Was a great combine, for the most part. Lots and lots of kids, lots of great competition in the 1-on-1's.
Very effecient in getting them in and out of the weigh-ins, heights, weights, etc. and over to the field for times and 1-on-1's. Great facilities for hosting and centrally located in the state for people to make it in. Ended earlier than scheduled but everyone seemed to be ok with that.
Use of scoreboard to watch some of the competition/competitors was a nice touch!
Negatives heard from spectators:
- Too many kids, hard to evaluate when there are 35 RBs trying to go through. Meat market, cash cow, other comments.
- Coaches couldn't seem to operate stopwatches - time and time and time again, the kids had to be stopped after starting a 40 or shuttle because the clock (or operator?) wasn't working. Witnessed this myself over a dozen times.
- Wet conditions, slipping on timed events and 1-on-1's (nothing could be done about that, but folks were still complaining)
- Language in the music playing during the field stuff - lots of "F" bombs and other colorful language.
- Parents and coaches were told in packet that lots of college coaches had been invited; none seen (again, not sure this was in JB's power, but folks were still complaining)
Again, as far as a COMBINE goes, I thought it was well run and very timely. I think exposing the players to other people competing in their positions is invaluable to show players what they need to improve on, and what they are up against when competing for scholarships and college coaches' attention. Measuring yourself against your teammates or even your Region competition doesn't always give you a real picture of the talent you are up against.
And talent is the key word here. There was a buffett of talent out on that field for people to watch.
Good job, JB. Keep up the good work.
I wanted to wait until I got back to my desk to reply to this particular message and address the "negatives" that you heard in the stand. I'll address each one separately:
Negatives heard from spectators:
- Too many kids, hard to evaluate when there are 35 RBs trying to go through. Meat market, cash cow, other comments.
RESPONSE: Evaluation is done by two coaches at each position during skills: so if there are 35 running backs, that is basically a 1 to 18 ratio; when we go to one-on-one's, there are actually five sets of eyeballs on the kids, who are getting reps one at the time.. It is actually pretty easy to evaluate the kids. I'll address the "cash cow" comment last.
- Coaches couldn't seem to operate stopwatches - time and time and time again, the kids had to be stopped after starting a 40 or shuttle because the clock (or operator?) wasn't working. Witnessed this myself over a dozen times.
RESPONSE: There was a problem after about an hour with the watches getting wet - one of the reasons we didn't laser. But we brought fresh watches in and I assure you the times did not suffer because of that issue.
- Wet conditions, slipping on timed events and 1-on-1's (nothing could be done about that, but folks were still complaining)
RESPONSE: Slipping is going to occur regardless of surface; if you've been to many combines you will know that. I've worked combines since Nike started them for the high school level and there has always been slipping. Keep in mind, slipping in the shuttle is more because of lack of body control in transition than conditions on the field. That field with new turf, despite the rain, was very good.
- Language in the music playing during the field stuff - lots of "F" bombs and other colorful language.
RESPONSE: I will guarantee you there was no explicit language in the disc I instructed the booth staff to play; I created the play list myself and would be glad to share it with anyone. I will say that at one point prior to the dynamic warm ups, the both staff, who were students in the media program at BC, put a disc in that was not mine but when I heard it, I went to the booth myself and told them to ONLY play the disc I gave them. That said, I didn't hear the "f" bomb on their disc either. I did hear a song that kept using the word "funk" and it sounded like that and I wasn't happy about it, which is when I went to the booth.
- Parents and coaches were told in packet that lots of college coaches had been invited; none seen (again, not sure this was in JB's power, but folks were still complaining)
RESPONSE: We originally had 12 DII schools RSVP; I can tell you that only four showed up but there were members of four staffs there and they each had a roster that we had made for them. That said, we are the ONLY combine event that I know of that films with three video cameras to a feed that any coach can sign in and watch for free (private stream). I did this so that the Division I coaches could watch since NCAA won't let them attend and can tell you that there were coaches from 11 different Division I schools, including all of the in-state schools, logged in and watching.
NOW, to address the "cash cow" comment. If anyone in the stands or out there thinks they can operate the same type of event at 30.00 per kid and call it a cash cow, they are absolutely clueless at what it takes to put on this event. We don't have a shoe box company paying for those shirts - WE pay for them. Our coaching staff is NOT volunteer - WE pay them. That beautiful facility is not free - WE pay the fee. Insurance is not free - WE pay that bill. The printed cards that the 300+ kids had? WE pay for that. The hospitality room for the coaches (college and all-star)? WE pay for that. Now, run the numbers and tell me if you still think we are running a cash cow operation.
CASH COW operations are the one's who are charging 80, 100, and even more to these kids and then the kids getting NOTHING except a fancy dry fit shirt - or worse yet, one company still gives T-shirts. The kids get ZERO exposure. I can guarantee you the data from those events are NOT solicited from any recruiters, as are the SCVarsity results. The reason? WE have built credibility with the coaches over the past 18 years. And as far as kids getting exposure on the "other" event websites? The only people visiting those sites are the parents of the kids in the event.
Guess that's about all I have to say on those topics unless anyone has questions.
