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See bolded text. Sounds to me like the other coaches don't want to have to work as hard as Charlie.
http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/articles/2006/05/07/where_the_elite_meet_to_compete/
http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/articles/2006/05/07/where_the_elite_meet_to_compete/
Where the elite meet to compete
High school hopefuls flock to New Jersey combine hoping to make the college grade
By Peter May, Globe Staff | May 7, 2006
RANDOLPH, N.J. -- It is a glorious spring afternoon, and who could possibly be thinking about playing, or watching, football? Only Charlie Weis, that's who. The head coach at Notre Dame is here, sunglasses on the top of his head, ready to sample the offerings of the day.
He is not alone. There are a handful of his assistants in tow. There are also, conservatively, 150 other college coaches from a broad spectrum of football institutions of higher learning (Florida State to Monmouth). Most are assistants. All descend on this town an hour west of New York City for one day and one purpose: the Elite College Combine, which showcases more than 200 high school players, most with visions of seeing Touchdown Jesus or Traveler (the Southern Cal equine mascot) on Saturday afternoons in the fall of 2007.
Some might even get their wish. A linebacker from the Lawrenceville School is back for his second Elite combine, having participated last year as a sophomore. Ben Pooler would go on to win this year's MVP award for his position (linebacker), validating his offseason mantra: ''If you've been working out, this is where it shows. If you haven't been working out, this is where it shows."
Two linemen walked off with overall MVP awards for offense and defense, which bodes well for them in that last year's overall MVPs ended up at Southern Cal and Penn State.
This is an invitation-only event, and you have to be outstanding to be considered. While the combine may not be as selective as Princeton, some 800-plus kids from all over the country -- the vast majority from the New Jersey metro area -- apply. About 75 percent are rejected. The 25 percent who are here represent the creme de la creme, and most are, in the jargon du jour, rising seniors. (In other words, they are finishing their junior year.)
''A lot of these kids already have offers, but there also are bound to be some diamonds in the rough as well," says Chuck Mound, who directs the dizzying combine-palooza, which features measurement-taking, picture-taking, and almost four hours of drills ranging from the standing broad jump to one-on-ones. ''You're getting the best kids going against the best kids and seeing how well they do. That's basically what this is: the best against the best."
And that is why Weis is here. The former Patriots offensive coordinator is reluctant to talk about the combine, citing NCAA rules. (The coaches are close enough to see the kids sweat, but are not allowed to say so much as ''hello" to them.) But after some prodding, Weis offers the following, which pretty much sums up the entire experience: ''They have 'em. Kids come to 'em. You better go to 'em."
This is the third year that Mound is overseeing this particular combine, and while there may be one in 2007, it will not attract Weis or any other big-time coach. That's because the NCAA, mainly at the insistence of coaches, has decreed that effective Aug. 1, Division 1 coaches are prohibited from attending combines. Additionally, the events cannot be held on campuses.
Some suspect that the coaches pushed for this because they'd rather have the kids at their own camps, where there is money to be earned. And at Meadow Wood Manor, where the players gather before the workouts, there are brochures for half a dozen summer camps at exotic locales like Cincinnati, Penn State, Virginia, Rutgers, and James Madison.
Prior to the combine, players hang out with coaches, family, and each other at the manor, a place that holds wedding receptions and other social events. They gaze at the MVP trophies, which will be handed out when the combine ends later that day. There are no fewer than 36 miniature replica football helmets on display, many from the Division 1 powerhouses these kids yearn to attend.
''It's exciting, but it's also a little nerve-racking," says quarterback Tommy Fisher from nearby Livingston, who is considering Rutgers, Connecticut, and a couple of Division 1-AA schools. ''I'm just going to go out there and try to do my best and not look like a complete fool. Going up against this kind of competition is exciting. At my high school, there's no competition."
Around 4:15 p.m., a line of yellow school buses arrives and the players dutifully pile in for the short journey to the combine, which will run from 5 to 9 p.m. It is held at the Indoor Sports Pavilion, a massive edifice in the middle of suburbia that houses two regulation football fields and, in keeping up with the times, also features unlimited wi-fi access. One of the fields is for the offense. The other is for the defense. Coaches shuttle between them, often to confer with their assistants or to catch up with each other. It's all, well, collegial. Where else could you see assistants from Michigan and Ohio State embracing?
Boston College brings seven coaches, none named Tom O'Brien. Mound said Vanderbilt also has seven, the maximum allowed under NCAA rules. Many other schools have five and six. In his three years running this event, Mound says the biggest difference is the proliferation of coaches.
''There's just so much talent here that if you only have one coach or two, they're going to miss so much," Mound said. ''You'd have coaches talking to each other on cellphones saying, 'Did you see that?' Now, everyone has an assignment."
That's one end of the spectrum. The other end is represented by Stanford, which sends one assistant, new offensive line coach Doug Sams. Because of its admissions standards, Stanford won't consider many of these kids. But Sams, who used to be the head coach at Northern Michigan, says he finds these assemblages useful.
''It is good to see them perform, see how they move, see them in person," Sams said. ''Film is fine, but to see what they actually look like is beneficial. It's helpful in the evaluation process because that's what the month of May is. There's a lot more outsourcing of information than there used to be. It's easier to recruit now because it's easier to get information on people."
As the kids go through their drills, anxious parents and high school coaches are directed to the sidelines, able to see only glimpses as they peer through netting. Their views are obstructed most of the time, thanks to the mass of humanity on the field. The kids all have jerseys with their names and numbers on the back. All of the coaches are wearing school-logo shirts or sweaters, making their institutions easily identifiable to the starry-eyed kids and hopeful parents.
Lorraine Reilly is one of the many football moms in attendance, holding her video camera so as to not miss anything her quarterback son, Sean, might do.
''This is our first one," she says of the combine, ''and it's all pretty overwhelming."
The Reillys represent geographic diversity of a sort; Sean Reilly, a junior at Trabuco Hills High School, is the only Californian listed among the players. Texas and Arizona also have only one attendee on the list. So, too, does Massachusetts, but its sole representative, linebacker Anthony Sherman of North Attleboro High School, who is listed as a late addition, does not attend because he has a baseball game, according to the school's athletics office.
Sherman has other options -- and soon. There are a couple of combines in Massachusetts this month, one at Holy Cross, one at Xaverian Brothers. In college football, May is the month to check the coming attractions. The Elite's motto is ''where top athletes meet top coaches."
The players and coaches do not actually meet here -- at least not legally -- but there is plenty of eye contact and ogling going on. It will get a lot more personal down the road, which, after all, is the only direction these kids -- and the coaches -- are looking.
