How Ja’Juan Seider plans to expand Penn State football’s national recruiting footprint
Part of the reason running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider was hired by head coach James Franklin was to expand Penn State’s footprint in the south.
While the Nittany Lions had some success there for the Class of 2018, Franklin wants to shift attention there even more. While there will be some challenges in doing that, hiring Seider, who is from Florida and coached high school football there for a number of years, will be a big asset in those efforts.
The roster won’t be built off of kids from the SEC footprint, but it can certainly be a difference maker against other programs that are struggling to get anyone of worth from it.
“It’ll give us a chance to go down there and compete,” Seider said. “Get a couple of kids here and there that may be difference makers that we don’t have in our backyard for whatever reason that year. That’s what Ohio State is doing, that’s what Michigan is doing, that’s what Notre Dame is doing. The teams that actually compete against us. Why not go to Florida? Especially the way kids can develop down there with spring practice, the extra reps they get.”
One of the first questions many have when moving from southern states to the north is, what about the winter?
“I left Florida to come up here, I think it’s a tradeoff,” Seider said. “Most people use [winter] too much to negative recruit and it hurts you more than it helps you. Kids adjust.”
Seider’s larger point is that almost everyone who is being recruited by a Power Five program has dreams to play in the NFL. So, if they feel like Penn State is the best place for them to achieve that goal, they’ll be able to look past the winter.
However, there are geographic disadvantages to being far away from a recruit and his family. Sometimes parents don’t want them to go far from home, and schools that are closer to home can get them on campus a lot more often.
“I think the biggest thing is you can’t get the kids on campus as much as you can get the local kids,” Seider said. “It’s so hard to always, ‘Okay you can drive up here and be around for spring practice and in the summer,’ because you never want to take a kid’s commitment if you can’t get a kid on campus, at least to see the place, be around the staff, be around the head coach.
“I think that’s the disadvantage. But also when you have a product like we are selling right now, and with the success the program has had, back-to-back BCS level games. And kids see that on TV, and I think every kid’s objective right now is to go to school, play in the NFL and get a great education. Well, Penn State offers that.”
Like with anywhere though, trust can go a long way in recruiting.
If the coaches in the area and people involved with the local football community, speak highly of a college coach because of previous players’ experiences that have played for them, it helps.
Seider has that in South Florida, one of the most talent rich areas of the country.
“The thing about Florida, and just about anywhere you recruit, is about having someone you trust,” Seider said. “And they know you are going to do right about the kids once they are there. And the kids understand that and the coaches and the mentors in the area understand that.”
- Andrew Rubin | The Daily Collegian
Link: http://www.collegian.psu.edu/football/article_2809b850-1111-11e8-86b9-874865be5d2e.html
Part of the reason running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider was hired by head coach James Franklin was to expand Penn State’s footprint in the south.
While the Nittany Lions had some success there for the Class of 2018, Franklin wants to shift attention there even more. While there will be some challenges in doing that, hiring Seider, who is from Florida and coached high school football there for a number of years, will be a big asset in those efforts.
The roster won’t be built off of kids from the SEC footprint, but it can certainly be a difference maker against other programs that are struggling to get anyone of worth from it.
“It’ll give us a chance to go down there and compete,” Seider said. “Get a couple of kids here and there that may be difference makers that we don’t have in our backyard for whatever reason that year. That’s what Ohio State is doing, that’s what Michigan is doing, that’s what Notre Dame is doing. The teams that actually compete against us. Why not go to Florida? Especially the way kids can develop down there with spring practice, the extra reps they get.”
One of the first questions many have when moving from southern states to the north is, what about the winter?
“I left Florida to come up here, I think it’s a tradeoff,” Seider said. “Most people use [winter] too much to negative recruit and it hurts you more than it helps you. Kids adjust.”
Seider’s larger point is that almost everyone who is being recruited by a Power Five program has dreams to play in the NFL. So, if they feel like Penn State is the best place for them to achieve that goal, they’ll be able to look past the winter.
However, there are geographic disadvantages to being far away from a recruit and his family. Sometimes parents don’t want them to go far from home, and schools that are closer to home can get them on campus a lot more often.
“I think the biggest thing is you can’t get the kids on campus as much as you can get the local kids,” Seider said. “It’s so hard to always, ‘Okay you can drive up here and be around for spring practice and in the summer,’ because you never want to take a kid’s commitment if you can’t get a kid on campus, at least to see the place, be around the staff, be around the head coach.
“I think that’s the disadvantage. But also when you have a product like we are selling right now, and with the success the program has had, back-to-back BCS level games. And kids see that on TV, and I think every kid’s objective right now is to go to school, play in the NFL and get a great education. Well, Penn State offers that.”
Like with anywhere though, trust can go a long way in recruiting.
If the coaches in the area and people involved with the local football community, speak highly of a college coach because of previous players’ experiences that have played for them, it helps.
Seider has that in South Florida, one of the most talent rich areas of the country.
“The thing about Florida, and just about anywhere you recruit, is about having someone you trust,” Seider said. “And they know you are going to do right about the kids once they are there. And the kids understand that and the coaches and the mentors in the area understand that.”
