EDITORIAL: Let The Kids Go To Football Camps

While thousands of young football players from Florida will head off to camps and combines this spring and summer, there are some coaches in the state who don't want their kids being branded with negatives!

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with a few of Florida's top football players at the MSL Combine in Miami. When I asked them why some of the other top players in Florida weren't attending camps and combines in the off season, many responded by saying that coaches are not letting players come to the camps and combines because there is no benefit.

They tell me that coaches preach to the kids that a bad 40 time or a few other negatives can ruin the athlete's chances.

I promised one high profile coach in the state that I wouldn't use his name. He has never been the kind of person who would ever allow his players to attend any camps/combines.

"I am not putting my athlete's future in the hands of amateur analysts who think they can judge talent on the internet," the coach said. "Whether colleges listen to them or not, I have always believed that the best thing to do is to have them come here to my campus and I will run them all they want."

Coaches who oppose camps/combines say that lifting weights and running for time can be done on their own campus. Sending them away for a day is not going to enhance the way they play.

While I can fully undertsand the feeling behind some of the coaches wanting to protect their athlete from those "amateur" analysts who have a network name behind them as their only credential to fully judge an athlete, they also have to look at what these camps are really for.

I can only speak on behalf of the new MSL Combine, which I had the pleasure of seeing last weekend in Miami, and will be a part of this weekend in Gainesville at the University of Florida.

While some camps/combines will never really enhance the standing of a Fred Rouse, Kenneth Phillips, Matt Hardrick, Simon Codrington or Antone Smith, it does give the people who run the camp an opportunity to set the bar and talent level. It also gives the athlete a chance to interact with athletes on the same level.

Combines such as the MSL is more than just a camp that judges you. For the above mentioned players, having them attend the MSL Combine is better than most one day teaching clinics. This day-long event takes the athlete through every phase of being a football player, and that is something that I tell all coaches across the state.

Getting athletes out to compete against better athletes is the only way you will find out what is needed to get better. Last weekend, Antone Smith ran a pro 4.4 (40), and that was expected. What wasn't expected was the way that several unknown athletes started to step up and make a name for themselves.

I will not say anything bad about the internet and the way that these so-called "analysts" make a judgement on talent, but as far as the people I have worked with at Insiders.com, in the state of Florida, which include Mike Bakas, Scott Kennedy, Dave Peters, Charles Fishbein and Jamie Newberg, you will not find people who are more in tuned with helping to promote and not tear away at an athlete.

The only advice I will give any high school coach is to let your athlete enjoy the experience. When someone comes up to you and starts asking you questions, always ask who they are and where they are from. Get a business card and then show your coaches who you were talking to. Let them judge what "recruiting analyst" can help or hinder. They will know!

Let the kids be kids and not be sheltered away from the fun things that are out there for them.