subject: How To Get Recruited For College Football - Recruiting [print this page] "Football's pretty big in the community where I grew up, and so I always focused on how to get recruited for college football. I didn't think that I would be able to play at a division I. I guess I always saw myself - because I saw my brothers playing at a smaller college - that I would also play at a smaller college. But, fortunately for me, the University of Hawaii and some other schools came around toward the end of my senior season.
School is definitely very important to focus on. If you don't have the academics, if you're not taking care of school right now (at the high-school level) - as much as any coach would want to recruit you, or bring you to their college, they won't be able to if you don't have the grades to be eligible. So that's always been a big priority of mine.
Something that my parents have always emphasized to me is 'School first'. Also continue to work on your skill - whatever sport it may be - as an athlete. You can be the greatest athlete in the world, but if you don't have the grades to get you into college then it's going to be an unfortunate circumstance. School is a very important part of how to get recruited for college football. Definitely take care of school as you continue to develop yourself in your sport." -Inoke Funaki (Quarterback for the University of Hawaii)
"I want to talk to you a little bit about what to expect on an official or unofficial visit with college football recruiters or coaches. More specifically - I know it sounds silly, but - what to wear. You want to be able to make a good first impression on the coach - you don't want to look sloppy or look bad. So what I recommend is wearing a nice shirt (maybe a polo shirt) and khaki pants - something comfortable, but also something you'll look nice in. Because you want to be confident when you're talking to college football recruiters or coaches, and if you look confident you'll feel confident and then you'll come off as confident. First impressions is a big part of making connections with people, especially if you're talking to someone like a coach who you want to make a good impression on.
So, I know if sounds silly, but dressing nice on a visit where you're talking to a coach is definitely very important. It's a little bit flexible, depending on where you go. For instance - I went to Hawaii, and because of the culture and the climate I wore khaki shorts and a polo shirt with slippers, which was perfectly acceptable, but I still looked presentable. That's one thing you want to keep in mind when you're talking to college football recruiters or coaches and making your visits to different colleges." -Joshua Rice (former football player for the University of Hawaii)
"The junior college football recruiting process isn't much different from that of the bigger schools. You shouldn't feel bad looking into junior college football recruiting. I started out looking into junior colleges and later on, towards the end of my senior season I was fortunate enough to be recruited by the University of Hawaii as well as Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
There are a lot of high school athletes that aspire to play at the Division 1 level and currently aren't getting looks from the Division I schools. Some of them are only getting looks from junior colleges, and some aren't getting any looks at all. My biggest piece of advise would be: don't be discouraged. I know a lot of athletes who took the long route, or developed later, or were just overlooked by coaches that didn't see their talent - and they went to play at junior colleges and persevered through it all - and now they're playing professionally.
If it's something that you really want to do it can be done. Whether you're interested in a bigger school or the junior college football recruiting process, you have to work hard. Hard work beats out talent when talent doesn't work hard. There is no substitution for hard work." -Inoke Funaki (Quarterback for the University of Hawaii)
