The Story of Clay Matthews: Inspiring Others to Chase Their Dreams of a College Football Scholarship

We are taking a quick break today from our usual daily M.O. of Midwest sports news, rumors, entertainment, links and humor to talk about dreams.

Don’t worry, we are not straying too far off-topic, as you will see in a second. But let me just preface this post by saying that if you are a high school football player, or the parent of a current or future high school football player, you may just want to go ahead and bookmark this page right now.

Because this post was written for you.

It begins with the story of one former high football school player who achieved his college football scholarship dreams, and ends with my own personal recommendation for the best resource I’ve ever found for helping you or your high school football player achieve similar dreams of college football scholarships as well.

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Come April 25th, when the 1st round of the NFL Draft turns into the 2nd round, there is a familiar name that Cleveland Browns fans are hoping is still available: Clay Matthews. And as all Browns fans and most college football fans know, yes I am talking about the son of that Clay Matthews.

The entire city of Cleveland might erupt with excitement if the son of the legendary Browns linebacker is available with the 36th overall selection. The younger Matthews is not quite good enough to be a possibility for the Browns’ 5th overall selection, but probably too good to last that far in the 2nd round. I scoured the most recent mock drafts and the lowest I saw Clay Matthews being taken was 33rd overall by the Lions.

The fact that the second round NFL Draft availability of Clay Matthews is even a question mark is a tremendous testament to the incredible story of the former USC walk-on turned probable 1st Round pick.

Background:

As a high school junior, Clay Matthews III (he grandfather was an NFL player as well) was a 166-pound backup linebacker at Agoura High in California. He ultimately started as a senior, but only received one scholarship offer from a Division I program: Idaho. Matthews, however, was determined to play football at his father’s alma mater, and decided to forego the Idaho offer and walk-on at USC. Pete Carroll accepted Matthews into the storied Trojan program, in large part because of his name and work ethic, but with no expectation that the skinny, undersized kid would ever be able to match up physically with the top talent in Division I college football.

Success:

Clay Matthews earned his keep on special teams, eventually earning a college football scholarship and twice being named USC’s co-Special Teams Player of the Year. As a junior, he was a backup linebacker, and this year became a starter and ultimately was named Second Team All Pac 10.

Lesson:

There is no telling what can be accomplished by someone with the heart, will, and desire to follow their dreams; and, it doesn’t hurt to have a prestigious family name and legacy to help open a door of opportunity every now and again.

That last part is in no way meant as a knock against Clay Matthews. Had he gone to Idaho, his will to be great very well might have driven him to become the exact same player that he is today.

However, doing what he did at USC, with the help of the family name that got his foot in the door, no doubt allowed him to maximize his potential by going up against the best of the best every day in practice. And it is reasonable to assume that if he was “Clay Matthews, linebacker, Idaho” as opposed to “Clay Matthews, linebacker, USC” that he may not be projected as quite as high of a draft pick as he is with the cache of the USC brand behind him.

So while the story of Clay Matthews is one that any aspiring, but undersized or underexposed, high school football player can draw inspiration from, the vast majority of them do not have a name that, by itself, will warrant attention and opportunity. But like Clay Matthews III, they may have an intense desire to become a scholarship college football player, and just in need of an opportunity to showcase their abilities and will to succeed.

How to Get Recruited for College Football Scholarships

The story of Clay Matthews got me to thinking about what resources are out there that can help high school players fulfill their dreams of getting recruited and earning college football scholarships.

I grew up in a football family with a dad who was a Division I college football coach. I know about the inordinate amount of time he spent recruiting, and thus the time spent sifting through the lists and tapes of potential prospects to zero in on the ones he would ultimately target. I wondered how the growth of the Internet, among other changes over the past decade, has altered the college football recruiting landscape.

My dad is out of coaching now, and has been for the better part of this decade. Yet, as he and I both expected, there are a wealth of websites, books, and other resources that purport to show aspiring college football players how to get recruited with tips and tricks for getting exposed and making their college football scholarship dreams come true. Most of these websites seemed to be pretty much a dime-a-dozen to me, but I did find one in particular that stood out: Play College Football.

Play College Football: College Football Scholarship and Recruiting Resource

As opposed to just being a run-of-the-mill “how to get recruited for college football” website, Play College Football is actually an eBook that is a comprehensive resource for high school football players and their families to use for efficiently gaining the right kind of exposure.

We all know that college football recruiting is an inexact science, and college football coaches know this as well. Most schools and coaches use recruiting services to highlight the players they should be targeting at different positions and in different areas of the country. But we have all heard stories like that of Clay Matthews, and most college football coaches realize that a little extra digging and an open mind can sometimes lead to the unearthing of a diamond-in-the-rough talent who can someday contribute to wins on the football field and, in turn, to said coach keeping his job or moving up the ranks.

This is what makes Play College Football the best resource I found: it provides a wealth of relevant information, along with detailed and systematic guidelines that that teach high school football players how to get recruited and gain exposure.

Obviously, making initial contact with a coach or getting game tape seen is only the first step, and the story told by the tape will go a long way towards determining if a coach will follow up; but as they say: “the journey of a thousand steps begins with a single stride.” Play College Football gives you everything to take not just that difficult first “single stride”, but to take every step necessary to leave no stone unturned in your quest to become a college football player.

Here are a few highlights of specific features in the book that help you learn how to get recruited to play college football:

• The book’s author, Tom Faulkner, is the father of a player who received a scholarship at a “nationally ranked D1 FBS team to play football.”

I actually spoke with Mr. Faulkner to get a little more background about the book once I found about it, and he said that the book is simply his way of communicating to other parents of high school football players the steps that he and his family took to help his son get recruited and achieve his dream of a college football scholarship.

His son, he told me, was immensely talented but, for a variety of reasons, fell under the radar as a recruit. By being proactive about initiating the right kind of contact through the right kind of channels, Mr. Faulkner and his son were able to let his son’s abilities and production as a high school quarterback communicate his potential value at the next level.

The rest is history and his son became a scholarship player at a DI school.

Other features include:

• Play College Football provides a “College Assessment Chart” that allows players and their families to effectively assess what schools would be the right fit in terms of both scholarships and potential playing time based on roster composition. This is where the efficiency comes in, as college football scholarships are most effectively sought when you target schools for whom you or your soon will fill a specific need.
• As I learned from my dad, making sure that you communicate with the right coach is immensely important. Contacting head coaches, who have so many responsibilities and obligations, can often be met with silence and is not a great way to get recruited if are an “off the radar screen” type player. However, contacting position coaches, or the coach who recruits your area, offers a far greater potential for a response and the opening of a dialogue. Play College Football provides the contact information position coaches at every D1, D2, and NAIA school.
• In general, Play College Football was designed to save families time. Mr. Faulkner explained in detail the arduous process of looking up contact information, as well as general school and roster information, as they executed the plan for their son. One of the goals in writing the book, he said, was to teach players and their parents how to get recruited while saving valuable time. Hence, the plethora of links, forms, charts, and other resources for D1, D2, and NAIA schools that are contained in one convenient place — the book — for easy access.
• A lot of the other online resources I stumbled across had pretty hefty price tags or recurring monthly payments. Play College Football seemed like a relative bargain at only $39.95, considering the monetary value of college football scholarships and the priceless value of a high school player achieving his dream of becoming a scholarship college football player.

And for the record, other than the personal satisfaction of knowing I referred someone to a resource that can impact their life in a profoundly positive way, I don’t personally benefit in the least if you click over and buy Play College Football.

But I know one thing: you will benefit…greatly.

The story of Clay Matthews is certainly compelling, and will become even more compelling around these parts if he somehow falls to the Browns in the 2nd round (where I can’t imagine them not taking him). My hope in writing this post is to not just provide value to Browns fans and football fans in general with an inspiring story, but more importantly to help other high school football players out there become the next Clay Matthews.

We’ve been accused of rumor-mongering on this blog, and you all know we dabble in gratuitous and irreverent humor from time to time, so consider this my way of putting a deposit in the karma bank and paying it forward, so to speak. For any of our loyal readers and casual visitors who are high school football players dreaming of a college football scholarship, or who are parents of a high school football player dreaming of college football scholarships, or even if you just know a kid who has Clay Matthews-type dreams, I’d suggest you check out Play College Football.

The one thing that struck me about Tom Faulkner was how genuine he seemed about wanting to help families and other players like his son learn how to get recruited and ultimately obtain a college football scholarship. And after checking out the book for myself, it certainly delivers on its prodigious promises.

If you have any questions about the book, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll respond as best I can, or direct it to the attention of Mr. Faulkner. And for those of you who end up buying and using the book, please stop back by and leave a comment with your story.

As a kid who once had dreams of getting recruited and playing college sports myself, which unfortunately never really materialized, it is always fun to live vicariously through those whose dreams do end up coming true.

Follow the link to visit the official website for Play College Football

Clay Matthews photo credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images

LOTD: Could Prized Recruit Bryce Brown End Up in Knoxville With Lane Kiffin, Tennessee?

The recruiting sage of top-rated Class of 2009 recruit Bryce Brown continues.

Apparently, according the Devin’s Landing where today’s Link of the Day is located, Wichita, Kansas high school senior RB Bryce Brown has had his scholarship offer rescinded by Randy Shannon and the University of Miami.

To give you some background, Brown originally committed to the U and Coach Shannon, but has been playing games over the last two months. He did not sign an official Letter of Intent and there was speculation that he could wind up taking a detour to the CFL instead of going to college. There are some other pretty ridiculous stories too, which you can find linked to from the article I’m about about to send you to.

As we have documented here at MSF, and as has been documented all over the Internet for the past month, Lane Kiffin is proving that even douche bags can get head coaching jobs in the SEC. I realize that Bobby Petrino proved this last year, but now that we have a second occurrence we can officially call it a trend.

Since being named head coach at the University of Tennessee, Kiffin has accused Urban Meyer of recruiting violations that weren’t recruiting violations, has disparaged his 2009 recruiting class by saying they aren’t up to the standards of Tennessee, and has had three recruiting violations of his own self-reported by the university. Great start Lane. You know you are a true artist of douchebaggery when you can make Al Davis appear lucid, cogent, and forthright.

Here is an excerpt and your Link of the Day:

LOTD: In Which Little Lane Becomes Aroused — (Devin’s Landing)

Now taking bets on how long it will take Lane Kiffin to commit (known) recruiting violation #4 by FedEx’ing butthole recruit Bryce Brown a Cadillac Escalade. Bring your stopwatch, we need NFL combine-like technology to measure how quickly this could happen down the the 1/100th of a second.

…

For our money this is match made in heaven between the greedy Brown/Butler duo (who have already teased about taking CFL money rather than playing college ball) and the flagrantly insecure Kiffin, who wants ALL THE TOYS, DADDY! ALLALLALL OF THEM! We can totally see him promising Brown a spaceship fully equipped with unicorn pilot if it will get him to sign.

And some others. Enjoy, and go Hoosiers! For the record, I have a great feeling about tonight’s game against Wisconsin. We’re at home, Devan Dumes is back, and the karma gods of basketball owe us one of the banked in 3 at the buzzer that Wisconsin used to beat us last year. Let’s get win #2 tonight guys. You deserve it.

Devan Dumes back in actions — (FortWayne.com)

Hoosier fan support shocks, pleases Crean — (Evansville Courier & Press)

Could high school sports be cut in Orange County, Florida? — (Sparty & Friends)

Marvin Harrison’s days in Indy are done — (Adam Schefter NFL.com blog)

Trade finalized between Bulls and Kings — (ESPN.com)

If that was Kirk Hinrich’s last game as a Bull, at least it was a good one — (Tremendous Upside Potential)

2010 and the great free agent myth — (Hoops Addict)

An APB On A-Rod’s Cousin — (The Money Shot)

There’s Just Something About Dallas — (No Guts, No Glory)

Ken Griffey Jr. headed back to Seattle — (MLB Trade Rumors)

Albert Haynesworth to test free agency — (ESPN.com)

Browns probably not on Julius Peppers’ trade list — (Dawg Pound Daily)

Trying to find some humor in steroids — (Kornheiser’s Cartel)

Defense Lives Here — (Off the Tracks)

Fire Lane Kiffin: Irony Reigns as Tennessee Self-Reports Recruiting Violations

You have got to be kidding me. How do people this ignorant and arrogant become head coaches at major college football programs?

Last week I wondered aloud whether Lane Kiffin, while obviously in possession of a very attractive wife, is completely without a clue. Since taking over as Tennessee’s coach, he has famously accused Urban Meyer of recruiting violations that were not actually recruiting violations, and he has also disparaged his current crop of incoming recruits by saying, “Understand this class is far below the standards we have here and what will be here in the future.”

Yes, he actually said that. I’m sure the 2009 recruits and their families were just thrilled to hear it.

Now though, Kiffin’s idiocy is just becoming laughable.

You might think I was making this up, were it not for the link I will provide, because it almost seems too perfectly ironic to be true. But it is true. Yesterday, as first reported by the Knoxville News-Sentinel, the University of Tennessee self-reported two recruiting violations involving head cheat coach Lane Kiffin and director of ethics recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron. One of the violations involved a mock press conference set up for recruits during campus visits, the other involved the use of a fog machine when recruits walked into Neyland Stadium. Both of these are offenses because the simulate a game experience for recruits during an official visit.

Here is the best excerpt from the SI story, explaining Tennessee’s poor reasoning for following through with these pretty clearly illegal recruiting acts:

Tennessee’s coaching staff believed the mock press conference was allowed because it was not done in public. They thought the use of the fog machine was allowed after seeing it used at other universities.

So Lane, if all of the other coaches in college football jumped off a bridge, would — never mind.

Honestly, there really are not any punch lines or clever statements that do this justice. The facts themselves are the punchline. A week after calling out two-time national champion Urban Meyer for recruiting violations that weren’t recruiting violations, Lane Kiffin and the highest paid group of assistant coaches in college football history were found to have committed actual recruiting violations.

I’m speechless

I laughed when I first heard that Kiffin called out Meyer, but I also assumed that if Kiffin would say it publicly that there must have actually been a violation. The worst thing I’ve ever heard anyone say about Urban Meyer is that he is a bit of an egomaniac. At this point, that might be the best thing you could say about Lane Kiffin.

I do not consider myself a die-hard Tennessee football fan, but I do follow them more than any other college football team. Right now, the football situation at Tennessee is a complete mockery. I absolutely do consider myself a die-hard IU basketball fan, and after going through the last year and a half with the jackass-who-shall-not-be-named, I have a quick word of advice to Tennessee: fire Lane Kiffin right now.

I realize this has no chance of happening and is not feasible. But given truth serum, is there any doubt that Tennessee officials and boosters would like to have a mulligan on the Kiffin hire? Maybe he will eventually grow into the job, but he is in way over his head right now, and it becomes more obvious with each passing day.

Discretion, especially with respect to public speaking, can be hard to learn if you do not already have it (just ask Joe Biden…or better yet, ask President Obama). Lane Kiffin obviously has none, as he has consistently put his foot in his mouth during his short tenure.

And you most certainly cannot teach ethics and integrity. Look no further than IU basketball. They hired a cheater and he cheated again, despite promises that he would change. Yeah right. I don’t want to get into casting specific aspersions onto USC (Kiffin’s former employer, where he was known as a great recruiter) when no one has solid proof that they have committed recruiting violations and they have faced no recruiting penalties. But any college football fan with half a clue knows there are plenty of whispers about recruiting impropriety at USC.

Guess what Tennessee? You made a little deal with the devil in your haste to boot Phil Fulmer out of town as quickly as possible and bring in the best recruiters you could find, and know the University is getting what it deserves. When you value recruiting “ability” over experience and integrity, that’s what happens. Seriously — in the big, dirty business of college football does anyone think that part of recruiting “ability” includes one’s willingness and success at bending/breaking the rules? Just saying.

If Lane Kiffin allowed recruiting violations to occur in his first year on the job, he is either a completely clueless moron who did not respect college football and the University of Tennessee enough to know the rules; or, more likely, he is an inexperienced coach feeling the pressure of a big contract at an SEC school who does have the integrity to keep himself from breaking the rules in an effort to win.

Either way, he’s proven enough in a short time to tell me that he was the wrong hire. And I was openly trying to give him a chance.

If Tennessee has any integrity and foresight they will take the short-term hit and fire Lane Kiffin right now. Of course, they are a major college football school, so you can throw integrity out the window. Soon enough though, they’ll fire Lane Kiffin. And then we’ll all be able to look back at his first few months on the job and remember that it was only a matter of time.

Should Tennessee cut their losses and fire Lane Kiffin right now?

• If they could, absolutely; but obviously they can't because of the monetary concerns.
• No, give him a chance. He'll grow into the job.
• Yes. No matter what. Fire Lane Kiffin now and save the future of the program.

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LOTD: The Day After National Signing Day: Compiled College Football Recruiting Rankings

Today’s Link of the Day post will have to be short, sweet, and to the point. Lots of “real” work to get done at the “real” job after spending too much time looking up the sordid history of ex-Ohio State WRs.

But, a great post was sent to me today from the great people over at Sparty and Friends, who have complied the post-national signing day recruiting rankings from Scout.com, Rivals.com, and ESPN. They came up with one nice, neat, narrow chart listing all schools from 1-120 based on how the experts think their recruiting classes ranked.

Who was #1? You’ll have to go to Sparty and Friends and find out:

Link of the Day: National Signing Day 2009 Rankings — (Sparty and Friends)

I can tell you this thought: Indiana finished one spot ahead of Purdue.  Combine that with last night’s win over Iowa, and it’s been a great 24 hours for the hurting IU athletic department.

Thanks for reading and visiting Sparty and Friends.  Back to work for me…