Inside The Knights

UCF Football's Prospect Camp: How It Works

A closer Look at UCF’s high school prospect camp and what it encapsulates.

Brian Smith

In this story:

ORLANDO – Which high school players really have the ability to play at the FBS Football level? Some think they do, but is that really true?

UCF Football has multiple camps. There’s seven-on-seven (going on the rest of this week), a quarterback camp, and there are prospect camps. The latter is the one to give a broader description of today.

Sometimes a prospect is simply flying under the radar, perhaps that individual comes from a high school that does not promote its players. Whatever the case may be, a camp like the one UCF held on Tuesday helps to find those players while also educating them about the game of football. A few of the basics follow.

Following Directions

Getting every player on the same page. A cohesive unit, via numerous ladder drills, sprints, and other NFL Combine-like skills tests are part of the barometer to see what prospects can do and do it as one. While prospects are certainly under individual evaluation, part of each potential recruit’s grade is fitting in with the group and making sure the drill runs smoothly.

When the coaches blow the whistle, go! As in, go now!

It may be a drill, but the point of every single repetition is to see if the players react immediately, do what they are told, and do it fast. Speed, speed, speed!

Some of the prospects were told to head to the back of the line after not being ready for their rep. It happened several times. There’s no time to waste.

How Fast Are You?

Any scout that goes to a college camp has seen hundreds if not thousands of prospects run the forty. Some high school players may think they are fast enough to play FBS Football, but few truly are. The majority of campers yesterday ran 4.8 or above. That’s reality. When a player says he can hit 4.5, that person needs to prove it. Seeing is believing, and the film does not lie.

That young man in the video above is only a class of 2024 prospect, and he’s still developing. When you run sub-4.5, however, eyeballs will turn and look at you. Along with a few of the other prospects at the camp, Zephaniah Rodgers is now at least a prospect on the radar. Will he end up receiving an offer from UCF or other schools? Hard to say.

Running the forty at a prospect camp like the one at UCF is just a part of the process. Being fast helps a lot, but being able to play football is more important than anything. That’s the next step.

Position Drills

Does the track speed translate to the gridiron? Then there’s the reverse. Some players are faster during the actual game than they are on a track. Jerry Rice might be the most famous example. Ever see someone run Rice down from behind? He was not a 4.3 forty, but in pads, Rice could really run.

Seeing how prospects pay attention to details (just like with the combine drills) and then how they perform, this is where the rubber meets the road. Wide receiver Dallen Ponder is a great example.

Ponder plays for Ocala (Fla.) Vanguard, one of the top talent-producing schools in the greater Central Florida area. He’s been tremendous for Prime Truth throughout the seven-on-seven circuit this winter and spring, and he looks good during the rep above as well.

This is important because college coaches, with UCF being no exception, want to see a high school player live, just like Ponder. There’s nothing like watching a recruit right in front of one’s eyes. Ponder stands out physically, but running routes and catching in front of the UCF staff is a major part of the process. It’s going to help increase his odds of being a recruit.

Overall, a prospect camp is something that every college football program does, just like UCF, to help find talented prospects and begin to recruit them. It’s the beginning of the recruiting process. It’s also a very important evaluation tool that’s necessary to see which young players truly have the ability to play at the FBS level.

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Brian Smith
BRIAN SMITH

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