Football recruiting combines?

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WHAT'S
THE
DEAL
WITH.
C
Football recruiting combines?
At the least, they give college coaches around the country a firsthand look at hundreds of
prospects. At their best, they provide a whole lot more. ^MichaelBradley
haddrick Moi^an can't see the
coaches, but he knows they're
watching. Or they will be. He's
sitting in the cramped meeting
room in Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd
Stadium, looking into the lens of a
video camera and trjnng to shake
off the butterflies long enough to
provide information about himself
and his college football aspirations.
On the floor in front of the 5-9,
220-pound junior running back from
RiverdaJe (Ga.) High is a board with
a series of questions on it. Though
Morgan tried to rehearse his
answers in the dark hallway outside
the classroom as he waited for his
tum, his time there was devoted
more to nervous chatter with the
other high school piayers lined up
against the wall. So, when the tape
starts rolling, Morgan is anything
but polished. His eyes dart and his
legs twitch back and forth for the
duration of the interview.
Finally, he reaches the last
question: Whal was your best game?
"My best game was against
Dougltis High School," he says.
"Every time I got the ball, they
couldn't stop me."
That does it. Morgan gets up and
hands the clip-on microphone to
the young Tech student logging the
interview footage. His day at the
Atlanta MSL Combine has just
begun. Ahead is a battery of tests,
drills and competitions designed to
produce as complete a profile on
Morgan as possible. Throughout the
next eight hours, he will lift (185
pounds, bench-pressed 15 times),
run (a smoking 4.43 40), jump (31inch vertical), pose and catch, all in
front of the camera's unforgiving
lens and a dozen or so college
coaches who understand that
seeing 250 prospects in one place is
better than catching them five or sbc
at a time in many spots.
When it's over, college recruiters
will be able to watch everything
Morgan has done from the comfort
of their offices on an individualized
web page. Unlike many of the
principals in the booming high
school football combine business,
MSL provides an archived video
library of every prospect who
comes to one of its events. Schools
can pay anywhere from $250 for just
the facts (height, weight, verticcd
leap, 40 time, etc.) to $5,000 for the
entire package, which includes the
interviews and footage of every drill
the prospects perform. "The video
aspect definitely makes it different
than the others," says Brian Reese,
Vtinderbilt's director of football
operations.
The players, meanwhile, have the
opportunity to perform for
recruiters as well as offer their full
video profiles to schools they're
trying to impress. When the season
is over, MSL will add up to 10
highlight plays to the packages in
order to help the athletes market
themselves. It's 21st century
recruiting, and it's getting bigger
and more sophisticated tban ever.
A few years ago, there might have
been two or three combines across
the country. Now, there are dozens.
Nike is a leader in the
burgeoning industry, but MSL
is growing fast, having staged
12 from January to May this
year. The brainchiid of former
Syracuse offensive lineman
Shawn Garrity, MSL employs a
full-time marketing staff and
salaried coaches, including
Chuck Muncie, a former sttir
college and NFL running back.
MSL's goal is to provide a
cletiringhouse for recruiters to
gatber information and get a full
picture of a prospect's abilities.
"When I visit a high school, I
see just a handful of kids," says
Indiana co-defensive
coordinator Brian George.
"Here, I can see two, three
hundred kids. It's time efficient.
Plus, 1 can see them move—it's a
great opportunity to see them do
foot bail-type drills."
When it's all over, recruiters
have a bounty of information with
which to work. And lots of
PUMP IT UP Corey O'Shea, an
offensive lineman from Kennesaw
Mountain, Ga., bench-presses 185
pounds. That's 40 pounds less
than NFL hopefuls hoist at their
Combine, but this is a pretty good
way for college recruiters to see
whether the big fellas have some
strength to go with their size.
BACK AND FORTH Straight-line speed is one thing, but the
shuttle drill allows coaches to measure how quickly a player
can change direction. Plus, everything is on video for
further review. 'If you doubt the time you see, you can time
the player yourself,' says Aritansas assistant Chris Vaughn.
'We don't have to be there to see a player perform.'
8 . SPORTING NEWS. ?/22/05
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MAD HOPS This isnt
basketball, but it's
important to see how
athletic players are.
Running back Joshua
Kidwell from Dadeville,
Ala., takes flight at the
vertical leap station. 'We
want to be able to size
these kids up,' says
Middle Tennessee
assistant Richard
Bumoski. 'This lets us
see how well the kids
compete.'
ROLLING THUNULH
Everybody rans the
40 at an MSL
combine, including
350-pound
offensive lineman
Darnell Cheek,
from Mays, Ga.
Times are recorded
electronically, so
the measurements
are exact. The
fastest 40 ever
recorded at an
MSL event was a
4.21 in 2003 by
William Judson,
who ended up
playing at Florida
A&M.
MSL gives recruiters a look
at each player's frame at the 'skeletal'
station. Players extend their arms and make a
full turn in order to show off their physiques.
Offensive linemen also take a full squat to
show their flexibility.
EYES ON
THE BALL A
highlight of the
day comes when
the receivers and
defensive backs are matched up in
passing drills. 'You get to see how they
compete in one-on-one drills,' says
Rodney Bivens, receivers coacb at
UAB. 'You can see who turns tbeir hips
well and what their ball skills are.'
Lamontray Williams of Albany, Ga., clearty bas
the focus needed to play wideout, as he shows
while zeroing in on this pass.