Here is a great article http://vype.com/northwestprepreport/2014/02/28/college-football-recruiting-tips-go-deep-simple-ways-win-war/ High School Football Players need every edge when it comes to college recruiting but it might surprise you that the line your being pushed is not the truth! When your trying to be recruited into any collegiate sport you need every edge you can get to try and get a leg up. Knowing what works and what does not work is a burden in a way for me. Because the football world is a small one from the standpoint that it is a good old boy system and guys generally just do what they do and rarely see the need to comment on what is happening. Dirk Knudsen @NWprepreport on twitter

You need to do your research on each and every school. There are thousands of colleges to choose from, but which should go on your college list? Use these steps to begin your college search. You have to ask yourself. Would you go to the school if you weren't playing sports? https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/find-colleges/how-to-find-your-college-fit/quick-guide-starting-your-college-search?excmpid=SM056-AL-1-tw

http://www.stack.com/a/5-hidden-qualities-college-coaches-look-for-in-athletes?mktgcid=TwitterO Click Links for details Let's face it, competing at the college level is one of the greatest accomplishments a young athlete can achieve. It takes great athleticism, hard work and perseverance, but one of the biggest deciders of your future as a collegiate athlete is college coaches. A bad first impression on a coach could affect your future with his or her school. Coaches want to see the real you and how you carry yourself, so face-to-face meetings and things you do behind the scenes are crucial to your success. Below are a few qualities coaches look for in high school athletes. Display some of these and you'll be on the right path to playing on the big stage. Hard Work Ethic On and Off the Field "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." When you are being considered for a spot on a college team, you clearly have the talent to play, but coaches are not only concerned with how well you perform, they also want to see how well you prepare, how hard you train, and how you handle yourself off the field. Coaches want to see athletes who earn good grades, join clubs in school, volunteer in community service, and, most importantly, show that no matter what they do, they put 100-percent effort into it. A successful athlete who studies tape, spends hours in the weight room and works as hard as possible to perfect his or her craft has the true makings of a collegiate athlete. Good Sportsmanship "It is your response to winning and losing that makes you a winner or a loser." The characteristics of a true champion are displayed when the game is finished. Coaches not only look at your talent during the game, but also how you relate to your opponents, teammates and coaches. Throwing fits after a bad call, taunting other athletes, or rubbing in a win while a college scout is watching could ruin your shot at playing for that school. Student-athletes not only represent themselves, they represent the entire school for which they play. You should treat everyone you play for and even against with respect. A coach has no choice but to respect that. Be Goal-Oriented "Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." Building a path to achieve your goals shows a coach you are dedicated to succeeding. Even a small goal—like stretching for 10 minutes every day after practice—is a great place to start. Make your goals are SMART goals and you'll be on your way to achieving greatness. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. Setting a long-term goal and creating smaller goals around your big idea are great tools to use in any aspect of life. Most of the time, if you follow your own SMART goals, you will find the steps you need to take to achieve it in the time frame you set for yourself. If you find yourself talking to a college coach, one question he or she is likely to ask you is, "What are your plans for this year?" This is an open invitation to talk about your goals and display your driven mindset. Show you are organized and proactive, and they will definitely be impressed. Passion for the Game "It is not the size of an athlete but the size of their heart that matters." You can't teach heart; it takes a special kind of athlete to display true passion. Every kid wants to win a championship, but when you're willing to go the extra mile to get to where you want to be, you have true dedication. A coach can tell how passionate you are by the way you play. The emotion you carry on your shoulders says a lot about you. It shows how much you care and what you're willing to do for your team as well. If you are an athlete who loves the game you play and can't think of anything else you would rather be doing, you deserve to compete at the college level. Desire to Be the Best "A champion is someone who gets up when they can't." There comes a time in a young athlete's life when he or she knows where they are and where they want to be. Knowing you want to succeed stays with you and is your motivation for every step you take toward your goal. Desiring to be the best doesn't necessarily mean breaking world records. It means reaching your absolute highest potential. When you possess this trait, it shows a coach that you have fire in your eyes and want nothing but success. Athletes are some of the most competitive people in the world, but there is no reason why you can't compete with yourself also. Beat your best time, do one more rep, go a little farther than last time, and make yourself better today than you were yesterday. Be the best you can be and results will follow. Coaches look for more than face value, so display your desire and potential for continued growth. Impose your will to be the best, and coaches will become interested in what you have to offer.

http://usafootball.com/blogs/u.s.-national-team/post/12721/7-common-mistakes-high-school-players-make-when-communicating-with-college-coaches Establishing and building relationships with college coaches is one of the most important aspects of the recruiting process, yet many recruits fail to grasp that this encompasses every interaction they have with a coach. Here is a list of common mistakes to avoid when cultivating relationships with your recruiting coaches, and help put you in the best position going through the recruiting process. Sending emails that are not personalized Avoid the “Dear Coach” emails. College coaches receive hundreds of emails a week, and it becomes easy to spot the ones that were copy-and-pasted. Take the two minutes to mention each coach you email by name. Specifically mention the school and add a line about how you visited the campus once or how you’ve heard wonderful things about the town or city in which the school is located. Sending emails with the wrong information It is shocking how often this occurs. There is zero chance Texas A&M is going to respond to a young athlete who emails their coaches about loving Austin. It’s going straight to the trash bin. Recruits get focused on copy-and-pasting emails to as many coaches as possible that they neglect to realize they have sent 30 different schools exactly the same email only intended for one school. Please be sure to proofread every email you send out to a college coach or staff member. While it may not seem like a big deal, it shows respect and diligence to the school and coach. Sending emails/tweets with just your highlight film link Please do not do this. The point of communicating with coaches is to show them that you have the proper oral and written skills to succeed in college, and by simply pasting your Hudl link into an email or twitter mention, you are neglecting an excellent opportunity to build the relationship with that coach. Introduction emails with your contact information and a short paragraph on your career in addition to your highlight link will be much more well-received by college coaches. Not reciprocating interest It is a big deal to be contacted by a college, regardless of division. While you may have no interest in attending a certain school, being polite and simply responding when a school reaches out to you says a lot about your character and personality. If a school happens to be contacting you and you are no longer considering them, tell them that you are flattered, but you are going to be looking elsewhere for college options. There are no guarantees when playing athletics at the highest level. You never know when an injury or a coach leaving a school or getting a new job may put you back in contact with someone from earlier in the recruiting process. Treat everyone with kindness and honesty, and you will have no issues. Persistence vs. rudeness There is a very fine line here, and it requires that recruits and their families to display a bit of empathy for the lives of college coaches, which can be hectic to say the least. Some may not have had a chance to respond to your email or phone call, and some may just be avoiding you. In general, tone and frequency can go a long way toward hearing back from a coach or school. Contacting a coach once a week while expressing an understanding of the demands of his job will be well-received, as opposed to leaving voice mails twice a day demanding to be called back. Not talking on the phone Despite the fact that it is 2016 and everyone spends hours a day on Snapchat or Instagram, the best way to communicate and develop relationships with coaches (without talking to them face-to-face) is talking to them on the phone. It is very hard for a recruiter to understand you and build a relationship with you if every communication is Twitter direct message or a text. Setting up phone calls to speak to coaches not only allows you the chance to ask questions about the school and program, but also allows that coach to see your personality and who you are as a person. Being quiet or reluctant to talk when on the phone Nothing can frustrate a recruiter or coach more than talking to a disinterested young man/woman on the phone. College coaches are extremely busy and if they take the time to call you, it is a huge indicator of their interest in you. Treat each phone call as a big deal, because it is an excellent opportunity for you to not only ask questions about the school or program, but also let the coaches get to know you outside of your sport. SEE ALSO: The Brotherhood of Football is Unbreakable These are the most common mistakes made in communicating with college recruiting coaches today, but are by no means the only ones made by young athletes. Being recruited to play college athletics is a big deal, and as long as you treat it as such and give each communication the proper respect it deserves, you can easily avoid these common pitfalls in the recruiting process. This blog was originally published on CoachEvanBurk.com.

http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/why-is-that-a-rule/#transfers What’s the rule? While there are exceptions typically tied to academics, a student who transfers from one four-year college to another is generally required to complete one full academic year of residence before being eligible to compete for the new school. How did that become a rule? The transfer residence rule is in the first NCAA manual and was originally tied with freshman ineligibility, a rule that was eliminated in 1972. Why does the NCAA care? Requiring college athletes to sit out competition for a year after transferring encourages them to make decisions motivated by academics as well as athletics. Most student-athletes who are not eligible to compete immediately benefit from a year to adjust to their new school and focus on classes. Transferring schools has a profound impact on the academic achievement of all students, not just college athletes. Will it always be a rule? Divisions I and II transfer rules and policies will be reviewed by the Division I Council and the Division II Academic Requirements Committee throughout the next year.

http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/why-is-that-a-rule/#drugtest What’s the rule? The NCAA bans eight different classes of drugs, from stimulants to diuretics to street drugs. Testing takes place at NCAA championships, plus year-round on campus in Divisions I and II. The penalty for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug: one full year of lost eligibility for the first offense. All remaining eligibility is lost with a second positive test. For street drugs such as marijuana and heroin, where intervention and counseling are considered more important than penalizing the user, a student-athlete must sit out a half-season of competition. A second positive test for a street drug results in the loss of a year of eligibility and withholding from participation for 365 days from the test. How did that become a rule? The NCAA first tested for drugs in November 1986 at the Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships in Tucson, Arizona. Championships testing gradually expanded to include year-round testing on Divisions I and II campuses, often as a supplement to an athletics department’s own drug-testing program. Why does the NCAA care? Through the National Center for Drug Free Sport, the NCAA tests for drugs for a number of reasons. First, drug use can threaten the goal of protecting college athletes’ health and safety, one of the tenets that led to the Association’s creation more than 100 years ago. Performance-enhancing drugs also jeopardize the integrity of the competitions themselves, allowing one athlete an unfair advantage over another. The testing program is one part of an NCAA drug-use deterrence program, which also includes an education program that teaches college athletes about both the health consequences of drugs and what happens when they break the rules. Will it always be a rule? In recent years, NCAA member committees have reconsidered the Association’s role in monitoring street drugs such as marijuana and heroin. Based on the recommendations of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, which oversees the drug-testing program and is made up of physicians, a sports psychologist, athletic trainer and other experts, the three divisions recently reduced the penalty for a positive street drug test from one year of eligibility to half a season. The reason: Data showed losing a year of eligibility led many of the offending students to drop out of school. The committee continues to examine recreational drug use policies and will consider future recommendations in this area.

http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/why-is-that-a-rule/#psa What’s the rule? In most sports in Divisions I and II, coaches can begin placing phone calls and sending correspondence, including electronic correspondence, to prospective college athletes Sept. 1 of the junior year of high school. In-person contacts can begin on a specific date in the summer between junior and senior year. There are significant exceptions in a handful of sports, such as men’s and women’s basketball and men’s ice hockey, and there are no limitations on the timing of phone calls and electronic correspondence in Division III. How did the rule come to be? NCAA members understand the need for coaches to develop relationships with prospects during the recruiting process but want to ensure recruits have a normal high school experience and fully explore their college options as students first. As a result, members elected to place restrictions on how early coaches can contact prospective student-athletes, defining such recruiting timelines for the first time in 1991. Why does the NCAA care? By limiting the amount of time that coaches can recruit, the NCAA hopes prospective college athletes can live more balanced, normal lives in high school without being continuously bombarded by recruiting pitches from colleges around the country. Will this always be a rule? The Division I Student-Athlete Experience Committee is reviewing proposals from the lacrosse community to address early recruiting issues. Committees made up of representatives from member schools regularly revisit recruiting rules to evaluate whether current rules are enforceable, relevant with current technology and in the best interests of prospects.

http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/why-is-that-a-rule/#psa What’s the rule? Coaches in Divisions I and II cannot contact prospective student-athletes off-campus or allow a student to visit a school’s campus during the “dead period” of a recruiting calendar. Those coaches are allowed to have written or phone contact with recruits during this period, however. Division III does not have dead periods or a recruiting calendar. How did that become a rule? NCAA members try to strike a balance between unreasonable intrusions on the lives of prospective college athletes and the opportunity for coaches to develop relationships and make sound recruiting decisions. They also try to help coaches find a balance between their work and life demands. As member schools began to examine the recruiting process, they determined a dead period in the recruiting calendar was appropriate, and a variation of this rule was first adopted in 1994. Why does the NCAA care? Several sports have recruiting calendars, and each has a different dead period at a different time for a different reason; however, it generally comes down to allowing both prospects and coaches to have time away from in-person contacts. There are standard dead periods for a few days surrounding the opening of the National Letter of Intent signing periods, so coaches do not put in-person pressure on students at that time. Will the rule change? NCAA member committees regularly revisit recruiting rules to evaluate whether current rules are enforceable, relevant with current technology and in the best interests of prospective student-athletes.

http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/why-is-that-a-rule/#2point3 What’s the rule? Incoming Division I college athletes must earn a 2.3 GPA in 16 core high school courses (English, math, science and social studies) in order to compete in sports their first year of college. Beginning Aug. 1, 2018, a 2.2 GPA in core classes will be required for incoming Division II student-athletes. How did that become a rule? In search of the right spot to draw the academic line, Division I administrators, student-athletes and faculty members examined the question for more than a year. They weighed many issues: Could raising the GPA requirement lead prospective college athletes to take high school more seriously and be more prepared for college? How would such a standard impact segments of society already battling limited access to higher education? The Division I Board of Directors settled on the standard because students coming into college with a high school GPA below 2.3 in specific academic courses were among the least likely to succeed academically in college. Why does the NCAA care? If student-athletes are to be students first, high school GPAs in specific academic classes are the best predictor of future academic success in college. Will it always be a rule? Academic standards for both incoming and continuing students are reviewed regularly in Divisions I and II, the only divisions that can award athletics scholarships. The 2.3 GPA is a new standard – students entering college this fall are the first to face the requirement – and the 2.2 GPA standard will be new for Division II in 2018. The divisions will review the impact of the new rule and potential unintended consequences, considering those when making future recommendations for academic standards.

http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/why-is-that-a-rule/#waivers What’s the rule? A school may apply for a waiver on behalf of a college athlete when extenuating or extraordinary circumstances are present. NCAA national office staff has authority to grant waivers using established standards and guidelines, and when schools or conferences disagree with a staff decision, they can appeal the decision to a member committee. The average time to decide a legislative relief waiver is 21 business days, but the time required varies depending on the details and complexity of each case. Urgent waivers are processed within five days. How did that become a rule? The waiver process was created in 1993 after member schools expressed a desire for more flexibility in how rules are applied. Why does the NCAA care? Sometimes, waivers just make sense. In fall 2014, Mount St. Joseph University received a waiver to move up its women’s basketball season opener so freshman Lauren Hill, who had terminal brain cancer, could compete in a college game. Just this year, the University of Kentucky received a waiver that allowed high school swimmer Madison Winstead to compete in a scrimmage before enrolling at the school so her mother, who had cancer, could see her take part in a collegiate event. But not all waiver cases are easy. Applications may be denied if they would give a school a recruiting or competitive advantage, or if the circumstances that led to the request were within the control of the school, student or coach. Often privacy laws prohibit the NCAA from making public all facts of a case, such as instances involving mental health or medical records. Will it always be a rule? As long as member schools continue to believe that not all rules can apply in every circumstance, some situations will continue to call for a waiver.