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Recruiting Tricks You Can Learn From A Coach Who Understands Recruiting

Coach Recruiting TipsFootball Scholarships for Everybody

Is it really possible for one school to have 19 high school students receive football scholarships in one season? It is and it happened this year at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington D.C.

How is this even possible? While we advise against relying on your high school coach to get you recruited, if you have a coach like Friendship’s Aazar Abdul-Rahim you are way ahead of the game.

One Man Can Make a Difference

Abdul-Rahim, a former cornerback at San Diego State University, grew up in D.C. and has made it his mission to get his athletes recruited to college. His strategy is effective and, with 42 players landing college football scholarships in the past three years, it is a method that should be emulated by anybody hoping to earn a college scholarship, especially those who will qualify for other types of financial aid.

The numbers are truly astounding. 19 players at one school? Only 1.4% of high school football players will play college football on a D-1 scholarship.

Taking Charge of Academics

How does he do it? For one thing, Abdul-Rahim has built a reputation that attracts good players to the charter school. He makes sure his players stay eligible to play in college by keeping up their grades and scoring well on the SAT.

But the rest of what he does is above and beyond the call of the duty. And it’s not something you should expect from your high school coach, but it is something you and your parents can do for you.

Finances or 40 Time?

Abdul-Rahim realized early in the game that he can make his players more attractive to college recruiters by paying attention to the bottom line. He saw that finances are often more important than 40-yard dash times and so he devised a way to use financial aid packages to offer his players at a discount.

Recruiting Done Right

The recruiters would show up to see the 6’4, 310 pound player who can run–it’s the marginal players who are a tougher sell. That’s why Abdul-Rahim also makes individual web pages with highlight videos for each player. He makes business cards for each player with a personal web page address listed alongside height, weight, GPA, SAT score and parental contact information.

Abdul-Rahim already has seven players who’ve received offers from major college football programs for next year. He hopes ultimately that he will have even more than 19 players receive football scholarships next year.
I wouldn’t bet against him.

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