Recruiting - An Ever-changing Landscape

Twenty-five years ago college recruiting was a far cry from today's modern, more advanced version. There were fewer governing rules and recruiting, for the most part, was left up to the college coaches who would visit high school games or practices; to high school coaches who would recommend players to their college coach friends; and, to alumni who would refer area players to coaches at their alma maters. This process meant that a tremendous amount of good athletes were being ignored. Sadly, many of these overlooked athletes were much better than those who were given scholarships, but they fell through the cracks. Recruiting had evolved more into cases of who you knew, not what you knew.

In 1980, NSR founder, Bob Rigney, had been actively involved in amateur sports all his life and he knew many, good, young athletes, including his own son, whom he felt could play at the college level if given a chance. In January of that year, Bob decided to start a company to expose qualified athletes to colleges and give coaches scouting reports on these athletes. This was something that had never been previously done. Suddenly, but quietly, a new industry was launched.

Colleges began referring to this new company as the "Scouting Report." The name stuck and Rigney's fledgling company soon became known as "Champion of the Underdogs" because the report was responsible for many kids getting college scholarships, kids who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to be noticed and recruited.

Since those early days, thousands of coaches from the nation's largest to the smallest college programs have roundly praised NSR and thanked the company for their contributions and ongoing assistance provided them. With letters dating back to 1980, our legacy and history are well documented. And, we are grateful and thankful to the legions of high school coaches, parents and prospects who throughout our history, and today, have embraced. supported and endorsed our company and programs.

The recruiting landscape is drastically different from 25 years ago. Rules are much more restrictive, especially on college coaches, prospects and parents. Academic standards and college entrance requirements are tougher. College tuitions are skyrocketing, often out of the grasp of most families. Athletes are much bigger, faster, stronger, and more fundamentally sound. And, athletes are more plentiful than ever. What does all this mean?

The competition for scholarships increases exponentially every year. Coaches who were once only recruiting regionally, are now offering scholarships to prospects across the country and in foreign lands. It is no longer effective to only play in high school and be on a club or travel team. To get scholarship offers, prospects need a reliable, proven tool to help them rise above the competition. With the call getting louder and louder for coaches to recruit better athletes and to win, the pressure is on all around. All this evidence points to one inescapable conclusion: a kid's dream of participating in college athletics is more and more difficult to realize.

Scouting has become high tech with prospect videos being transferred over high-speed, wide-band Internet connections, personal Web sites, E-mail addresses for prospects, and instant, online scouting reports. At NSR, we will continue to develop new and more efficient scouting methods in the future just as we have in the past 25 years. You can count on our team of experts to work diligently on your behalf by providing college coaches with access to the information they need to evaluate you.

By Bob Rigney

The Beginning

It would be nice to say that I had a vision or brilliant, master plan to build a national organization which would help thousands of youngsters fulfill their dreams while making a significant impact on the future of college athletic recruiting, but it would not be true. Frankly, I started this business more by accident than by plan. When my oldest son became a star high school football player as a sophomore, he had aspirations of taking this talent to the college level. However, things changed his junior year and his college potential at this new position became very limited.

My son's coaches were good people, but they did not know how to promote their players to colleges. For that matter, neither did anyone else. Why? It had never been done before.

Sadly, this type of situation is still very common today. Coaches with big hearts and great intentions are simply inexperienced or unknowledgeable when it comes to promoting their players to college coaches. Even those who do have some of the tools to do the job are limited by their reach and the time necessary to put forth an ongoing effort. Seldom does a one-shot attempt get a kid recruited.

Having been involved in athletics, especially dealing with young athletes, I had a few college connections and some recruiting know-how. It didn't hurt that my primary business at the time was operating a printing company. That certainly gave me a big advantage. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and promote my son myself. The results were amazing. He was contacted by over 100 colleges, interviewed personally by many coaches, including the legendary head coach at the University of Alabama, Paul "Bear" Bryant. He eventually received several offers.

From this success, I concluded that there were literally thousands of kids in situations just like my son, but they were helpless because they did not know how to do the things that I was able to do. I saw a need and this was a way to fill this need. With this tiny bit of inspiration, I decided to start a part time business to help young athletes get noticed. Maybe I could even make enough money to cover my expenses.

The main idea was to give colleges continuous scouting reports on prospects. The very first printing was called "College Football Scouting Report." Later I expanded into other sports. The colleges eventually referred to us as the "Scouting Report" and so that's the name I stuck with for years and our company name was eventually changed to "National Scouting Report". From the beginning it was obvious that this was a business with a good future. It was immediately successful with both athletes and college coaches.

At the time, I was, as they say, chief cook and bottle washer. I spent most nights sleeping in my car after interviewing prospects who often lived far from my home. I worked from Tyler, Texas, to Savannah, Georgia, and from to Owensboro, Kentucky, to Florence, Alabama, personally calling each prospect every week and writing their scouting reports by hand on the fly.

Back then everything was sent to colleges in printed form. With a printing press in a storeroom at my house, I would print the reports. My wife and I would assemble the mailings in a spare bedroom at night when I was not out calling on prospects. Eventually, I hired scouts and increased the volume of athletes we were promoting. This allowed us to expand and increase our promotions. We set up a full production printing plant in (year) and produced the reports ourselves.

As I reflect back on the early beginnings of the business, I am in awe of the revolutions that have taken place. It is like going from the dark ages to landing on the moon. The hardships that I went through early on were taken for granted at the time, but now it makes me appreciate more where we have come as a company and as an industry.

Our Impact On The Industry

When you pioneer something successful, usually a lot of people want to jump on the bandwagon. That has been the case with scouting services.

NSR was the first to start a scouting and promotional service. Because of our success, others started copying our ideas and methods. Still, while many imitators have come and gone, we remain the leaders of the industry that we founded.

This is attributable to several things:

1. Quality Prospects - The overall quality of the prospects we accept is exceptional. We have maintained that standard since we first went into business.
2. State-of-the-Art Promo Programs - Our promotional programs are thorough and extensive. We give the athlete everything he or she needs to be noticed and fairly evaluated by college coaches.
3. College Coaches - We provide a vital service for college coaches. Colleges have recruited our kids for 25 years and they know what to expect from us. The reputation we have earned as as the one they can always depend on helps National Scouting Report stay at the top with college coaches.
4. Progressiveness - NSR proudly takes the lead when it comes to making progressive changes in the way colleges get scouting information on prospective student-athletes.

   a. We introduced the Internet to college recruiting by being the first to transfer prospect information to college coaches through a Web site. Now, this is so common that almost all print media is considered out-of-date.

   b. NSR was the first to provide free videos of prospects to colleges, and the only company that still does this.

   c. We were the first, and only, company to provide on-going scouting reports on prospects - a service that is vital to accurate scouting and evaluating.

As a result of our efforts over the years, and proof of our effectiveness, we have received over 1,000 letters from colleges regarding our service to them. Many of these schools have told us that they could not have been successful without our help. We continue to have a great effect on their recruiting successes to this day.

The Future of National Scouting Report

When I started this business in 1980, there were a lot of deserving kids being left out with little or no chance of getting a college scholarship. We were able to make a difference in their lives, but we still only made a ripple in the pool of available prospects. We continue to strive toward making a much bigger splash.

Today, even with high-tech advantages, you can be a very good prospect and fly underneath the recruiting radar screen. With all the information processing mechanisms available, you might think that's impossible, or unlikely, but the fact remains that it is much more likely now than before five or ten years ago. New rules and numbers bear this out.

The NCAA has continuously implemented stricter recruiting rules for colleges and student-athletes. College coaches are so limited in how they can recruit that a company like National Scouting Report has become almost a necessity for the success of their programs.

As scholarships and the qualifications for scholarships tighten, athletes are having to compete with a much greater number of other athletes than they did a few years ago. With the advent of training and conditioning programs, advanced nutritional information, and improved equipment, specialized trainers and facilities, there are probably 10 times more legitimate college prospects today in any given sport than 25 years ago.

As athletes try to land a scholarship, they are finding out that today it is often a question of convincing college coaches why they should be offered the scholarship over all the others. It is for this reason that National Scouting Report is needed more today than ever before. Through our extensive services, we can ensure student-athletes that they will be given the best opportunity at competing for a scholarship and eventually being chosen. We are proud of our contribution to the recruiting industry.

We are most proud of the fact that we have been instrumental in affecting the lives of so many deserving young people. A large number of these kids would not have been successful without the opportunity we were able to secure for them.

Our goal in the future is to continue helping young people and to make a positive impact on their lives as we have with so many who came before them.