National Signing Day Recruitment Lessons For Fraternities

Already missing football season? We are too. Check out this fantastic blog post from our Friend Vince Fabra at Phired Up that discusses the parallels between National Signing Day for potential college athletes, and the ways in which we recruit new members into our chapters. You’ll be surprised (and maybe a little worried) at how similar (and harmful) some of our practices really are.

You can find Vince’s article, National Signing Day Recruitment Lessons For Fraternities, below or on Phired Up’s official blog.

Alright football fans! You thought the season was over after the Buckeyes and Patriots were crowned champions?! Maybe we won’t be watching football games until next fall, but there’s always something to keep us interested in our favorite team.

Wednesday, February 4th is National Signing Day. This is the day that the best high school football players will decide which jersey they’ll be rocking for the next few years. This is a BIG deal. Websites like rivals.com and 247sports.com are dedicated to tracking the best prep players in the country. Rabid college football fans are ignoring work and class, trying to catch a glimpse of which prospects may or may not choose their school.

Prospects are ranked in a few different ways. There are lists of the best overall prospects, the best prospect at each position, and then there are the STAR ranking (1-5 stars. 1 = low, not so great. 5 = high, extremely talented).

On the morning of National Signing Day, I was listening to sports talk radio veterans Mike and Mike. Mike Golic, a former college and pro football player, was telling the recruiting story of his younger son, Jake.

When Jake was a junior in high school, he was invited to attend an all-star training camp for the best juniors around the country. Jake performed so well at this camp that he was named one of the best of the best, being awarded All-Combine honors. Jake then committed to Notre Dame like his dad and older brother had done before him.

That summer, before his senior season started, Jake was invited to even more all-star camps and combines. Jake declined those invitations and did not attend those camps because he already knew where he was going to play his college ball. When the STAR rankings came out right before the beginning of that season, Jake was given a 2 STAR ranking. This was surprising to the Golic family, because just a few months earlier, Jake was given the honor of the All-Combine team, and not a snap of actual football had taken place since then. Why was Jake given a 2 STAR ranking? All signs point to his absence at these camps and combines.

Fraternity Recruitment Parallel on two. Set Hike HIKE!

Camps and combines = Meet the Greeks and chapter recruitment events. At times, our view is limited based upon the people that seek us out, attend our camps and combines. We are so quick to forget about the other talent that exists on campus. Just because someone has not made their way to your recruitment event, does not mean that they don’t have amazing potential for your organization.

If Jake Golic’s story opened my eyes to one thing, it would be that some of the best talent is not actively seeking to be in our organizations. We slap a 5 star rating on the potential member that shows up to everything, but how can we be confident about that rating until we meet EVERY potential joiner. The QUANTITY of People that you meet with, will determine the QUALITY of your next new member class, line, associate etc.

Last interesting anecdote I’ll share, of the 44 total players in both starting lineups on Super Bowl Sunday, how many of them were 5 Star recruits coming out of high school? The answer – ZERO. In your experience, who typically makes the best members?

Think about it.

– 2StarVince