I've been evaluating high school football players for nearly 30 years and I can tell you that there is only one thing for certain: Nobody has all the answers. You do the best you can, judging a prospect's talent by whatever system you believe works for you, and hope you get it right.

The truth is someone always sees something different in an athlete. One coach says he's great while another says he's average. One recruiting service ranks a player among the top 100 in the country while another service doesn't rank him among the top 150.

I believe the only way to do it is to see a player in person, watch him on film, talk to him and his coach, get the human effect and determine how big his heart is.

Get a collective opinion. Talk to as many people as you can, people you trust to rate a kid. For some, scholarship offers are the biggest way of deciding on a kid. How many offers does he have? For me, production makes the most difference.

I've changed my ways over the years. I still take size and speed into account when evaluating a player. But production is most important. He must be a dominating player in high school.

He must dominate at his position. Defensive linemen or linebackers must be unblockable. Offensive linemen must blow defensive linemen off the line of scrimmage. Running backs must average seven yards per carry and carry the ball a lot without fumbling. Quarterbacks must complete over 60 percent of your passes and show a big-time arm. Wide receivers can't let defensive backs bat balls away from them. They must take the ball away from cornerbacks and safeties.

Remember, confidence and domination separate All-Americans from good players.

In the evaluation process, most people overlook a kid's heart, his desire to get better. For some kids who are freaks of nature, the game comes easy to them but they don't have the heart and desire to get better. Some kids who are slower and undersized have great desire and usually make it on the college level and are very productive players.

How do you judge that? Talk to the kid in person, determine how much he loves the game of football and how much he is willing to do to get better.

Posted by Second Season at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There are many critics who argue that the caliber of high school football in Illinois is overrated, that it pales in comparison to the level of basketball.

But Illinois ranks among the top 10 states in the number of Division I scholarship athletes and NFL players that it produces annually.

It is generally agreed that Illinois ranks behind Florida, Texas, California, Georgia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. But it fits in nicely after them, along with New Jersey.

High school football is sometimes overlooked in Illinois because there are so many professional teams in the Chicago area. High school football isn't a priority, as it is in hundreds of small towns in Texas.

There are reasons why Illinois football could be so much better.

For openers, Illinois doesn't have spring football, which affords kids more time to develop and provides more opportunities to earn college scholarships.

This is an era of specialization--and it has hurt Illinois as much or more than any other state. Whereas almost everyone outside Illinois puts their efforts into football, allowing prospects in the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Pac-10 areas to get more exposure and obtain scholarships, kids in Illinois concentrate on basketball.

Illinois athletes lack speed. Kids in the South run year-round. In the South, football is king. Kids in Atlanta are playing football while kids in Chicago are playing basketball. In fact, because of basketball, the track and field programs in Chicago, which once were among the strongest in the state, have become virtually extinct.

A lot of kids in Chicago are good basketball players but they could be great football players if the chose to be. Chicago is a sleeping giant. With such a large population, Chicago could dominate in football like Los Angeles, if more people were concerned about encouraging kids to play the game and seek scholarships.

Remember, there are many more college scholarships available in football than basketball. College recruiters are looking for quick, athletic cornerbacks and safeties and wide receivers, the kind of kids who play point guard on the basketball team.

The Chicago Public League is trying to get that message across to young athletes. I have seen growth in the last three or four years that I didn't see for 30 years. Public League officials like J.W. Smith, Mickey Pruitt, Roy Curry and Calvin Davis must be credited with trying to restore interest in football in the city. And programs such as Simeon, Hubbard and Morgan Park are developing and producing Division I players every year.

The future looks bright.

Posted by Second Season at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

The Feb. 6 signing date for college football is a few weeks away but most of the major recruiting stories have been written. What is left? Well, the top three players in the country remain uncommitted and only two super prospects are still considering Big Ten schools.

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette, Pa., the nation's No. 1 player, likely will choose Michigan or Ohio State. The 6-5, 225-pounder almost certainly will wait until signing day to announce his decision. He also is considering Tennessee and Oregon.

Ohio State was the early leader. Coach Jim Tressel did an outstanding job in selling his program. Pryor also liked Rich Rodriguez and West Virginia. But he wanted a bigger venue than West Virginia had to offer. When Rodriguez moved to Michigan, Pryor added Ann Arbor to his visitation list.

I can't see anyone else being rated as the No. 1 player in the nation. I've seen them all--running back Darrell Scott of Ventura, Calif., wide receiver Julio Jones of Foley, Ala., defensive lineman Marcus Fortson of Miami and linebacker Arthur Brown of Wichita, Kan.--and he is well ahead of the pack. If you pick anyone else, you aren't doing your homework.

Pryor was Player of the Year in Pennsylvania, played against great competition and was the MVP at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl against the best players in the country.

Scott likely will pick Colorado or Texas. Colorado had big lead but Texas has done a very good job in the last few weeks and is closing fast.

Jones, once thought to be a lock for Alabama, is expected to choose Florida State, Alabama or LSU.

Big Ten recruiting is mostly over. The only big names still in the mix are Pryor and defensive end Nick Perry of Detroit, who likely will sign with Michigan or Michigan State.

ESPN has elevated Miami to the No. 1 spot in the recruiting sweepstakes. But Pat Johnson of Pompano Beach, Fla., the nation's top-rated defensive back, just de-committed from Miami to LSU.

My top 10 are Notre Dame, Miami, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, UCLA, Florida State, Texas, Florida and LSU. Michigan is No. 11 and Illinois is No. 15.

Why did Brett Nagel of Lemont opt for Northwestern over Stanford? I thought he'd go to Stanford, which wanted him badly. His cousin, former Joliet Catholic star Coby Fleener, is a tight end at Stanford. But Nagel liked Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald and his young staff and his parents wanted him to play closer to home.

Fitzgerald recruited Nagel, an athletic and versatile 6-4, 225-pounder, to be a tight end, a position he never has played before. But Nagel, who has played quarterback, linebacker and defensive back, wants to play tight end in college. He has great hands and probably will red-shirt as a freshman to give him time to work into the new position.

Posted by Second Season at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Illinois football coach Ron Zook figures to sign another outstanding recruiting class on Feb. 6. In fact, his crop of incoming freshmen likely will rank from No. 11 to No. 15 in the nation. But the Illini still won't rate ahead of Ohio State and Michigan.

That's because one of them will get quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the nation's top-rated player. If anyone had any doubts, they were erased in last Saturday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.

Pryor was a virtual unanimous choice as the game's MVP while leading the East to a 33-23 victory over the West. He scored one touchdown, passed for another and accounted for nearly 150 years in total offense.

Pryor is a great player. Whoever gets him, Ohio State or Michigan, will lead the Big Ten in the next few years. He has both feet on the ground. He is another Vince Young, a great athlete, a game-breaking offensive player, the only one in the country this year.

Some observers close to Pryor's recruiting said he is leaning to Ohio State. But Michigan could catch up in one month. New coach Rich Rodriguez must sell him on his spread offense, which Pryor seems born to implement a la one-time Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward at Florida State.

But Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is a great recruiter. He and Buckeye basketball coach Thad Matta have worked on him all year, assuring him that he can play football and basketball at Ohio State. Pryor is one of the top 50 basketball prospects in the nation.

Tressell and Rodriguez had to be happy about the performances of two of their recruits in the All-American game--running backs Lamaar Thomas (Ohio State) and Sam McGuffie (Michigan). McGuffie was the fastest kid in the game. Once in space, they are electric, very creative.

The three Chicago area products in the game--Mount Carmel linebacker Steve Filer, St. Rita defensive end Darius Fleming and Marian Central lineman Sean Cwynar, who are all committed to Notre Dame--played well if not spectacularly.

Filer had one of the biggest hits in the game, Fleming almost had two sacks and Cwynar had one fumble recovery and a few tackles. Cwynar impressed me with his quickness. He showed defensive quickness against the best players in the country. Filer is a great leader. Coaches raved about Filer and Fleming all week in practice.

Besides Pryor, one of the players who impressed the most was noseman Brandon Newman of Louisville, Ky. I rated the 6-0, 300-pounder as a three-star prospect and didn't nominate him for the game. But he lives near Fort Knox and U.S. Army officials always want someone who lives near Fort Knox to participate in the game every year. So Newman was added.

Well, Newman is better than I thought. Now he's a four-star player. He was the strongest kid in the game and dominated the middle of the line, a real run stuffer. He is committed to Notre Dame and likely will fill the spot vacated by the more highly publicized Omar Hunter of Buford, Ga., who recently de-committed from Notre Dame.

One uncommitted player who demonstrated why he is one of the leading prospects in the country is 6-6 wide receiver DeAndre Brown of Ocean Springs, Miss., who is considering Ole Miss, Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State.

Speaking of wide receivers, Mike Floyd of St. Paul, Minn., who is committed to Notre Dame, rated behind only Pryor in the MVP voting. He caught four passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns for the East. And Ohio State-bound Mike Adams of Dublin, Ohio, clearly demonstrated that he is the best offensive lineman in the country.

Posted by Second Season at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)