I don't know about this one athlete, but I can comment in a broader sense.
Your assumption that social media buzz played a role in his offers exploding has a kernel of truth. First, there is no social network that is more effective than college football coaches. The communication is very strong. Coaches build their network of coaches - it is just part of the profession - and that fosters easy communication. Part of the communication is thru social media for sure. But I would NOT say that social media drives it. If you eliminated social media, the communication would still happen, but maybe not as efficiently.
When a school offers a guy, the other schools in the same recruiting area hear about it. They pay attention to it. They seek that information out. If they have not evaluated that player, they immediately evaluate that player. This is probably the main reason that you see a guy 'explode'. If there is a guy on the bubble - meaning several teams are considering offering him, but no one has pulled the trigger - often that first offer quickly becomes several.
There is a herd mentality to recruiting. By that I mean that when schools see a kid getting offers, they tend to jump on the bandwagon to 'get in the mix'. (In those cases, the evaluation can happen after the offer). These schools don't want to lose a kid because they are behind the other schools. One offer for a kid who can play often turns into several just by osmosis.
So what could a player do when he has no offers (or in this case one offer)?
1. My advice for non-self-promotion on his social media stands.
2. Be patient. Hard to do, but let the process work. Colleges don't want to miss. I would only suggest this to a kid who has a good offer.
3. He could talk to his coaches - who can contact other schools and be sure the player is being evaluated.
4. He can make responsible social media posts such as 'thanks to school x for the offer'. Or 'thanks to coach x for hosting me at your camp this weekend. I loved the school and campus and could see myself as a (insert mascot name). '
5. He can attend camps at the schools he is interested in. Schools like to offer guys at their camps. They appreciate that the player is interested in their school and took the time to attend their camp.
6. He can contact either the area recruiter or position coach at the school(s) he is interested in. Especially if the hs coach is not really assisting.
7. He can have a trusted coach evaluate his highlight video. Kids and coaches have wildly different ideas of what a coach would want to see on a highlight video. The first 3-4 minutes of the hightlight have to grab the attention. I have seen lots of highlight tapes that I want to turn off quickly. (For example, the blind-side blow-up shot is one that I hate to see - with the player standing over the kid who just got blasted).
8. He can get his grades up. Better grades = more opportunity.
9. He can talk to his coach about ways that he can improve. For example, work harder within his team and in the weight room, become a better leader. This is subtle, but coaches want their guys to get out. Help him help you.
I disagree that the media is requesting 'top 7' lists. That is purely the kid proactively taking it on himself. But even if they get the request, they can (and should) decline.
My kids have long passed the whole recruitment thing (thank goodness), but I still enjoy HS football as (IMHO) the best football. Although I am positive I don't personally know him, I enjoy feedback's post and insight. He could be a keyboard cowboy making it all up, but my instinct tells me that he knows what he is talking about. That said, I would offer the following comments and be interested in any feedback.
* Being patient...could you qualify a bit? We did our best to "play it cool" but when you have great grades, are recognized as a leader at your position on team, conference and regional level, stay off of social media and see peers and competitors posting the aforementioned tweets about multiple offers, it's tough for a kid to keep the "they'll find me" mentality. You touched on it a bit with talking to his coach (unless theirs evidence that the coach isn't actively helping), attending camps (damn near impossible for a 3 sport athlete, more on this later), and contacting schools / position coaches at schools he is interested in. I would have previously said that pursuing coaches at schools he interested in is NOT being patient. Almost like giving the coach the incentive to not recruit them aggressively because they know the kids WANT to go there for education and they might get the benefit of having them there as a walk on WITHOUT spending a scholarship. It just seems tough to tell a kid to sit back and stay calm when they have done all they can otherwise (grades, character, work ethic, attitude and performance on the field) but aren't getting the interest while others, who fall short in the categories listed above but jump off the page in the height, weight or 40 time categories.
*It would be great if every kid could get their highlight film reviewed. I feel like we learned a lot and got some good advice, but still saw kids getting more ground despite their videos with the inappropriate music, horrible quality and examples of poor sportsmanship front and center on their videos. With minimal faith in the HSHC, what would be your next suggestion to look for as film "evaluators"?
* In hindsight, camps seem invaluable. It appeared that no amount of film or transcripts could override the credence gained by some physical face time with a coach. Makes perfect sense that a coach would have stronger feelings (and assume greater risk) based on personal interaction versus social media or film impressions. The down side of that is the multi-sport athlete's schedule. With the window between the end of baseball / track season being very small to begin with, coupled with the summer schedule for football (and just about every other sport now), the time and expense of a camp seemed to be counter productive at the time. Are there criteria you would suggest for a kid to select a camp for maximum recruiting benefit?
Looking forward to any feedback. Suffice to say, I left the process feeling a little jaded and sarcastic. Soon after I would have responded to the question, "Any advice on recruiting?" I would have said, "SURE! Find a way to make yourself 6'4" >250lbs, find a broken stop watch that has you at a sub 4.2 40 time and if at all possible, find someone to forge an offer from Bama or ND!!
