ready for the speed of the game level. That's if they are lucky. I feel bad for the ones who don't ever have to learn that lesson.
 
bystander said:
There's no point in talking to you about it. It's clear your point of view is very different from mine.
Click to expand...
Bystander- actually if you are referring to me, no I welcome opposing views.
I come here for those. This is my one social media outlet and I respect others opinions here.
 
old65horn said:
i don’t think most, if not all, posters on the board have the life lessons to sit in judgement of most of these kids.
Click to expand...
Fair point. But these kids don’t live in a vacuum. Yes, they are coddled starting at a very young age, but they also have access to wisdom and advice that is not available to every 17 year old. Aside from any family support that may or may not exist, they have HS coaches and counselors that are available and well aware of the mind field these kids are entering. So to me it’s not like just any HS kid fending for himself, with no support systems available.
 
OrangeClad said:
Indeed. I spent a bunch of years coaching very high level baseball and softball travel ball (select) and was the conduit between the recruits and universities/colleges and, well it seems like everybody. The college coaches, families and friends of the players, local radio stations and businesses, etc., etc., etc. spend outrageous amounts of time and energy over years kissing these kids butts and convincing them they are God's gift to the universe. I spent my time having to try to keep the players heads in the same area code as their bodies. It wasn't easy. They are kids getting treated like royalty by powerful adults and their heads tend to swell up very fast. Honestly, its hard for me to fathom what must be happening now with NIL. Most of the players have a very big learning curve ahead of them when they arrive on campus and get knocked on their A__ by a bunch of players who are just as good or better than them. Usually, that is the case even for highly talented just because they are young and not yet ready for the speed of the game level. That's if they are lucky. I feel bad for the ones who don't ever have to learn that lesson.
Click to expand...
My kid played with a 7th jr high boy that the coach was quoted in a local newspaper as being a future pro athlete.
I argued with my son that just because he is currently 75 lbs heavier now that he would have a different experience In three years.
He didn’t play JV and this kid walked around like King Solomon as a 7th grade superstar.
Sadly, his life’s peak was at 14 and I blame the adults.
 
Last edited:
NRHorn said:
My kid played with a 7th jr high boy that the coach was quoted in a local newspaper as being a future pro athlete.
I argued with my son that just because he is currently 75 lbs heavier now that he would have a different experience In three years.
He didn’t play JV and this kid walked around like King Solomon.
Sadly, his life’s peak was at 14 and I blame the adults.
Click to expand...


It's completely out of control and, I think, bad for the psyches for these yet to be adults. Softball coaches are now recruiting 13 and 14 years old girls. In baseball, pro scouts (yes, MLB scouts) now frequent junior high schools, analyzing the motions and athletic capabilities of middle schoolers and talking with their families about skipping college and testing out of as much HS as possible. I know it sounds crazy, but I have a friend who is a scout for the LA Dodgers and this is what she does routinely and has to because all her competition is doing it too. We argue about it as she actually believes it is best for the kids because the organization can provide them such strong guidance and training from an early age and help them from causing long term damage to their bodies from poor mechanics.
 
OC,

I'm older, but have seen the good and the bad. I've never liked "select ball", but do admit that it can improve kids' ability because they are competing at a higher level. I have also seen goals dashed and young kids feeling "worthless" because they have "failed" at age 11 or 13.

When our 10 year old team traveled to Orlando, I was asked by the coach from Tamiami how long our team had been playing. I said about four weeks. "No, how many years?" The Cuban team had been playing together for 3-4 years - the catcher looked like he was ready to play for the Astros that week. They were amazed that we didn't have select ball. I always shared with the kids and parents some of the greats I had seen in HS, but that the best HS baseball player I ever saw never became a regular in MLB. He was a backup catcher and spent years with the Twins and Angels, but would only start 30-40 games a year. MLB is full of crushed dreams.

Then, there are injuries.

Worst case was a stage mother whose "superstar" son could do no wrong. He wouldn't listen, wouldn't follow instructions, wanted to be a one man show. I finally cut him by sending him to another team that wanted him. He continued his antics with his mother raising hell with everyone that didn't understand that he was God's gift to baseball. No discipline. He spent his 18th birthday in jail for being a pedophile.

So where do parents draw the line for their little darling? Stardom with average kids? Developing with better athletes in select ball? Playing for fun and thinking about engineering, accounting, med school?
 
SabreHorn said:
OC,

I'm older, but have seen the good and the bad. I've never liked "select ball", but do admit that it can improve kids' ability because they are competing at a higher level. I have also seen goals dashed and young kids feeling "worthless" because they have "failed" at age 11 or 13.

When our 10 year old team traveled to Orlando, I was asked by the coach from Tamiami how long our team had been playing. I said about four weeks. "No, how many years?" The Cuban team had been playing together for 3-4 years - the catcher looked like he was ready to play for the Astros that week. They were amazed that we didn't have select ball. I always shared with the kids and parents some of the greats I had seen in HS, but that the best HS baseball player I ever saw never became a regular in MLB. He was a backup catcher and spent years with the Twins and Angels, but would only start 30-40 games a year. MLB is full of crushed dreams.

Then, there are injuries.

Worst case was a stage mother whose "superstar" son could do no wrong. He wouldn't listen, wouldn't follow instructions, wanted to be a one man show. I finally cut him by sending him to another team that wanted him. He continued his antics with his mother raising hell with everyone that didn't understand that he was God's gift to baseball. No discipline. He spent his 18th birthday in jail for being a pedophile.

So where do parents draw the line for their little darling? Stardom with average kids? Developing with better athletes in select ball? Playing for fun and thinking about engineering, accounting, med school?
Click to expand...
What’s funny- not ha-ha funny… is that parents invest thousands of dollars on athletic fees, coaching, travel and nada on training kids on life skills that are important.
 
I have a grandson that is a star in the little league circles. He's a catcher with a cannon for an arm. He hits everything thrown at him, and never fails to steal at least one base. But his parents said early on no select ball, and no leagues outside of baseball season. I could see a lot of potential with the kid, but I don't tell my kids how to raise theirs.

Now he's in his early teens and they've got coaches telling them that all that extra ball will polish him and get him ready for high school ball and get him seen by scouts. But he's had way too many hours in deer blinds, at the motocross track, and seeing girls at the pizza parlors. Getting to be a kid instead of an athlete. I think he's going to be alright, and I'm good with that.
 
Imagine being a 3rd generation Manning QB?

That's got to be complicated for the parents and Arch.
 
Last edited:
George Bailey said:
I have a grandson that is a star in the little league circles. He's a catcher with a cannon for an arm. He hits everything thrown at him, and never fails to steal at least one base. But his parents said early on no select ball, and no leagues outside of baseball season. I could see a lot of potential with the kid, but I don't tell my kids how to raise theirs.

Now he's in his early teens and they've got coaches telling them that all that extra ball will polish him and get him ready for high school ball and get him seen by scouts. But he's had way too many hours in deer blinds, at the motocross track, and seeing girls at the pizza parlors. Getting to be a kid instead of an athlete. I think he's going to be alright, and I'm good with that.
Click to expand...

It's interesting how parents make big decisions like that. I know a family who are obsessed with girls softball. They have two girls and it was their entire life for years. They played as much as they could. It takes a lot of commitment. Not every parent can donate all day Saturday and Sunday for a tournament. The story is still on as one of the girls is going to college but I don't think she's going to be a star. I wondered about burn-out. The younger one is still at it. Dad's a coach. And a lawyer. Mom is support.

I knew a kid in little league that was similar to your guy; a catcher with a cannon arm. His Dad wouldn't allow him to pitch. He was managing his arm. The guy would have won every game had he been allowed. Now he's a CPA and never did anything with his sports career. I guess his arm is still being saved. The thing is, there was no real chance that he was major league material as he just doesn't have the size. He just had the arm when he was 12.
 
Many have varying point of views but some really push them to the limit and sometime the tension is felt.....not a needed result of differing views!
 
I saw a message late yesterday that said Texas had received a commitment from a portal transfer wide receiver.......that's all that was shared!! Any news???
 
22Horn said:
I saw a message late yesterday that said Texas had received a commitment from a portal transfer wide receiver.......that's all that was shared!! Any news???
Click to expand...
Not aware of any portal WR's that we are actively going after. If one falls in our lap, well there's that. But no, no news.
 
bystander said:
It's interesting how parents make big decisions like that. I know a family who are obsessed with girls softball. They have two girls and it was their entire life for years. They played as much as they could. It takes a lot of commitment. Not every parent can donate all day Saturday and Sunday for a tournament. The story is still on as one of the girls is going to college but I don't think she's going to be a star. I wondered about burn-out. The younger one is still at it. Dad's a coach. And a lawyer. Mom is support.

I knew a kid in little league that was similar to your guy; a catcher with a cannon arm. His Dad wouldn't allow him to pitch. He was managing his arm. The guy would have won every game had he been allowed. Now he's a CPA and never did anything with his sports career. I guess his arm is still being saved. The thing is, there was no real chance that he was major league material as he just doesn't have the size. He just had the arm when he was 12.
Click to expand...



or even more so, the kid is miserable and hates sports because Dad is trying to catch a star.
 
George Bailey said:
I have a grandson that is a star in the little league circles. He's a catcher with a cannon for an arm. He hits everything thrown at him, and never fails to steal at least one base. But his parents said early on no select ball, and no leagues outside of baseball season. I could see a lot of potential with the kid, but I don't tell my kids how to raise theirs.

Now he's in his early teens and they've got coaches telling them that all that extra ball will polish him and get him ready for high school ball and get him seen by scouts. But he's had way too many hours in deer blinds, at the motocross track, and seeing girls at the pizza parlors. Getting to be a kid instead of an athlete. I think he's going to be alright, and I'm good with that.
Click to expand...
Yessir- he has great parents.
Motocross- My son did that and no sporting event he did scared me until I saw him race motocross.
 
NRHorn said:
Kid had one offer- Harvard.
Click to expand...
Sometimes I don’t do a good job at explaining myself and I’m sure you all probably knew this.
My Harvard comment was a compliment to this young man- he gets a full ride at Harvard and yet seems to prefer playing at Austin on his (or his parents) dime.
Much respect.
 
NRHorn said:
Sometimes I don’t do a good job at explaining myself and I’m sure you all probably knew this.
My Harvard comment was a compliment to this young man- he gets a full ride at Harvard and yet seems to prefer playing at Austin on his (or his parents) dime.
Much respect.
Click to expand...


Kids got some real juice between his ears for sure.
 
NRHorn said:
Sometimes I don’t do a good job at explaining myself and I’m sure you all probably knew this.
My Harvard comment was a compliment to this young man- he gets a full ride at Harvard and yet seems to prefer playing at Austin on his (or his parents) dime.
Much respect.
Click to expand...

I like that the smart kid wants to come to UT, but PWO players don't pay their own way. They typically get a full ride, just like the other 85 players do. The difference is that it is not a football scholarship, or even an athletic scholarship. In this kid's case, it is easy because he likely qualifies for full ride academic $, but even if he didn't and they wanted him, they would find him an existing program or make something up like basket weaving(old joke). As long they the PWO does no step on the field during a game, it is fine. As soon as a PWO enters a game, they must be converted to a football scholarship. It works the same way if they are a multi-sport athlete and are on scholarship for another sport, but step on the football field. They, too would then be required to convert to one of the 85 football scholarships.

I think it is a great deal. A bunch of kids get a free education and can participate in the football activities, practice, work hard and perhaps, someday develop into someone who can play in games and earn a football scholarship in doing so. The football program gets to hand pick a practice squad with guys that also enhance their locker room with guys who possess high level skills that could develop into a game day player. The program can afford to take PWO risks on guys who are younger, have not played very long but show promise, have not been developed very well in HS, or who look really good but are a step slow, an inch or two short or who have not yet put on enough weight. It's a win-win.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict TEXAS-KENTUCKY *
Sat, Nov 23 • 2:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top