How is it that Florida (In Particular), puts out so many 4 and 5 star players. Is it because the people who do those rankings love spending time in SC and Florida and rate what they see? Should I be skeptical?
Florida, Georgia and Texas
- Thread starter BigDelHawk
- Start date
A lot of people live in those areas so they are going to have more talent.
According to this article, yes.
People seem overly concerned about high school football players and the number of "stars" associated with their profiles. Primarily two recruiting services—Rivals.com and Scout.com—assign stars in order to rate literally hundreds of players. With several hundred talented high school athletes to rate, the process seems to happen something like this:
A metropolitan media source notices and publishes articles detailing the impressive football talents of a local high school player. A recruiting service notices and waits for interest from college recruiters. If primarily FCS schools show interest, he may be awarded two stars. His coach may make a call to an assistant at a BCS university and say, "You should take a look at this kid." He might send video. If the recruiter is impressed, he pays a visit to watch him play. Word spreads.
Coaches from a couple of other BCS universities then check him out. If one offers him a scholarship, other schools immediately become interested. If two or three BCS schools make offers to the player, his value may go up to three stars. When the offering schools are in the usual top 20, he might be awarded a fourth star. If he meets the physical standards for height, weight and speed and gets an offer from a perennial top 10 school or two, he's probably getting five stars.
The entire rating system is susceptible to inaccuracies and manipulation. The recruiting services are not aware of a player's grades, work ethic or potential athleticism. Many players who develop into gifted athletes are rated while they are only 16. The ratings they are given are based on factors that can change as they mature. The system has too many limitations for the hundreds of athletes that are analyzed.
Some 5-star recruits do not contribute to the success of a team for a variety of reasons. It may be due to academics, work ethic or simply a matter of being overrated. Many 4, 3 and sometimes 2-star players thrive in the right system with coaches who recognize, develop and teach raw talent. Too often we get caught up in the recruits that a school "loses" and don't put enough trust in the coaches' judgement as to the players they sign that can fill their needs.
The bottom line: If the coaches are satisfied with their recruits and the team is winning, don't sweat it. Just give the program, coaches and players the support they need. Take an interest in and show appreciation for the players that give their best in the classroom, the community and on the field. Don't worry about the prized recruit that got away!
year round training, dense populations, genetics. The list could go on and on. The fact that those 3 states produced the highest number of NFL players currently probably reiterates this point.
I would chalk it up to a couple things. First, the size of the state (~21 million) gives them the advantage to pop out more studs. Second, the weather. You can practice football outside year round in that nice climate, compared to the frigid winters that we have in the midwest. Your thoughts on that?
Go watch a high level HS football game in Florida and then watch one in Iowa. I played Iowa HS football myself, so I’m not putting it down, but the Iowa game looks like a jr high game compared to that.
Along these lines it is much more difficult to rate a player at this level of competition vs one who is up against elite level talent every week.
Ever been in sales? When you have a massive territory, you tend to hit your "vacation", spots regularly. I think this is one reason Florida is overrated as a talent hot spot. Recruiters are there often, an offer from a mid major brings interest from others, and it snow balls. The Ratings services are like lemmings.
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/hs-students-create-fake-recruit-247-and-rivals-rank-him-3-star-reddit
I am not in sales, and I don't ever intend to be. This is a baseless claim, come up with some statistics to support it or give it up.
193 current NFL players from a 2019 article would beg to differ, California comes in second, and the populations in comparison are Cali: 39.51 mil compared to Flo: 21.48 mil
A metropolitan media source notices and publishes articles detailing the impressive football talents of a local high school player. A recruiting service notices and waits for interest from college recruiters. If primarily FCS schools show interest, he may be awarded two stars. His coach may make a call to an assistant at a BCS university and say, "You should take a look at this kid." He might send video. If the recruiter is impressed, he pays a visit to watch him play. Word spreads.
"Shit, this kid is in Florida, I need a few days on the beach!"
Coaches from a couple of other BCS universities then check him out. If one offers him a scholarship, other schools immediately become interested. If two or three BCS schools make offers to the player, his value may go up to three stars. When the offering schools are in the usual top 20, he might be awarded a fourth star. If he meets the physical standards for height, weight and speed and gets an offer from a perennial top 10 school or two, he's probably getting five stars.
"Holy Shit, he has an offer from Nebraska, he must be good! Let's offer too!"
STATISTICS, reading comprehension is difficult I see. None of the claims you are making are supported. On top of that most schools have recruiting areas they cover, it is not as if they see a player and send another coach down that way. Stop with the nonsense.
So why isn't Jordan Oladokun a 4 or 5 star at this point based on his offer list?
Larger metro area, warmer weather and states allow Spring practices, which gives kids 2-3 weeks in Spring to develop skills.
Are you also skeptical of the NFL? Or do those states just produce the most talent, period?
If you do a little research, you'll see it's always the same states that produce the most NFL players.
STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS, 2019
Florida 212
California 177
Texas 173
Georgia 119
Ohio 72
Alabama 64
New Jersey 59
STATES WITH THE MOST NFL DRAFT PICKS, 2019
FLORIDA (30 picks)
TEXAS (26 picks)
CALIFORNIA (23 picks)
GEORGIA (13 picks)
MISSISSIPPI (13 picks)
Ohio (12 picks)
STATES WITH THE MOST NFL DRAFT PICKS, 2020
That's a Bleacher Report article from 2012 by someone who doesn't seem to understand the recruiting process very well and is just making broad general statements with no actual data.
Are you also skeptical of the NFL? Or do those states just produce the most talent, period?
If you do a little research, you'll see it's always the same states that produce the most NFL players.
STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS, 2019
Florida 212
California 177
Texas 173
Georgia 119
Ohio 72
Alabama 64
New Jersey 59
STATES WITH THE MOST NFL DRAFT PICKS, 2019
FLORIDA (30 picks)
TEXAS (26 picks)
CALIFORNIA (23 picks)
GEORGIA (13 picks)
MISSISSIPPI (13 picks)
Ohio (12 picks)
STATES WITH THE MOST NFL DRAFT PICKS, 2020
What's going on in New York? Do they not play much football there? Just as a high population state you would think they would be in there. or maybe even Pennsylvania.
Lots of kids playing football down there.
I grew up in the DC area and trust me there were guys playing in the Y league cut from their high school team that could of played at the college level (basketball) just so many schools so many kids... So in that area for basketball there were tons of 3-4 star guys just because of the massive numbers.
So actually the question here should be: why does Texas suck so bad?
In addition to population and climate advantages, football is truly a way of life for a lot of states in the south. Lived in Texas for a bit and have visited relatives in Alabama and the HS facilities and stadiums are unbelievable. Also, just based on what I've seen first hand, kids are playing in very well organized football leagues at a much younger age in those states.
I was born and raised in Iowa. Played high school football at Ankeny. I have lived in Florida 15 years of my life and retired here now. Coach Fry used to have me send weekly sports section newspapers to John Austin from South Florida. Coach Austin was the Recruiting Coordinator for a period of time for Coach Fry and they recruited Florida some and pulled a few guys out of here.
South Florida (Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties) have at least 6.5 million full time residents. The high schools are huge. Their are a lot of private schools with great coaching staffs. Many former NFL and college atheletes live and coach kids here. I have a current NFL player who lives in my neighborhood in the off season.
The facilities down here are amazing, the weather is great year around. Kids play football all year long. Palm Beach County alone is over 1.5 million residents and has dozens of kids sign with colleges all over the U.S. every year.
It's not just football, I was my community's Little League President years ago and Anthony Rizzo was in my league.
Track stars that make the Olympics, Baseball players, Basketball players, Tennis, Golf, also thrive down here. The weather, facilities, and coaching is amazing down here.
It is not because some coach wants to come to Florida for a vacation and might see a kid.
This is the big time when it comes to athletics.
South Florida (Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties) have at least 6.5 million full time residents. The high schools are huge. Their are a lot of private schools with great coaching staffs. Many former NFL and college atheletes live and coach kids here. I have a current NFL player who lives in my neighborhood in the off season.
The facilities down here are amazing, the weather is great year around. Kids play football all year long. Palm Beach County alone is over 1.5 million residents and has dozens of kids sign with colleges all over the U.S. every year.
It's not just football, I was my community's Little League President years ago and Anthony Rizzo was in my league.
Track stars that make the Olympics, Baseball players, Basketball players, Tennis, Golf, also thrive down here. The weather, facilities, and coaching is amazing down here.
It is not because some coach wants to come to Florida for a vacation and might see a kid.
This is the big time when it comes to athletics.
This is a great point. I played hs football is Iowa and Wisconsin. Then college and men's rugby in California and I could just see the difference in athleticism, size speed, quickness, etc. The sheer amounts of people living in these places produces so many more athletes.
Weather as well- people are outside running and practicing the entire year.
recruiting services are lot like weathermen. They get the obvious stuff right when more often than not you can predict rain or snow or whatever and it's a 50-50 toss-up. Same with these kids if you're not really sure you give him a two or three star..there's no way they can accurately get a handle on all the high school football players out there.
Always baffles me how few kids we go after in CA....Are you also skeptical of the NFL? Or do those states just produce the most talent, period?
If you do a little research, you'll see it's always the same states that produce the most NFL players.
STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS, 2019
Florida 212
California 177
Texas 173
Georgia 119
Ohio 72
Alabama 64
New Jersey 59
STATES WITH THE MOST NFL DRAFT PICKS, 2019
FLORIDA (30 picks)
TEXAS (26 picks)
CALIFORNIA (23 picks)
GEORGIA (13 picks)
MISSISSIPPI (13 picks)
Ohio (12 picks)
STATES WITH THE MOST NFL DRAFT PICKS, 2020
Do you really believe that crap? How many times have you seen an SEC school recruiting in Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota or Nebraska? Darn few in Michigan, Ohio or Pennsylvania.
Tampa Bay area guy here. Agree with all the above. One football coach @ one of the area high schools in Pinellas County, FL, remarked he'd love to coach in GA where the coaching supplement was a tad south of 5 figures (north if you were successful) and you'd run study halls with little teaching prep. Had as many assistants as a lot of colleges. Different world here with spring practices, summer 7 & 7, and state championship games played the second-third weekend in December.
I've lived in Texas and Georgia almost all of my life. I played high school football in Texas. It's just a whole new world in HS football in Texas. I went to a school with roughly 2400 students for 4 grades. We had 5 football teams. Two freshmen teams, a sophomore team, a Junior Varsity and the Varsity. Now I am an old dude, some things have changed and I'll add them to my list below. BTW, Allen High School (north of Dallas) has 6700 students. There are some huge high schools in Texas.
Starting in August we had 2 a days and it was hot and humid (they no longer do this). We had 10 regular season games. My senior year we played in a 12,000 seat double decked stadium. Our smallest crowd my senior year was 6500, the largest was 12,000. And we were a suburban Houston school with a good program, but not one of the powerhouses. My junior year we had a play-off game with 17,000. I've been to Texas HS games with 40-50,000 fans at the game.
When the season was over, we started off-season conditioning. Our last period class was football (technically PE. We all got "A's" for the class). During the season we started practice around 1:30. In the off-season we lifted weights and ran.
In May we had three weeks of Spring Training. Full pads every day and a long scrimmage on Fridays, which culminated in a split squad Spring game that would draw 3500 to 6000 people.
In the summer, we were technically "free". However, the field house was open M-F every evening and at least 2-3 coaches would be hanging around seeing who was showing up to lift weights and run. There was also a weigh-in sheet that you signed when you came in the door. Now they have the 7 on 7 tournaments and coaches are available for those.
The playoffs last 6 weeks and end right before Christmas.
Georgia loves HS football. but nothing like Texas. Still the same things as above, minus huge crowds at some of the games. And I think that the state of Georgia has more African-Americans than any other state in the country.
Starting in August we had 2 a days and it was hot and humid (they no longer do this). We had 10 regular season games. My senior year we played in a 12,000 seat double decked stadium. Our smallest crowd my senior year was 6500, the largest was 12,000. And we were a suburban Houston school with a good program, but not one of the powerhouses. My junior year we had a play-off game with 17,000. I've been to Texas HS games with 40-50,000 fans at the game.
When the season was over, we started off-season conditioning. Our last period class was football (technically PE. We all got "A's" for the class). During the season we started practice around 1:30. In the off-season we lifted weights and ran.
In May we had three weeks of Spring Training. Full pads every day and a long scrimmage on Fridays, which culminated in a split squad Spring game that would draw 3500 to 6000 people.
In the summer, we were technically "free". However, the field house was open M-F every evening and at least 2-3 coaches would be hanging around seeing who was showing up to lift weights and run. There was also a weigh-in sheet that you signed when you came in the door. Now they have the 7 on 7 tournaments and coaches are available for those.
The playoffs last 6 weeks and end right before Christmas.
Georgia loves HS football. but nothing like Texas. Still the same things as above, minus huge crowds at some of the games. And I think that the state of Georgia has more African-Americans than any other state in the country.
Raised in Iowa and now living in Florida. It is an entirely different level of high school football here. It is really just a numbers game. More students=more athletes.
Just out of coincidence, I attended the Miami Northwestern vs Miami Central game last year. Miami Northwestern has three receivers committed to U of Miami. In comparison, how many Iowa high school games have two DI prospects in them. Not very many.
Last edited:
I coach in Texas and used to coach in Iowa. Biggest advantage here is the use of an athletic period. We have 1 hour a day during school we can have contact. So organized weights and workouts. Football has rules as to when footballs or pads can be used. But film studies before school year round. Spring ball, and organized workouts all school year are a huge advantage.
I coach basketball and we can have practice from day 1 of school till the last during our athletic period. We have the students for 1.5 hours everyday instead of them going to PE.
I coach basketball and we can have practice from day 1 of school till the last during our athletic period. We have the students for 1.5 hours everyday instead of them going to PE.
It blows my mind as to how Athletics has changed since I was in school. Back in the day, you had a weight room that was in the same area as the school heat boiler. We had a few hours a day where the weight room was open, maybe, if the gym teach showed up to unlock it. One or two Olympic bars and one bench. An old POS Universal machine, and literally, coffee cans filled with concrete with bars in it for doing curls and what not. This was back in the late 1970's. We were one of the powerhouses in State football back then.
The population is centered in an area that has wayyyy move pavement than grass. Hard to play football on concrete.
I thought I saw on some NFL sports program, that 65% of the guys that play on Sunday are third round or later draft pics. Now that doesn't tell us anything about how many stars they had in high school, but maybe it does indicate that stars may not be that meaningful.. Or not.
Similar threads
