High School Football

Paully D

As a new addict to Friday Night Lights, I'm trying to find out some more about high school football

Is it mostly like how it's portrayed in the TV show, or is there much less hype in reality?

Who are the players we can hope to see graduating from high school and doing well in college football in the near future?

I'd imagine the amount of players who impress in high school football but then for whatever reason don't make it in college football is huge, would that be correct?

Are there many high school games broadcast on TV?

Thanks

Stev_o

Go try and download any of the Elite 11 QB camps. It's just mental really http://rise.espn.go.com/football/events/2011-Elite-11.aspx.

ESPN also have a good ranking system on some of the kids. Scary the hype that starts at such a young age.

For the most part id say the top % of prospects are ranked that high based on their physical attributes more then anything.

Paully D

Stev_o wrote: »

Go try and download any of the Elite 11 QB camps. It's just mental really http://rise.espn.go.com/football/events/2011-Elite-11.aspx.

ESPN also have a good ranking system on some of the kids. Scary the hype that starts at such a young age.

For the most part id say the top % of prospects are ranked that high based on their physical attributes more then anything.

Cheers fella, I'll give it a go tonight before the Thursday Night Football, but Friday Night Lights is taking over practically all of my viewing time lately :pac:

It does seem mental. I can't imagine how hard it would be for kids that age to have such pressure on their shoulders.

Thanks

Stev_o

Paully D wrote: »

Cheers fella, I'll give it a go tonight before the Thursday Night Football, but Friday Night Lights is taking over practically all of my viewing time lately :pac:

It does seem mental. I can't imagine how hard it would be for kids that age to have such pressure on their shoulders.

Thanks

A lot of them are absolute clueless idiots tbh,

Anyway their has been many real life FNL shows, I know MTV ran them over for here for 2 seasons I think called Two a Days. Funny enough the school they were filming then got investigated for bumping up football players grades so they could get into college, go figure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-A-Days

It's also funny when you look into some of the schools where really there is only about 2000 students attending which I *think* sounds quite low.

tallaghtoutlaws

Stev_o wrote: »

A lot of them are absolute clueless idiots tbh,

As someone who has worked with a High School this is nonsense and nothing more than a sweeping generalisation.

Anyway their has been many real life FNL shows, I know MTV ran them over for here for 2 seasons I think called Two a Days. Funny enough the school they were filming then got investigated for bumping up football players grades so they could get into college, go figure.

Hoover like a fair few big high schools have fought off accusations of bumping up grades. Like southern based colleges in the bible belt where football is as big as god you will get a lot of stories like this. There have been a fair few scandals over the years involving high schools but for the most part the majority are above board. But when you account for every high school in the US with football teams there is a low amount that use tactics like this.

It's also funny when you look into some of the schools where really there is only about 2000 students attending which I *think* sounds quite low.

Taking Texas as an example the size of the school is averaging between 2500-3500 Students. There are a few schools in Texas with between 4-5k kids but for the most part they all are usually under the 3500k mark.

cheesehead

I've never seen an episode of FNL (although I've heard it's quite well done), so I can't compare "real" high school football to the show's version.

That said, US High School football is quite "high profile" (and getting bigger with the multiple media sources looking for more and more sports material of any kind).

Regarding some of your questions:

1) What players can we hope to see in college football?: A huge "recruiting" industry has sprouted up in the US. High School players begin getting "hype" very early on now. Top players are identified at least by their sophomore (2nd of four) years, and definitely by their junior (3rd of 4) year. While high school recruiting has always been intense (and fraught with corruption), a relatively new "recruiting model" has begun to emerge: 7 on 7 summer football events (an all-passing game featuring only skill position players) that take place outside the traditional high school football season. There is presently much uneasiness about these 7 on 7 events and the potential for worsening recruiting abuses. With so much attention focused on high school football, it's extremely rare for a really talented player to "fly under the recruiting radar". Don't get me wrong, some talented players get missed by the big-time college programs. At times, recruits who once were thought of as "marginal", really develop and blossom during their college careers (at less high profile college programs) and some even go on to play on Sundays - the NFL has several such players. Vice-Versa, some "can't miss" high school players never pan out on the college level. Overall however, the recruiting process generally does a pretty good job of identifying really good players early on in the process.

2)Impressive high school player who doesn't make it in college? See above, but also remember, it's been stated only about 3% of high school athletes in the US go on to play college ball at any level, not just the highest level. Also, this question can't be answered without context. The context is really "what competition is the player playing against". Certain areas of the country have much stiffer competition. Florida, Texas, and California have much better high school football competition than say Iowa, New Mexico or Rhode Island. So, an impressive running back from a small, farming-community high school in Iowa wouldn't look nearly as good were he to play in a Southern Florida high school program. College football recruiters factor this in, thus certain states dominate the recruiting scene. Also, within most states, certain schools dominate the high school football scene (and thus good players are attracted to these schools). Often times, Catholic high schools are the schools that dominate the high school football scene. Public high schools often lament the really good Catholic high school football programs "recruit" the area's good players (and I'm sure they do), but often times the good players are just attracted to the good programs.

3) Yes, high school games are broadcast on TV. ESPN will broadcast high school games nationally. Thus, you will see the dominant high school teams traveling to play other dominant teams. ESPN may show a New Jersey Catholic school (Don Bosco Prep) playing a team from California (Mission Viejo High School). Generally, the really top programs will play one to two out-of-state games each year. This trend may increase as these games continue to get national exposure via TV.

Hope this helps in understanding the high school game over here.

Paully D

cheesehead wrote: »

I've never seen an episode of FNL (although I've heard it's quite well done), so I can't compare "real" high school football to the show's version.

That said, US High School football is quite "high profile" (and getting bigger with the multiple media sources looking for more and more sports material of any kind).

Regarding some of your questions:

1) What players can we hope to see in college football?: A huge "recruiting" industry has sprouted up in the US. High School players begin getting "hype" very early on now. Top players are identified at least by their sophomore (2nd of four) years, and definitely by their junior (3rd of 4) year. While high school recruiting has always been intense (and fraught with corruption), a relatively new "recruiting model" has begun to emerge: 7 on 7 summer football events (an all-passing game featuring only skill position players) that take place outside the traditional high school football season. There is presently much uneasiness about these 7 on 7 events and the potential for worsening recruiting abuses. With so much attention focused on high school football, it's extremely rare for a really talented player to "fly under the recruiting radar". Don't get me wrong, some talented players get missed by the big-time college programs. At times, recruits who once were thought of as "marginal", really develop and blossom during their college careers (at less high profile college programs) and some even go on to play on Sundays - the NFL has several such players. Vice-Versa, some "can't miss" high school players never pan out on the college level. Overall however, the recruiting process generally does a pretty good job of identifying really good players early on in the process.

2)Impressive high school player who doesn't make it in college? See above, but also remember, it's been stated only about 3% of high school athletes in the US go on to play college ball at any level, not just the highest level. Also, this question can't be answered without context. The context is really "what competition is the player playing against". Certain areas of the country have much stiffer competition. Florida, Texas, and California have much better high school football competition than say Iowa, New Mexico or Rhode Island. So, an impressive running back from a small, farming-community high school in Iowa wouldn't look nearly as good were he to play in a Southern Florida high school program. College football recruiters factor this in, thus certain states dominate the recruiting scene. Also, within most states, certain schools dominate the high school football scene (and thus good players are attracted to these schools). Often times, Catholic high schools are the schools that dominate the high school football scene. Public high schools often lament the really good Catholic high school football programs "recruit" the area's good players (and I'm sure they do), but often times the good players are just attracted to the good programs.

3) Yes, high school games are broadcast on TV. ESPN will broadcast high school games nationally. Thus, you will see the dominant high school teams traveling to play other dominant teams. ESPN may show a New Jersey Catholic school (Don Bosco Prep) playing a team from California (Mission Viejo High School). Generally, the really top programs will play one to two out-of-state games each year. This trend may increase as these games continue to get national exposure via TV.

Hope this helps in understanding the high school game over here.

Fantastic stuff, thanks a lot for taking the time to post all that. It's much appreciated.

cheesehead

Paully, one high-schooler is getting a tremendous amount of hype this year. His name is Dorial Green-Beckham. He's a 6'6" wide-receiver out of Missouri. Many folks who follow the high school football scene consider him the best high school wide-receiver prospect since Randy Moss.

That's fairly rarified company this young man finds himself in, as many folks will argue Randy Moss was not only the best wide-receiver to ever come out of the high school ranks, but the best player (most dominant) ever to come out of high school. Lou Holtz (among many) always says Randy Moss was the best high school player he's ever seen. Unfortunately, Randy had some legal issues back in high school, thus the major programs backed off him and he ended up at Marshall.

Dorial Green-Beckham has not made his college choice yet, but many think Oklahoma may lead for his services.

tallaghtoutlaws

cheesehead wrote: »

Paully, one high-schooler is getting a tremendous amount of hype this year. His name is Dorial Green-Beckham. He's a 6'6" wide-receiver out of Missouri. Many folks who follow the high school football scene consider him the best high school wide-receiver prospect since Randy Moss.

That's fairly rarified company this young man finds himself in, as many folks will argue Randy Moss was not only the best wide-receiver to ever come out of the high school ranks, but the best player (most dominant) ever to come out of high school. Lou Holtz (among many) always says Randy Moss was the best high school player he's ever seen. Unfortunately, Randy had some legal issues back in high school, thus the major programs backed off him and he ended up at Marshall.

Dorial Green-Beckham has not made his college choice yet, but many think Oklahoma may lead for his services.

After seeing a fair few of his games and watching his highlights he is an amazing athlete and I would have to agree with the general consensus. He also dominates at basketball and the 100m Sprint in athletics.

6'6 220 pounds and 4.43 40 if this kid lands into a big college he will dominate if he continues down the road he is on now when it comes his work ethic

Good example of his abilities here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCfjb5p7rwQ

.

Peyton Manning

Was reading last week that he's narrowed it down to Arkansas, Auburn, Oklahoma and Texas, with his two favoured being Oklahoma and Arkansas. I can see him ending up in Arkansas tbh.

Mario Edwards is ranked the number 1 prospect by a few sources too, and it's funny watching his highlight reels because the left tackles on the other team genuinely look absolute terrified that they have to block him. It's funny