Florida Gators Land Rocket Armed QB That Has Graduated HS Already

Last Tuesday, the Florida Gators received a commitment from 2025 quarterback, Austin Simmons from Pahokee High School in Florida. Simmons is not one of the most hyped prospects in his class or at least not yet, but he should be.

For starters, Simmons as a sophomore, threw for 3253 yards and 27 touchdowns to go along with a 67% completion rate. I am not sure if these are records for Pahokee High School but I would bet good money on them being so. With two more seasons on the high school gridiron, you can bet that he’s going to assault any and all passing records from the school and may approach some state records. However, the beauty of his game is not his stats. It’s what college football recruiters are looking for and that it is attributes.

Simmons is a 6’3” left hand throwing prospect that while looks slim on film is actually a solid 190 pounds. We can be fairly certain that he will be at or above 200 pounds by the time he leaves out of high school. Whether he is or not he certainly has the frame to add the necessary size.

What you may find to be the most intriguing thing about Simmons is his ability to make every throw on the field. His highlight video is 10 minutes of throwing the entire route tree. Few prospects coming out this year next year or in his class have this ability. Simmons is equally adept at throwing the fade as he is the slant. What is quite unusual to see, is his distinct ability to throw the comeback route, a route you don’t typically see thrown in high school football.

Another very intriguing part of his game is his quick release. It’s quite uncommon for an athlete at this age that is built the way that he is built. Simmons is long and angular which typically results in a longer motion for quarterbacks. This is not the case for Simmons who has a very quick release for someone of his frame. Add to that his ability to make throws from several different arm angles. You will see on film his ability to come over the top, throw side arm and fit balls into places that would be otherwise difficult. No doubt his baseball abilities serve him well when he’s on the gridiron.

Speaking of his baseball abilities, Simmons is a tall left hander with a 90 mph fastball. He has all the makings of being a dominant pitcher, and I fully expect him to be a part of the Gators’ baseball team during his time in Gainesville. He truly is a two sport star who will have some tough decisions to make at some point down the road.

Finally, Simmons is not a statue in the pocket. He has escapability and he typically uses it to find receivers down the field. However, when the routes aren’t there, he can get you first downs with his feet. He is also athletic enough to incorporate the designed run plays and zone reads that are popular in today’s offenses. What the Gators are getting is a complete quarterback prospect.

I mentioned earlier about him possibly needing to make a decision, well, making a decision should not be a problem for this youngster who carries a 5.34 GPA and will enter Florida with a ton of college credits already completed. This is a home run hit for the Gators who now have two years, unless Simmons reclassifies, to try and hold on to a prospect that is going to get a tremendous amount of attention. If Florida can land this fish when all is said and done, the fan base will have a prospect at quarterback that they can hang their hat on for a long time.

What is NIL and How Has it Affected College Football

Chad Wilson

The term NIL has dominated college football over the last 2-3 years but do you really understand what it is. This brief post will give you the information you need.

The world of college football was forever changed in July 2021 when the NCAA officially allowed college athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness (NIL). This new development has major implications for college sports, as well as for the athletes themselves. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how NIL works in college football and how it’s changing the sport.

What is NIL?

Before we dive into the specifics of how NIL works, let’s define what it is. NIL stands for “name, image, and likeness,” and refers to an athlete’s ability to profit off their own personal brand. This could include things like endorsement deals, social media sponsorships, and appearances at events.

Prior to the change in NCAA rules, college athletes were not allowed to profit off their NIL. This meant that even if an athlete became famous and popular while playing college football, they were not allowed to make any money off their own likeness. This was seen by many as unfair, especially given the huge amounts of money that college football programs generate.

However, with the new NIL rules, college athletes can now profit off their own personal brand. This has been a long time coming, as many have argued that college athletes deserve to be able to make money off their own likeness.

How does NIL work in college football?

Under the new NCAA rules, college athletes are now allowed to profit off their NIL. This means that they can sign endorsement deals, work with brands, and make money off their social media presence, among other things.

There are some restrictions on what athletes can and can’t do when it comes to NIL, however. For example, they can’t use their college’s logos or trademarks in any commercial ventures. They also can’t use their NIL as a way to entice recruits to attend their college.

In addition, some states have passed their own laws regarding NIL that may differ from the NCAA’s rules. For example, in some states, athletes may be able to sign deals with sports betting companies, which is not allowed under NCAA rules.

In the next part of our look at NIL, we’ll discuss how NIL has changed college football recruiting.

4 Ways Defensive Tackles Can Capture College Scouts Attention

Chad Wilson

Defensive line has been one of the better places for athletes to go and earn football scholarships over the last decade in high school football.

Since football on all levels has turned into a passing game, a premium has been placed on the ability to rush the passer. This has led to many would be basketball player types moving to football and earning their scholarship money rushing the passer.

With that being the case, I’m going to show you in this article for ways that you can stand out on film as a defensive tackle and grab those scholarship offers from college football programs.

Have a Great Get Off

If you’re trying to jump out on the film when a coach or coaches are watching, having a great get off is perhaps the best way to do that. There’s just something about watching a big man leap out of his stance, get into the gap and explode into the backfield consistently on film. Of course you will need to make plays when you do that but even if you aren’t, coaches will be of the mindset that they can teach you how to make those plays when you get back there. It’s harder for them to teach you how to get back there in the first place. Spend a significant amount of time working on your get off and being quick off the ball when it is snapped. The best place to start with that is in the weight room and with your explosive lifts, like power cleans, squats, and deadlifts.

Fluid lateral movement

Going forward fast is always exciting but we all know at some point the offense will put obstacles in your way. If you could show on film that you can counter those obstacles with solid lateral movement, you can catch the eye of recruiters. Being able to slant to a gap, run a stunt or occasionally avoid a block to make a play is a huge plus for a big interior lineman. Most guys are a one trick pony that can only go forward. Showing versatility to your game by being able to go left or right with quickness will only increase your value. Don’t ignore training your agility in the off-season. This means you will have to get out on that field and do some cone work. Make sure you’re staying low in your drills and not creating bad habits.

Excellent pass rush moves.

Remember when I said football is now a passing game. It’s cool if you can stop the run as a big defensive tackle. It’s even better if you can push the pocket, penetrate through gaps and affect the passer as well. When defensive tackles can push the pocket, or move the passer off his mark it makes the entire pass rush that much better. Avoid being that guy that is a magnet for blocks when the offense is passing the football. Spend time learning how to swim, rip, hook and get an offensive lineman‘s hands off of you, so you can get into the Quarterbacks’s chest. Developing this will require some study time as well as some drill time.

Pursuit

If you have all three of the things I described above, the icing on the cake is going to be a guy that has good pursuit. Perhaps the second best way to stand out on film is to be a big guy with a high motor. Many college coaches will tell you watching a big man run from sideline to sideline or pursue a ball carrier down field gives them the feeling that they have a winner. One of the hardest thing for coaches to coach is effort. Typically, that is found within the player. If this is something you lack, get to work on developing that now. To be honest with you, few coaches can bring this out in you. It is really something that you’re going to have to find within yourself. It starts with you being in shape, so get your conditioning in during the off-season. Don’t forget it stick to it while you’re in season too. Being in good shape gives you the energy to go chase down ball carriers. On defense it’s all about getting to the football. Show up on film by always being around the football.

If you can show these four things on film and you’re not built like an outside linebacker or safety, you have a really good chance of being recruited by college football programs as a defensive tackle. You can achieve this, even though you are not the ideal height and weight. All of the things described in this article are going to require you putting in some real work to achieve. Getting a college football scholarship offer is a great thing and nothing great achieved in life will come easy. So put your work boots on.

Georgia and Ohio St. are Battling for this 5-Star QB | Dylan Raiola

Chad Wilson

Recruiting classes come and go, and with them prospects not only fight for offers, but for their place in history. Some are successful in being unique but most just fall into the crowd and are forgotten once the new crop comes in.

That is not likely to be the case for today’s 5 star subject, Dylan Raiola. I don’t know Raiola personally, however, if I had to guess there’s a certain Super Bowl quarterback that is his favorite. We’ll get to that in a moment. Here are my five reasons why Raiola is a five star

You know my big saying in recruiting is that it is a beauty contest, and Reola has the size and athleticism to be, a top prospect at the quarterback position. At 6’3”, 220 lbs, Raiola falls outside of the normal size for a high school quarterback. The 220 lbs that he carries is well put together. When you add to that the athleticism and mobility, it’s easy to see that he is the thing that successful college football quarterbacks are made of physical speaking. When coaches head out on the recruiting trail, looking for quarterbacks for the future of their programs, Raiola‘s size and athleticism is typically what they are looking for. Unless you are a program looking for a dual threat quarterback, Raiola is the type that would be your prime candidate. He has annoying mobility. This means he doesn’t take off and run with the football the moment he feels pressured. instead, he displays the ability, à la Patrick Mahomes, to stay alive behind the line of scrimmage and gut the defense with a throw downfield. When necessary he can scramble for the first down and extend the drive. His size and movement skills are a solid part of what makes him unique and a five star.

While College Football Recruiting is about projections and athletic traits, it is difficult to reach five star status without performance. Raiola puts a checkmark in that category as well. In two seasons at Pinnacle high school in Arizona, Raiola has thrown for over 5600 yards and 64 touchdowns. More importantly, he has taken Pinnacle from a 4-8 mark in his first season as a starter his sophomore year to an 8-5 team in his junior campaign. It is important to show at any level that the team you play for is significantly better with you at the controls and Raiola has definitely shown that.

A third important reason that Raiola is a five star are his traits. He shows the things that college football quarterback coaches, and offensive coordinators drool over. First, he has a strong arm and can make all the throws. This includes being able to make off platform throws with some good speed on them. He doesn’t always need to set his feet to make a strong and accurate throw. A lot of his throwing mechanics mimic those of Mahomes. Along with the strong arm, he possesses accuracy in his throws. One of the more unique things that he does as a high school quarterback is make anticipatory throws. That is not the norm at the high school level. Most high school quarterbacks will wait for a guy to be open before they make the throw. Raiola will throw into the next window for a receiver that’s on the move. He will also throw to a receiver that is covered and put the ball in a place where only the receiver can catch it. That is a next level trait. He also shows great command of the offense, but what I feel he does best is make the deep ball throw. Raiola probably has the best deep ball that I’ve seen from a prospect over the last decade. He is very adept at dropping the ball in the bucket and making it very catchable for the wide receiver. Deep ball throws to the corner of the end zone to a covered wide receiver are one of his strengths and frankly it’s fun to watch on film.

The fourth reason that he is a five star is he is a dual sport athlete. Perhaps some people don’t want to hear that, but that’s the way that it is. Most quarterbacks that excelled at this game were multi sport athletes in high school. This is still a thing, despite all the off-season activities that a high school quarterback must engage in these days. Raiola is a stand out baseball player along with all of his exploits on the high school gridiron. Being a two sport or multi sport athlete is definitely a plus when you are talking about a five star high school football player.

Finally, Raiola has a pedigree. His father, Dominic, was an offiensive lineman for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the late 90s. He then went on to spend 14 years in the NFL playing for the Detroit Lions. However, the pedigree doesn’t just stop there. His mother was a college athlete playing water polo and he has several members of his family that were involved in collegiate athletics. so basically, Raiola comes from an athletic family. He grew up in an atmosphere that fosters competition and athletic achievement. These kind of things matter as you start moving up through the ranks of high school and college athletics.

While most non-casual fans realize that someone like Patrick Mahomes is a once in a lifetime talent, it is not outrageous to draw comparisons between Raiola‘s game, and that of Mahomes’. Whether or not he achieves the things that Mahomes has in his career is still, of course, to be seen. However , it is clear to anyone watching that Raiola studies Mahomes and has had a good amount of success duplicating some of Mahomes‘s attributes. You will instantly realize it when you see him make cross body throws with speed and accuracy. It will be fun to watch Raiola‘s development, not only in his final year of high school, but when he hits the college scene.

Last May he committed to the Ohio state, but reminded it on that commitment in December. As it stands now, many believe he will eventually pledge to Georgia. In fact, the majority of the crystal balls at 247 sports say that he will be a bulldog. There is quite some time to go in his recruitment, so we will just have to see about that. For now, we get to just enjoy his exploits on the field this senior season and further analyze the play of this five star.

To Walk On or Not to Walk On. That is a Prospect’s Question

Chad Wilson

If you’re a high school football player in the midst of or nearing the end of your career on the prep Gridiron then this article most definitely is for you.

It’s getting down to decision time. Of course, at some point, you had visions of playing big time football on CBS or ABC or ESPN, etc. However, it is reality time. The big time offers did not come your way and you would still like to play college football so you are weighing your options. Those options could be anywhere from prep school to small school partial scholarships to walking on at the power 5 school that couldn’t offer you a scholarship.

In my nearly 2 decades of doing this, most of the time prospects faced with these options choose the walk on route. Unfortunately, many times it ends up being not what they expected and they abandon that course. What I have learned over the years is that your experience as a walk on boils down to your expectations. I have had some prospects thoroughly enjoy the walk on experience and others who have hated it so much that they don’t even like football anymore. As I questioned them about the experience, overwhelmingly it seems the unhappy ones expected far more than they should have.

What needs to be understood as a walk on is that the school did not offer you a scholarship. You as a prospect need to understand what that means. No matter how much you think they like you, the reality is that they did not like you enough to offer you one of their precious scholarships. To give you an analogy, it’s like a girl telling you she likes you but not enough to call you her boyfriend. Let that sink in for a while. Now you may be so infatuated with the young lady that you are willing to be her friend in hopes that someday she will grow to love you but there’s also the likelihood that you will be in the friend zone forever. In the midst of you chilling in the friend zone, friends and others may make fun of you asking you what the hell are you doing? Furthermore, you will have to sit back and watch her date other guys, most of whom you will think you are better than. How’s that for a mental visual?

Seemingly, it would take a whole lot of love to bury your pride, put in all that work and still be happy when you aren’t ultimately getting what it is you want. With that in mind, two things need to happen. First, if you are going to walk on somewhere you better love the school and the football program if you want to have a good experience. Loving these things will make the work and not having a scholarship be OK. Second, you should head into this walk on experience not expecting to ever get a scholarship. It is tough to get mad at not getting something you didn’t expect to get in the first place.

Now, what I said may not seem like a champion mindset. I can understand that line of thinking. However, the walk on experience is a different animal. If you don’t have the appropriate mindset, you won’t survive. For the most part, you are going to do all the work that the scholarship players are doing but at the end of the week, you will not get what they get. The scholarship players will get the playing time and the multitude of opportunities. Not to mention their books, their room, their board and their meals for free. This will happen despite the fact that you may feel that you are better than the guys on scholarship.

The most effective way that I have seen guys obtain scholarships who have the actual ability to do so is by adopting the mindset I laid out previously in this article. Fall in love with the work, be in love with the game, become infatuated with the preparation and eventually talent meets opportunity. The other part is that some guys never do get the scholarship however they make some awesome connections that they end up using in their post college career. Not to mention that they end up being a part of some thing great that they can remember for the rest of their lives.

So in summary, if you are going to go the walk on route, choose a school and a football program where you honestly feel you would enjoy the experience even if you never earned a scholarship. Falling short of that, you should walk on at a school where you are almost assured of earning a scholarship. That would be at a school that was extremely close to offering you one and for some unforeseen reason they were not able to at the moment. Choosing something that falls outside of those two places typically ends up in disappointment for the prospect.

Want A College Football Scholarship? Study the Field

Chad Wilson

By now you should know that in order to be successful you’re going to half to do some studying. If you haven’t learned anything else in school, at least you’ve at least learned that.

It would be a shame if you didn’t take what you’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to other places in your life, most notably in the game of recruiting. What you should have also learned is that Recruiting is about competition. You have little chance of succeeding over your competition if you have not studied it. So with that in mind, let’s talk about what that studying involves.

First of all you have to take stock of what the college programs you are interested in are recruiting. Take a look at their previous recruiting classes and see who they have signed from your position. What’s their height, weight and attributes. Are they similar to yours? You don’t have to totally focus on the height aspect or the weight aspect, pay attention to the attributes. You may not fit the bill when it comes to the height and weight but you may really have the traits that players they have recruited before have. Make a full assessment of the type of players they like to have in their system.

One of the other things that I personally like to do is take a look at the top 100 list at the recruiting websites like Rivals and 247 Sports. Looking at that gives you an idea of what it is college football programs would like to recruit. I am not just talking about the Power 5 programs, I am also talking about the programs that are at the levels below that too. Truth be told the lower level programs are trying every day to be the upper level programs. So, this may seem foolish but they are trying to recruit the same kind of players even though they may have less of a chance of signing them. Study what it is those players have and try to determine why they are so highly recruited.

Make sure while you are doing this that you aren’t getting too caught up in the things that you can’t control. Again, height and weight are not the only factors to consider. You should take a look at how athletic and how fast these prospects are. Also, how strong are they? These are areas where you have more direct control and they should be the areas of your focus. If your height and weight measures up to what the programs are recruiting, great! However, if you do not measure up there, please understand that you will have to have more of the other traits to be considered.

Another area where you can do some studying is at the off-season camps. Hopefully, you have been invited to them to participate. If you have, while you are competing, take note of the players you are going up against and in particular the ones that you know are highly recruited. Look at their intangibles. What is their attitude like? Are they highly competitive? Do they show leadership skills? Take note of these things and compare it to where you stand in those areas. Perhaps you can make some changes and improvements in those areas to capture the attention of the schools you would like to go to.

If you have, unfortunately, not been invited to the camps, I would not sit at home and pout. You would do well to go to the camp anyway and view it as a spectator. While you are doing that you can take notes on what is being done at the camp, See how guys perform and where it is you can fill in the gap. You will be that much better when you get invited to the camp next year. If this was your last year then try to apply what you’ve learned from watching the highly recruited players at the camp to your preparation as you head into your final season. Don’t underestimate your ability to make drastic improvements. You are still young and things can change rather quickly.

At the end of the day, there are a bunch of players that would like to get the scholarship spots that you are vying for. If you don’t do your due diligence and study those that you’re going up against, you put yourself at a disadvantage when the time comes to hand out offers and sign scholarships.