OT: Alabama Recruiting Pitch
Alabama recruiting handout hilites past player' NFLpaychecks:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/alabama-recruiting-…
Smart marketing or a new low in recruiting?
what they're creating is the same feel that Kentucky basketball has...come play here, nevermind your degree, and GO GET PAID! Yes, the rules regarding the years separating high school and the pros aside, that's essentially what you're left with. Nothing about the school or degree, just how much players from that program are making.
New low, in my opinon.
Graduate, as in to graduate.
No guarantees that going to the pros will result in a large salary. What happens if they blow their knee out during their rookie season? What then?
I maintain that finishing a school is more important to the majority of these kids than flaunting what other kids are making in the pros. I still think its a low approach.
its okay for us to differ though. Good discussion...
This.
I don't remember UM handing out official documentation highlighting the salaries and IPOs of a bunch of my classmates who left school early in the late 90's for their own software start-ups.
I'm fine if Alabama and other programs want to talk up graduation rates, award winners, maybe even number of draft selections in the right context, but pointing out "dolla dolla bills y'all" to a bunch of 17-year-olds, most of whom won't see massive paydays in the pros, if they even get drafted, seems wrong.
There are no guarantees if you graduate college either. There are unemployed college grads and grads who work in fields that do not require degrees and fields that do not pertain to their degree. A career goal is a career goal. They all have risks. Maybe some college graduates should have played sports more, just in case /s
Well, they could always start signing stuff...you know, for money.
Players only have to stay in the NFL for 3 or 4 years to receive a pension. I say this b/c I remember reading about the Lions holding on to Jahvid Best a little longer so he could qualify.
I'd be just as interested in seeing their bank accounts 2 years after they retire. These guys receive no legitimate education, so they have no idea how to manage money.You absolutely do not know that and to assume otherwise is ignorant. Saban runs such a tight ship that the players are tutored on every little detail, including how to select proper agents.
I was talking about the "receive no legitimate education" part
Money was a factor when I chose a major at Michigan. Why wouldn't it be a factor to high school football players?
I don't like the recruiting angle Alabama is playing here, but it is a good one. They would be smart to calculate the NFL draft pay for every competitive football school out there. No doubt they'll be at the top of that list (and probably by a wide margin).
I agree. I would just like to see the other side of the coin, how much do the players who graduate but don't make it to the league make? I would think this could be a strength of selling Michigan's value to a recruit. Because shockingly, not every 5* makes it to the NFL
This is really no different than Michigan touting its elite engineering or medical programs. You go to Michigan for those degrees because they will give you great odds of landing a top job in your field. Alabama is doing the exact same thing with their football program. Come here, and you'll have an outstanding shot at landing a top job in your field of football.
I think it's great marketing and questionable recruiting.
Speaking of Alabama, but off the topic of recruiting, I remember seeing an article floating around recently about 'Bama players having a reputation for being injury prone in the pros because Saban makes them (or instills a feeling of obligation in them to) play hurt throughout their college careers. Did anyone else see that or am I making it up?
It has more to do with the S&C program rather than the head coach. NCAA rules limit the number of hours of practice and interaction with the coaching staff, but the S&C coach has the exception to work with them throughout the year.
Since when is making money a bad thing in general?
Bama produces more first rounders than any other team. First rounders make money. It's OK to want to make money as a professional.
to me that the image the word "professional" creates is one that requires education to enter and perform at the highest levels. Except in sports.
Yes, one could argue that college sports is that education, but it seems like there's more kids than just ohio players who "don't come to play school."
If you don't think sports requires some sort of education, then you are completely dismissing the role coaches play. Athletes get educated on how to best prepare their bodies through the strength and conditioning programs, and they also get educated on how to perform the best at their position on the field through knowledge of schemes, technique, etc.
And as for the "don't come to play school" comment, I honestly think that's a fair comment. Some kids -- as misguided as they may be -- just want to go to college to try and be the best football player they can be. I went to school to try and be the best biologist I could be. But I learned after two years that biology wasn't for me. If a kid makes a comment like that as a freshman, hopefully he keeps his grades up enough so when he figures out as a junior that he's not going to make to the NFL, he can spend the last 2-3 years of school and get a degree in something. That's no different than what I or any number of college freshman do every year.
A degree? How about that?
I honestly was just giving the vision of a professional to me...in this thread I may have gotten misguided, but in other posts on this story I've tried to illustrate why I don't like Bama's approach. Using professionalism was a bad tactic on my part, but don't let it diminish my message.
I think that a degree for these kids is essential for them to succeed after college. There are always exceptions, I realize. This is my basic message. I think Bama's message in their current marketing approach diminishes the spirit of what college SHOULD be about, in my not-so-humble opinion.
This is off topic to the main OP but on topic with these couple of posts.
I have oftne used the terms profession/career/job almost interchangablly in the past and when I was meeting with a drug rep a number of months ago they called me on my use of the words. They said there is a distinct difference between the words and that the word the two of you are speaking about now (professional) is the most misused of the bunch.
To this point I still can't say that I have a good grasp of what those differences are but apparently to some people they are very important distinctions. In his definition an athlete would never be termed a professional (I don't know why exactly, that was just one of his examples).
To me if someone performed a task to bankroll their existance I considered them to be a profesional at whatever it was they were doing. Apparently I was wrong and only certain things fall under the "profession" category while others are considered careers, jobs etc.
Anyway, I'm not saying I have the slightest clue where anything fits in these definitions, just that some people take the words far more seriously than me and would probably argue that being an athlete insn't a profession.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my confusion with everyone else and see if anyone could explain the differences better than that drug rep did for me.
It is a new low...but honestly it is only making obvious what most of us thought already thought.
They are not in the business of caring about the athelets, only about getting some wins. No thought about how they might live the rest of their lives or that while yes some will make good money, how many kids that go there actually never play in the NFL.
Saban is simply being a bold realist, his school does not offer great academics and even if they might in some areas, the kids he wants on the team, don't care. Why should he.
Well, the reasons he doesn't are the reasons why Hoke DOES. The school and the program (Michigan's) profess to be a maker of men. Bama is more of the "win at all costs" that we're used to seeing from the SEC.
Screw what the NCAA says they're supposed to be doing, but the marriage of college and football should be to prepare kids for life. not just for life in football.
There's nothing wrong with this pitch. If you want to major in football and basketball, do it.
I don't see what the problem with this is. It shows their players are getting drafted and getting paid at the next level. This just shows that even though college football playrs will [presumably] not get paid to comete in college, they stand to make good money once they turn pro. NCAA football is a form of internship with free eudcation, room and board.
show statistics regarding the percentage of players who go to the pros from their program? Add in maybe the average round they're drafted in? No, instead they're appealing to the attitude in kids nowadays that we have on this very blog made fun of...
I don't think so.
Don't colleges and departments within the University of Michigan publish stats generated by their respective placement offices on the average salary offered, range of salary, number of offers per graduate, etc., on a yearly basis and use this data as a recruiting tool for prospective students?
The overwhelming majority of players in the NCAA, and at Alabama, will never see a dime from the NFL. Thus, these kids should be thinking about the opportunity of "going pro in something other than sports." Alabama's pitch seems to suggest that it is another place where you don't come to play school. That is a disservice to the kids who should not waste the opportunity that a scholarship provides - particularly those whose families would not be able to afford college.
A good counter would be to provide the average income of a regular Michigan grad at 5, 10, 15 and 20 years out. Then, provide the average NFL salary for Michigan players who make the league. Show the kids the value of their education, and that there is still a chance to live the NFL "dream."
Honestly, I don't see a problem with this. It isn't saying about the school or the guys that don't make the NFL, all it is saying is: if you play at Alabama, you have a better chance at being drafted and getting a big paycheck. Given the past few drafts, that is a hard notion to argue with. Given that Alabama is getting some of the best players in the country to commit there and therefore have a legitimate goal of making the NFL, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with promoting a program's ability to get them there. Shoot, Greg Mattison uses his experience in the NFL as evidence that he can help the kids get to the NFL, how is that any different (I know he also sells the academics at Michigan too, but it is one part of his pitch). The fact is, non-athlete students go to Michigan instead of Alabama at least in part because of a higher likelihood of getting a good job and making more money, something the university advertises in its post-grad employment data, what is wrong with a football program doing the same?
It's not a horrible idea... Depends on what kind of student athletes you want to attract...
Go Blue!
a school makes the strategic decision to run its football program like an NFL farm team whose main purpose is to generate entertainment for and money from it's fan and alumni base - like Alabama clearly has. They're basically putting the opportunity to get an education way down the list as a side benefit. Obviously, this approach has some real downsides. For one thing it attracts kids with the main goal of making big, quick money in the NFL vs. investing time and work long term in their futures beyond football. I would argue this will result in far fewer former players who are loyal to the program and want to give back. Compare this to our huge group of Michigan Men who form a community that helps the current program. It's easier to develop this community when you've nurtured a culture of loyalty that includes getting a Michigan degree. Just my opinion.