For the elite high school football players in the country, it is time to go to camp. No, they don’t need to worry about pitching a tent or bringing a sleeping bag. These camps are all about height, weight, 40 times and generally separating the recruiting wheat from the chaff.

In addition to the normal Hokie summer football camp in July, Virginia Tech has been selected to host one of the regional Nike Camps on May 17^th. This will enable 200 or so of the nation’s top players to see Blacksburg first hand, and, equally importantly, permit an in-person evaluation of these youngsters by the VT staff.

From a coaching perspective, having these kids visit Blacksburg is invaluable. Many of these kids will not be able to return over the summer because of conflicting college camp schedules, cost, summer school or family/job obligations. In addition, watching these kids run on VT’s track provides 40 times that can be used to compare the Nike campers to the future VT summer attendees. That eliminates any guesswork as to how quickly a 4.6 prospect on grass in Alabama would run on VT’s track.

I have had the opportunity to attend a number of summer camps, some run by schools and others run "combine" style by independent agencies. Based on my own experience, here is one method of how prospects are classified going into the evaluation period, followed by a discussion of the role of others in attendance at these camps.

Blue Chip Prospects. In order to be a true blue chip prospect, in my mind you have to have multiple offers (4+) by the time camp starts unless you are at a numbers-sensitive position like quarterback or fullback. In my mind, you aren’t a blue chip prospect at the point of summer evaluation just because you are on the guru lists, as most of those are preliminary and will be subject to change after the close of the May evaluation period. Only when a youngster has offers in hand can he fairly be considered a blue chip prospect at this point.

For the blue chip prospect, the camps are all about "slotting" for national position and honors/awards. It isn’t enough to be incredibly productive and/or on a winning team. In order to reach the top of the heap, most national blue chippers perform phenomenal feats of athleticism at the summer camps. Kevin Jones was a fantastic prospect with tremendous statistics, but what made him the number one prospect in the country was his blazing track and 40 summer camp times coupled with his insane physique. For recruiting "gurus," trying to separate 15 guys with 2,000 yard seasons across the country is incredibly hard, so when in doubt they often fall back on "numbers" to rationalize their system. Summer camps give them that ability.

Ironically, for the blue chip players at certain positions, notably quarterback and offensive and defensive line, their status is often cemented if their height/weight numbers are up to par. The actual numbers they produce, and to a lesser extent how they perform in drills, is secondary to making sure that physically they fit the prototype. Certainly, a quarterback needs to demonstrate a strong and accurate arm, but one inaccurate day won’t be as damaging to his recruiting chances as measuring 5’10" (at least for most programs).

For the skill position players, the 40 obviously is also crucial. A running back or defensive back that runs a great forty will see his stock skyrocket, as in the case of Montavis Pitts a few years back, who became a blue chip player after a 4.29 combine performance.

While the bench press numbers are nice, most colleges do not place an inordinate amount of importance on them because strength can be "coached up" once the player begins participating in a college weight system. Coaches assume strength can be taught; a big guy that shows terrific footwork, however, is worth his weight in gold.

Perhaps the most underrated measure of an athlete is his vertical jump. Of all the traditional tests done at the combine, the highest statistical correlation is between the vertical jump and the 40. What that can tell a coach is that a prospect with an impressive vertical is usually capable of running a solid 40; if a good vertical jumper has a poor 40 time, the problem could very well be technique as much as anything else and a coach might be more willing to overlook a substandard time.

Red Chip Prospects. Most of the Nike camp attendees fall into this category. I would consider a red chip prospect someone who has a limited number of offers (1-4), typically from in-state schools, but with a good showing at the camp the prospect will have the opportunity to be upwardly mobile in recruiting circles.

Schools obviously are familiar with in-state red chip prospects prior to summer camps because of their coaching network of contacts. However, the evaluation process certainly isn’t over by May of their junior year. For those prospects that already have offers, the staff is continuously prioritizing their wish list. For those prospects that may not have offers because of limited numbers at a particular position, it is also a chance to earn an offer.

For out-of-state camp attendees, this may be the only opportunity the VT coaches have to actually see them in person. Despite the fact that the red chip prospect may have some "buzz" about him and may look great on film, there still is something important about evaluating a youngster in person. Seeing how a youngster reacts to adversity is more important than seeing how they react to success.

For example, at the NFL combine a few years ago a Colorado receiver who was a track star ran a 4.6. Rather than move on to the next station, the youngster argued that the timers were wrong and asked for another chance to prove his speed. Of course, he was not given the chance. What he didn’t realize is that what he ran was irrelevant; the NFL already knew he was fast. However, he let his 40 time bother him the whole day and dropped passes and otherwise struggled the rest of the workout. Instead of being a second or third round pick, this young man fell to the sixth round not because of his physical performance per se, but instead because NFL teams wondered how he would react the first time he dropped a pass in a big game. Some individuals, like Earnest Wilford, go to work after adversity. Other individuals never really mentally recover from a physical mistake on a big stage.

White Chip Prospects. White chip prospects are youngsters who have some acclaim but may not have any firm offers at the time of camp. There are numerous reasons for this, and many of them have nothing to do with performance on the football field. Sometimes you have a great prospect that has to demonstrate the ability to convert to a different college position – for example, from defensive end to linebacker. In other cases, the prospect may be a tremendous player but does not fit the physical prototype in terms of height or weight for the position (although VT is far more flexible on this point than most colleges because of the emphasis on speed, particularly on defense), but a solid camp showing may push a staff to offer the youngster regardless. The youngster from a smaller school may also have not received offers until he can demonstrate that physically he can compete with prospects from the larger schools. Finally, in some cases academics are the reason that a solid white chip prospect has not received an offer from numerous colleges.

The white chip prospect has an awful lot to gain by an impressive performance. Especially if the youngster is from a small school, he may never have an audience as impressive as the one he will have at camp. A prospect can go from off the recruiting radar to being inundated with offers after a big time performance at an open camp in front of 30-40 college coaches.

At an open camp during the evaluation period, there are typically coaches from almost every major school within a day’s drive. The ability to watch so many outstanding prospects in one venue is invaluable. While coaches love their own camps, the fact is that at an event like the Nike Camp they will be able to evaluate 200 Division I prospects. At an individual school camp, there may be no more than 20 legitimate Division I prospects.

While these events are certainly work for the staff members, they also have an opportunity to network a little. They can catch up with friends at other schools, high school coaches with whom they have pre-established relationships, and in some cases exchange pleasantries with the parents of a recruit.

Most staffs are very organized and disciplined when it comes to these camps. Prior to the beginning of the camp, they will have prioritized prospects that they want to evaluate more closely.

In particular, staffs evaluate kids that they may not have offered but that do have existing Division I offers and generally seem inclined to make an early decision. It is one thing to lose the recruiting battle on a prospect, but coaches hate to lose a youngster they like because they never threw their hat in the ring by making an offer. "On the bubble" prospects probably receive more attention than just about anyone at these camps.

From an information standpoint, these camps can also help members of the media identify prime prospects and get more candid opinions about them from college assistants. Obviously, NCAA rules do not permit coaches to comment on prospective recruits before they actually sign, but informal discussions occur regularly at these camps.

For example, at Penn State Joe Paterno often lets his assistants handle the bulk of the work during summer camp. Joe also tends to keep a very tight lid on information. However, at these summer camps some PSU assistants will be more forthcoming about particular prospects and their overall "board" because Joe isn’t around. They also know that the board will be modified numerous times between summer camp and signing day. Still, for media members that coaches trust, attending one of these camps can provide a great overview of what positions they are looking to fill and whom the staff likes – prior to most of the youngsters making decisions so there isn’t revisionist history when a staff loses a recruit.

Friends and family often times show up for a one day camp like Nike as well. Some parents prefer to be reserved; others will take the initiative to introduce themselves to coaches, media members and others in attendance and strike up a conversation. I have even seen one father that was a coach evaluating quarterback prospects. He was noting that his son, a wide receiver, wasn’t going to a school that didn’t have a big time quarterback and he wanted to have his own ideas about the top prospects in the state. So, the coaches, players and media aren’t the only people evaluating at these camps.

While I certainly haven’t discussed all the dynamics associated with holding an open camp, it is safe to say that May 17^th will be a terrific day for the Virginia Tech football program.

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