Hi. I’m Jeff and this is our story of success.

This is our story of getting our oldest son, Josiah, recruited and finally committed to play football at the college level.

The beginning.

Joe began playing football in 3rd grade at a small rural central Michigan school district. While it wasn’t always the best environment, he had some great coaches early on who taught him the fundamentals of the game. Joe found that he had to not only battle on the football field, but also to get playing time; not always being selected as a starter. Joe gained skills as a center, offensive tackle and offensive guard.

The dark season.

Playing for a small rural school in Michigan came with some struggles. As with many small town schools, bullying happened. While Joe worked hard in the weight room, there weren’t as many resources available to consistently have coaches there to help with conditioning and proper lifting techniques. Unfortunately, Joe hurt his back one day during a lifting session at the start of the 9th grade season. Joe had to fight doing his physical therapy as well as during practice after school. Many times, coaches and teammates made it very difficult on Joe. There were many times that season where Joe wanted to quit because of how he was treated, but he kept fighting. After the 9th grade season however, Joe decided he couldn’t do it any more. The game was no longer fun for him.

The comeback.

Right before his sophomore year, we decided to move to Mount Pleasant, MI and enroll our children in Sacred Heart Academy. We did have to wait a few months into the school year to sell our house, but we finally switched schools in March of 2021. According to MHSAA rules, if Joe had played football his sophomore year, he would have had to sit out his junior year. Since he did not, Joe was able to not only play, but start on both sides of the ball.

Joe’s junior year was when everything turned around. He worked exceptionally hard to get his body into playing shape, condition himself and relearn a new set of plays. Football became fun again. We were encouraged by his coach to attend some football camps the summer before his sophomore and junior year to get some additional experience. It was during this summer that I began researching what it would take to get the attention of college football recruiters. The genesis of this site and online course began that summer.

His junior year showcased an immense talent, speed and agility. This made for exceptional highlight film that we were now armed to share with as many programs as we could.

The college offers.

While we were using Twitter (X) to locate and connect with college coaches and programs, I was putting together the social media strategy to replicate for others. To me, it didn’t matter if the school was one that Joe might select to play for and attend, I was playing the algorithm game. The more connections we made, the more coaches followed back, the more DMs were sent, the more Joe’s account would show up in suggested to follow. We bypassed the NCAA eligibility center and other sites like NCSA to navigate this on our own.

Through these activities and attending multiple camps the summer of 2022, Joe’s Twitter account and highlight reels were receiving lots of attention on Hudl. We received dozens of links to recruitment questionnaires, camp invitations and a few roster offers. After those camps, we received half a dozen official visitation requests and ultimately a few more official offers. Even without some official visits, Joe had a few conversations with other programs who offered him on the spot.

The visit and decision.

Joe had been in deep discussions with a handful of D2, D3 & NAIA programs. With scolarships in hand and offers on the table, we had some decisions to make. In November, Joe was recruited by the wide receivers coach at Lake Forest College. We decided to do one last round of college visits in January of 2023 to help make the final decision. Lake Forest hadn’t even been on his radar until this coach reached out. We were headed to Minneapolis anyway, so we decided to make a stop in Chicago for an official visit. We are glad we did. The visit was scheduled for 2 hours, but we ended up staying almost 6. It was very clear that Lake Forest became the #1 choice. After the visit in the Twin Cities, Joe couldn’t keep Lake Forest out of his mind. Ultimately, at the end of February, Joe made the official decision to attend Lake Forest College to further his education and play football.

The success.

Success can be measured subjectively. Some might define a D3 offer as a failure when Joe was receiving looks by D1 & D2 programs. What is important is how you define your own success. We define success by what Joe has overcome to reach this peak; the 3.5 GPA that enabled Joe to receive significant scholarships to help pay for a presigious liberal arts school in the Chicago area.

Your own success is only limited by the hard work you put in. It is likely your results will differ from ours. But if you take what we learned, invest in yourselves, work the process we show in the course, there is a good chance you’ll find yourself talking about your own success and dreams realized.

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