(Editor's note: Scott Marchand is the pitching coach at the Air Force Academy. His journal about life in baseball will appear at Fan Fanatic Sports periodically)
If the summer recruiting schedule for coaches was busy, things just got even busier. After hitting up tournaments and showcases in more than a dozen states and visiting the homes of our recruited athletes, our coaching staff settled in for the arduous and critical process of gaining commitments from our most coveted members of the high school class of 2010.
I mentioned in earlier postings that I am always amazed by high school athletes that commit verbally to schools before they are even eligible to be recruited. Not only does it seem to me to be a decision that puts the “cart before the horse”, but I always wonder whose best interest the commitment supports? In the case of our recruited athletes, I always enjoy the pensive family unit that encourages the athlete to visit multiple schools to formulate a final decision. In fact, I encourage kids to visit with other programs, although I am confident that ours stands out as something truly special. The bottom line for me is that these kids have to feel confident that they are up to the challenges that the United States Air Force Academy presents and that they are comfortable with the players and coaches they will spend copious amounts of time with during their collegiate careers.
So, after months on the road and scores of phone conversations, emails, contacts, evaluations and good old fashioned postage, recruits begin NCAA sanctioned official campus visits at the beginning of the fall semester of their senior year. On official visits, the NCAA allows 48 hours for recruits to meet representatives from the coaching staffs, teams, and academic departments in hopes that they will be able to formulate an accurate picture of the institution and reach an educated decision that will impact the rest of their lives.
Right.
The 48 hour contact window places enormous pressure on coaching staffs, as well as on families and recruits. The pressure is intensified at the Academy, as a glimpse into a life in the military has to be provided with as much clarity as possible. A typical official visit to the Air Force Academy for a recruited baseball athlete consists of the following: Thursday is monopolized by flights to Colorado and a dinner with the coaching staff. On Friday, recruits are ushered through a litany of meetings with coaches, players, academic department representatives, military personnel, admissions counselors, and athletic department staff. The grand tour culminates in a rather heavy-eyed group dinner and individual meetings with the coaching staff. Respite can be found on Saturday, as everyone attends a team tailgate party and an Air Force Falcons football game.
On their return flights, I always imagine that parents and recruits hold deep discussions of the benefits of becoming a cadet at the Air Force Academy. More than likely, that conversation is put on hold until dinner on Sunday night, in favor of a few hours of sleep at 35,000 feet. When the conversation happens, though, I know that we have shown our recruit everything the Academy has to offer, albeit within a 48-hour window of time. We cross our fingers until the national signing date in November…
