Noles turning to Texas in search for prospects
Recruiting coordinator uses familiarity with state to lure top talent.
Finding and attracting the best talent within Florida always will remain a key part of Florida State’s football recruiting strategy. But that’s not to say Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher and his staff won’t branch out.
FSU has recruited well in neighboring states such as Georgia and Alabama. Under Fisher, the program has expanded its footprint to create another pipeline from the “DMV” (Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area.
Could Texas be next? Seminoles tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Tim Brewster, a former University of Texas assistant, has been helping FSU make major strides in the Lone
Star State the past few years. As it stands, the Seminoles are making a run at numerous Texas recruits for their 2018 and ’19 classes.
Three of the Seminoles’ past four recruiting classes have included Texas high school players. Redshirt junior tight end Mavin Saunders, originally from the Bahamas, played high school football in Houston. Even without Saunders, it still leaves FSU with an impressive haul in consecutive years.
The Seminoles signed fourstar linebacker Dontavious Jackson in 2016. Jackson, a sophomore, was something of a signing-day surprise who opted to leave home. FSU followed by signing incoming freshman defensive tackle and five-star prospect Marvin Wilson this past February. Ranked No. 2 in the nation by Rivals, Wilson passed on his home-state Longhorns, Ohio State and others to join FSU.
Now, the Seminoles are looking to capitalize on that success by using it to attract other top prospects.
“Marvin Wilson is a big bump, and the more you can get high-profile players to visit campus and go back and tell their friends about (FSU). it helps,” said Nick Krueger, who covers Texas recruiting for Rivals. “I don’t think any kid is not interested in visiting FSU if given the opportunity.”
Because Texas is so big, there’s no way in-state programs can keep all of their top players from leaving the state. Take NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Andrew Luck, for example.
Brees starred at Austin’s Westlake High, while Luck was a four-star recruit at Houston’s Stratford High. Brees, who was in UT’s backyard and is the son of a former Texas A&M basketball player, was not recruited by either school and attended Purdue.
Luck, who was a national recruit, was never offered by the Longhorns and chose Stanford. He became a twotime first-team All-American and then was selected first in the 2012 NFL draft.
Part of the challenge of recruiting Texas is the geography, with so many elite players coming from less-populated areas.
Former Oklahoma and current NFL star Adrian Peterson hailed from the East Texas town of Palestine, with a population of less than 20,000. Tuscola, which is about 200 miles west of Dallas and has less than 1,000 residents, is where Texas mined an eventual threestar prospect in quarterback Colt McCoy.
“I think that your major universities scout the Dallas and Houston areas, which they should, because that’s the two big markets in Texas,” said Dale Irwin, who coaches Arp High School in a town of around 1,000 people. “But when you start looking at places like East Texas, there’s a tremendous amount of athletes there.”
But why would Florida State, with hundreds of elite athletes nearby, travel so far to find players?
For starters, there is a tremendous financial commitment to high school football across Texas, which often results in better facilities and higher-paid coaching staffs. And, in turn, players who are sometimes more prepared to make an early impact in college.
The average stipend for a Florida high school head coach is less than $4,400 a year, according to the Florida Times-Union. The average head coach’s salary in the Fort Worth, Texas, area for the 2015-16 school year was more than $98,000, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. That year, 34 head coaches in the Fort Worth area made more than $100,000 annually.
Steve Leisz, head coach at Episcopal High in Houston, believes there’s a direct correlation between the investment Texas schools and boosters make in football with why the area is so attractive to college recruiters.
“(Some players from Texas) may not be able to match the skill of other states,” Leisz said. “But the discipline and coaching background for football, I think, that’s why a Texas kid can be ready to step in and play.”
One example of the differences between Florida and Texas is the way offseason 7-on-7 passing events are incorporated into the high school experience.
Texas began conducting interscholastic 7-on-7 tournaments in 1998. The goal was for skill players to develop comfort with their schemes and their teammates. It wasn’t until later that club teams entered the 7-on-7 landscape.
In Florida, the 7-on-7 scene is comparable to AAU basketball in that there are private club teams that are not necessarily affiliated with any school.
Due partly to how well 7-on-7 has been utilized there, Texas has now worked its way into the discussion for being the country’s best producer of quarterbacks. It’s also viewed as a reason why Texas’ success with quarterbacks extends to the NFL.
There were seven Week 1 starters from Texas to open the 2016 season, most of any state. California was next with four, while Florida was tied for third with two.
High school coaches throughout the state know Brewster from when he was the tight ends coach at Texas from 1998 through 2001. Although he actively recruited the entire state, his most notable work came when he delivered five-star quarterback Vince Young to Austin. Young, a Houston native, led the Longhorns to the 2005 BCS National Championship.
Krueger said Brewster’s reputation and his ability to build relationships are why he continues to succeed in the state. It was rumored in late November that new Texas head coach Tom Herman was trying lure Brewster back to Austin. The talk was quickly put to rest when Brewster, who is the most active FSU coach on Twitter, issued a tweet regarding his commitment to stay in Tallahassee.
“He has a lot of relationships with kids in the state, and the work Brewster has been able to do with selling the program with players and coaches in the Houston area has been huge,” Krueger said. “FSU has a national brand, and that is very appealing to kids, too. Regardless of what happens and how successful Texas is, I still think FSU has good name value when high-level guys were taking visits with Marvin.”
Meanwhile, the Seminoles are actively recruiting two highly rated receivers in Texas.
One is Tommy Bush, from Samuel Clemens High School in Schertz, part of the San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan area. The 6-foot5, 185-pound Bush is a fourstar prospect, according to Rivals.
The other is Jaylen Waddle. He’s 5-10, 165 pounds, plays at Bellaire’s Episcopal High and is ranked No. 14 nationally among receivers.
Lamar High four-star defensive end Bobby Brown also recently told Rivals he wants to see FSU’s campus and listed his talks with Brewster as one of the reasons he’s considering the Seminoles.
“Brewster has a background in Texas and he feels comfortable here and people feel comfortable talking to him. That’s easy to come in and do as a coach that’s been in Texas,” Leisz said. “Our head of schools assistant is a Texas Longhorns fan, and the first time (Brewster) walked in the door, she said, ‘It’s Coach Brewster.’ They know who he is.”
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