Question for Clarification

I realize that there are lots of recruiting rules regarding contact between representatives of schools and student/athletes. I do not know all of those rules. But I have always wondered whether a school could hire 3-4 regional representatives to work all year attending high school games in their region to feed info to the coaches about prospects, and to visit high school coaches to build rapport. They would not actually do any recruiting.... just work to identify prospects so the coaches could recruit them if they desired.

If these university reps do not contact the student/athlete, are they still relegated by NCAA rules? Seems like we could open up so many un-tapped recruiting areas by doing this. This may be against the NCAA rules, but I have no idea. Anyone know?

If you look at the big FBS schools with nothing but money to throw around you will see this is essentially employed already. They hire “analysts” which are strictly off field roles. They also have entire departments for recruiting. From a coordinator to a full staff assigned to a variety of duties. This would be something for us to consider if we moved up to FBS. It would be interesting to look at the staffs at Georgia southern, app state, coastal Carolina pre and post transition. I guarantee they added staff positions to compete at the next level. Plus they have a lot more scholarships to fill which inherently requires more bodies and resources to commit to make kids commit.

NCAA rules still apply. Your approach has been tried with “boosters” by many schools for decades. Some with success. Some with penalties.

Wolf777 said:

If you look at the big FBS schools with nothing but money to throw around you will see this is essentially employed already. They hire “analysts” which are strictly off field roles. They also have entire departments for recruiting. From a coordinator to a full staff assigned to a variety of duties. This would be something for us to consider if we moved up to FBS. It would be interesting to look at the staffs at Georgia southern, app state, coastal Carolina pre and post transition. I guarantee they added staff positions to compete at the next level. Plus they have a lot more scholarships to fill which inherently requires more bodies and resources to commit to make kids commit.

NCAA rules still apply. Your approach has been tried with “boosters” by many schools for decades. Some with success. Some with penalties.

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I was astonished what the recruiting programs at FBS schools looked like at the FBS level versus the FCS. My son got interest from FBS, but no official offers. Every day a new person would reach out to either my son, one of his coaches, or us. It was very interesting. During dark periods it might be a school counselor or academic advisor. I have said for years that the Griz need to park a full time recruiter in Billings, identify talent, and spend the time needed to recruit those athletes. Billings and Eastern Montana are getting beaten by the Cats and I would like to see the Griz start cutting into that recruiting chain.

Thanks for the input from those that gave comments. But it seems like utilizing ancillary people to scour the country for athletes is still a fuzzy issue. If the FBS school are doing it in some form, why can't we do it? I realize that funding is a limiting factor. But could we develop a network of ex-coaches, possibly retired, bored, and avid Griz alums, who would volunteer to bird-dog prospective athletes in their area, without violating any recruiting guidelines? They would be un-paid, and merely donating their time.

We know how extensive Griz Nation is nationally. There are so many alums living all over the nation who may want to engage in this way. The creative football programs are the ones getting the advantage over the rest. Obvious that NDSU is much more creative in recruiting that we are at UM. Can we fix that?

You guys are about eighty years too late on this subject....see Notre Dame and the history they have, not dissing on ND but how many parish priests are there guiding young men to a certain school.

Now it's the money.

LaJollaGriz, I disagree with the above comment. The GRIZ are not too late. I believe what you are asking can be achieved by hosting mini-regional camps around Montana. What we saw a few years ago is that many times potential athletes can’t travel to Missoula in the summer due to work or some other reason. I personally saw one farmer from Shelby, MT not allow his son to attend GRIZ camp because he was driving tractor and tilling summer follow crops. He ended up with the Cats.

Another thought is these third-party coaches that host combine camps and 3v3 competitions. Or ranking camps are another thought. These events are everywhere. I can’t imagine the GRIZ couldn’t throw some advisor money their way and have them do (light) recruiting. Again, this is just my hair-brained idea and have no idea if it’s realistic.

Lastly, I think in order for the GRIZ to be successful and get the cream of the crop at the FCS level, it’s time to start thinking out of the box. What is being done right now can be improved. To grow on that the GRIZ have to get creative to stay competitive. Our facilities will only go so far towards recruiting, as we have seen time and time again. With that’s said, I do think the bubble being installed this fall will be a major recruiting factor!

I just know this, from what I have heard, and from what has been confirmed on this board from an NDSU fan, we seem to be behind the times in recruiting. I have also heard stories about James Madison doing some creative things in recruiting on a national basis. Seems like nobody on this board embraces exploring any of these things, which puzzles me. Pretty obvious that teams who think out of the box are winning lots of football games these days.

LaJollaGriz said:

Thanks for the input from those that gave comments. But it seems like utilizing ancillary people to scour the country for athletes is still a fuzzy issue. If the FBS school are doing it in some form, why can't we do it? I realize that funding is a limiting factor. But could we develop a network of ex-coaches, possibly retired, bored, and avid Griz alums, who would volunteer to bird-dog prospective athletes in their area, without violating any recruiting guidelines? They would be un-paid, and merely donating their time.

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Do you really think that this doesn't happen?

HelenaHandBasket said:

LaJollaGriz said:

Thanks for the input from those that gave comments. But it seems like utilizing ancillary people to scour the country for athletes is still a fuzzy issue. If the FBS school are doing it in some form, why can't we do it? I realize that funding is a limiting factor. But could we develop a network of ex-coaches, possibly retired, bored, and avid Griz alums, who would volunteer to bird-dog prospective athletes in their area, without violating any recruiting guidelines? They would be un-paid, and merely donating their time.

Click to expand...

Do you really think that this doesn't happen?

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If it is happening now at UM, please give me the names of the individuals who are participating? Since what they are doing should be open and within NCAA rules, it should be no problem for you to humor us with their names.

LaJollaGriz said:

HelenaHandBasket said:

Do you really think that this doesn't happen?

Click to expand...

If it is happening now at UM, please give me the names of the individuals who are participating? Since what they are doing should be open and within NCAA rules, it should be no problem for you to humor us with their names.

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Actually, you could pretty much pick almost every high school coach that has ties to UM.