In July 2022, senior Jeremiah Miller received an offer to play football at Depauw University while on a campus visit. His head overflowed

with excitement as he entered the Depauw locker room to see a fully customized locker just for him. His last name was above the locker, and below that were three customized Depauw jerseys with his last name on the back and his jersey number 21.

“After finishing most of the campus tour and lunch at Hoover Hall, Coach Dietz sat down with me and we had a long conversation about my interest in Depauw in football and education,” Miller said, “They believed that I would fit in right away at boundary safety in their defense. At the end of our discussion, he offered me a spot to play football at Depauw and gave me a firm handshake. When we got to the locker room, I was letting everything sink in still when the coach told me to try on a jersey and there was my number hanging up with my name at the top of the locker.” 

The recruiting process has changed a lot over the years. Social media has changed the ways of communication between coaches and athletes. Organizations have now been created where athletes can put information and clips into a system and get directly seen by coaches. 

Next College Student Athlete is the most well-known and experienced athletic recruitment program. It also offers recruitment courses to help athletes contact coaches and make their profiles stand out. Although this program cost between $1,000 and $3,000. 

“On NCSA, I have posted multiple films from my junior year highlights and also have information about

my stats, height and weight, GPA, and other tests such as 40 times,” Miller said, “Not only does NCSA help with getting your name out there, but also helps you find the right school based on your major. It will give you top matches of colleges and you can also message recruiters/coaches.”

Senior Grayson Long has been traveling throughout Indiana visiting colleges such as Ball State, Indiana State, and the University of Saint Francis. 

“Every college visit is something new and different,” Long said, “Whether it is the campus or the coaches, each college that I have visited has its own distinct thing that makes them unique. The experience is awesome. Meeting lots of new guys that can all play at a high level is kind of cool to see how you compare up next to them.”

Each visit is different from the others. At some universities, they offer athletes an official visit

which consists of everything being paid for, such as lunch and transportation. 

“You usually meet the recruiting coordinators, and you receive a lanyard with your name and

school attached,” Long said, “We then go and check out the football facilities along with the locker rooms and meeting rooms. Next, we go and get food which was provided for us. After eating, my parents and I went along with all of the other recruits and watched the game. Yes, that was a cool experience but I like the regular visits better.”

For a non-student athlete, each college visit takes two to three hours. However, an athletic campus visit takes four to five depending on what is included.