By Harry Minium
The recruiting spigot turned off 14 ½ months ago, when in response to the pandemic, the NCAA not only shut down every college athletic team, it also shut down in-person recruiting.
No longer could coaches go out to see players, nor could players visit campuses.
There were tons of Zoom meetings and phone calls, texts and Instagram messages, but thousands of 2021 signees around the country in every NCAA sport chose schools sight unseen.
Part of the recruiting ban was finally lifted on Tuesday, when high school and transfer football players were finally allowed to visit campuses, including Old Dominion University, which, by the way, had been recruiting pretty well in spite of the in-person ban.
ODU coaches began welcoming players on campus Tuesday, although the reprieve is temporary. On July 1, the ban on on-campus visits returns.
Moreover, coaches can't visit players until after the 2021 season begins.
That means that June is going to be a busy month for high school athletes and their parents and college coaches.
The ODU football program, like most around the country, showed players virtual tours that extolled the University's virtues, from its metropolitan setting, its diversity, proximity to Virginia Beach and its 161 degree programs.
Yet there's nothing like setting foot on a campus and metaphorically kicking the tires before you decide not only where you will play, but also where you will live and attend school.
ODU football Coach Ricky Rahne says he has more empathy for players than he has for coaches.
"It's going to be chaotic. And that's because everyone's trying to fit a year's worth of campus visits into one month," he said.
"I know that we as coaches often think about ourselves, but all of these kids need to get to all of these places. And they also need to be preparing for their season, which means working out and spending time with their teammates.
"It's really going to be tough on a lot of them."
Some high school players have a dozen or so offers and trying to visit 12 campuses in one month with your parents means mom and/or dad essentially must take the month off from work.
"If you're trying to get to eight or 10 places, it's going to be very hectic for some of these families. It's going to be very stressful, quite frankly, for them to figure out where to go," Rahne said.
ODU expects about 50 players to visit, although that's a fluid number. All will be shown around campus by coaches and meet players and then sit for interviews, in which the coaches will evaluate the players and players and their parents will evaluate the coaches.
Rahne said his coaching staff, the youngest FBS staff in the nation in 2020, holds up against the very best.
"I think the fact that we have a younger staff appeals to a lot of people," he said. "Everyone on our staff is genuine. You can relate to all of them."
He will also sell ODU's location, in a city but not in the congested downtown area, and the fact that a number of ODU and Conference USA players are in the NFL, as are dozens of players the coaching staff worked with at other schools.
"A lot of guys that we either recruited or developed at some of our previous schools have gone to the next level," he said. "That's something that's important to a lot of kids."
So are facilities and ODU's weight room was expanded a few years ago and the University spent nearly $70 million in renovating S.B. Ballard Stadium. When the stadium reopened in the fall of 2019, it was among the best in Conference USA.
"That tells players that the University is investing in the football program," Rahne said.
Visits won't be limited to high school players. Recruiting has changed radically with the explosion of players entering the transfer portal. ODU enrolled five FBS transfers last year and Rahne said potential transfers will also visit in June.
Running backs coach Tony Lucas
In part because of the truncated timeline, Rahne said ODU will not have any summer camps.
ODU's summer camps are popular with players and with coaches from other programs but they require a ton of work to put on. Rahne said between hosting recruits and working with his players who return to campus in June, there isn't time to have summer camps and do it well.
"It's very important that we spend time with our players," Rahne said.
"We've been the hub regionally for camps," added running backs coach and offensive recruiting coordinator Tony Lucas. "When I worked at other places, I made it a priority to come to ODU.
"When we host camps, we want to be able to do it in a first-class manner."
Rahne said the camps will return next summer.
"We'll be back in full fury next year," he said.
Because coaches weren't allowed to personally scout players in the last year, the NCAA is allowing schools to work out players when they visit. Workouts are limited to an hour.
Lucas said he's looking forward to seeing players he and other coaches have built relationships with over the last year.
"The interaction you have via phone, text or Zoom isn't quite the same as sitting in down with us," he said. "When you look them in the eye, do they make eye contact? Do they have a firm handshake? Do they carry themselves in a certain way?
"It helps paint a more complete picture."
Cornerbacks coach Leon Wright
Cornerbacks coach Leon Wright, the defensive recruiting coordinator, said most players have support from their parents and good direction from high school coaches, but that some do not. He worries about their well-being.
"If they don't have the support system that others have, it's going to be hard on them," he said.
He said some of those players might bypass schools that have already offered them and head to bigger schools to try to impress.
"They're still kids, and some of them really don't know how to sort out all of these schools," Wright said. "Instead of chasing offers, some of them should be solidifying offers from schools truly interested in them."
Rahne and his staff recruited well in 2020 and 2021. Both classes were rated in the top half of Conference USA and were ranked the two best classes in ODU history, according to the 247Sports recruiting service.
Rahne said that coaches will work a ton of hours to repeat that feat.
"We anticipate there will be very few days that we don't have somebody here," he said. "So, there will be some six- and seven-day weeks.
"Which is fine. We haven't been on the road, so we've had so much time with our families than we've had in our entire professional lives.
"I think our families will understand that it's time for us to grind again."
ODU opens on Friday, Sept. 3, at Wake Forest in a game that will be televised on the ACC Network. Rahne's first home game comes Sept. 11 against Hampton, which is on ESPN3.
ODU expects to have full capacity at S.B. Ballard Stadium. Tailgating, and ODU's fans among the hardiest in C-USA, also returns..
To read more about next season, and ODU's future schedules, CLICK HERE.
Minium worked 39 years at The Virginian-Pilot, where he was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and won 27 state and national writing awards. He writes news stories, features and commentaries for odusports.com and odu.edu Follow him on Twitter @Harry_MiniumODU, Instagram @hbminium1 or email hminium@odu.edu
Minium: After 14 ½ Months, ODU Football Coaches Finally Welcoming Recruits Back on Campus
