I feel it appropriate to begin with a disclaimer that I was asked to do this column by the sports editor, so I can avoid coming across as a washed up quarterback still living in his glory days!
It was more than eight years ago that I was playing high school football and in the mix of the college recruiting process. I admit that it is a little eerie that I remember the process so vividly, and that might be why some of my friends have started calling me “Uncle Rico.”
Back in ’97 I received my first letter from a collegiate institution; I truly thought I was big-time. During the summer prior to my senior season at Ogden High, Weber State’s football coach Dave Arslanian sent me a letter saying how his staff was looking forward to my upcoming season and it also included information about their off-season and future schedule. The letter came directly to my house and I’m pretty sure that my mom has it stashed away in some pile with hopes of compiling a scrapbook someday.
I didn’t have a great junior year and our team did even worse, so you can imagine my surprise when letters from Utah, BYU, Utah State, Stanford and other schools would come on a regular basis. Letters would constantly be delivered during class and even more were sent to my home.
Although I did everything I could to persuade my classmates otherwise, those letters meant absolutely nothing. My name was simply on a directory that listed my height and position; the fact that I measured 6 feet 5 inches and weighed 200+ lbs was enough to be a part of this mass distribution of mail.
The letters that truly meant something were the ones that were hand written by Dave Arslanian and coaches from Utah and BYU.
My last disclaimer is that I am a true Ute fan, and even if I would have played for the Cougars, I would have done my part to keep their chronic losing seasons the norm.
Letters are the basic level of recruiting, and as the fall season progresses, the selection intensifies. I was invited to pre-game pizza parties at Rice Stadium and given tickets and sideline passes to all the home games. I made unofficial visits and facility tours, but even those didn’t mean that a coaching staff was serious about offering me a scholarship. I was receiving a lot of attention and I remember thinking that all these schools were ready to offer. Not the case!
The close of the football season is when a coach’s true colors can be seen. I stopped hearing from Stanford and Utah entirely. The horde of letters stopped coming as the final steps were approaching. These steps consist of two main occurrences: home visits by coaches and official visits to campuses.
Head coaches were allowed one visit in a player’s home while assistants and recruiting coordinators could make multiple trips. Coaches were not allowed to attend high school football games, but I remember them frequenting my basketball games in the winter. I am still puzzled by that whole scenario.
At the end of my senior season, the two schools that were showing serious interest were BYU and Weber State. Utah State coach John L. Smith took a job with Louisville and Dave Arslanian was to follow as the new head coach in Logan.
That change made all the difference for me. I had received a significant enough amount of attention from Division I-A schools to convince me that I could play at that level. So as my choices began to narrow, Logan seemed like a promising location for me to get a chance to sign at a Division I-A school.
Coach Arslanian and the Utah State staff invited me for an official visit, as did BYU and Weber State. My travel was reimbursed and I ate like a king.
USU’s senior quarterback, Riley Jensen, took me out on the wild town of Logan, and we stayed at the plush University Inn. I also played laser tag with BYU QB Kevin Federick and went to Laffs comedy club in O-TOWN. For some reason, I think my visits were a little different from the recruiting trips at the University of Colorado.
A few weeks later, coach Arslanian made his visit and offered me a scholarship. I had until the first of February to make my decision. The night before the deadline, I got a call from Logan and told them that I would sign my letter of intent the next morning and fax it to them.
My parents and I went to Kinko’s and in a valiant attempt to make it feel like the NFL Draft, my dad gave me a Utah State hat to wear while I signed. It became official and it was then that I realized that I had better start lifting weights or I would be in a world of hurt.
All jokes aside, the entire process is designed to make a perfect match. Coach Ars was always very honest and playing for him was the ideal situation for me. It is not a perfect system but the ultimate goal is to fit the needs of both the athlete and the school. It did that in my case and I’m sure that the majority of student-athletes end up with the best school for them.