(Part two of a series describing the process of football recruiting at Eastern Washington University and how technology has changed the job.)
Eastern Washington's Ryan Sawyer in the old film storage room.
Back behind the showers in the Eastern Washington University football locker room is a non-descript grey steel door.
Inside the door is a catch-all storage area for stuff no one knows what to do with, but just can't seem to make the decision to take it to the trashcan.
Among the boxes of this and that are floor-to-ceiling shelving filled with neatly stacked and labeled VHS tapes, DVDs - and yes, even a few rolls of 8 mm film - all part of the technology EWU coaches once used to get their first look at up and coming talent.
Technically, very little of the stored video is used to try to convince coaches for a scholarship offer. Most are game films, but it illustrates just how much has changed in the last decade when it comes to finding new players.
It was just 2009 that the DVD was the tool du jour. During Letter of Intent Day that year, EWU head coach Beau Baldwin noted there was still a stack of over 1,500 video discs from 2008 to review.
Now coaches begin the process using online services. One is called College Sports Data (CSD), EWU recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach Ryan Sawyer said. Another tool is an online service called The Huddle
The CSD provides a variety of information on a prospect in order to give college recruiters an idea where, possibly, to start. Sawyer already had a binder with a handful of printouts.
The coaches initially thumb through the data provided by CSD data and weed out those who they know will never again see a competitive college football field.
"We start by height and weight a little bit and then we'll contact by phone, email - or both - every coach we have in that area and say 'hey, tell me about this guy,'" Sawyer said.
The Huddle "has completely changed recruiting," Sawyer said. "It is a way to watch, break down and evaluate film without all the extra "stuff it takes."
"Just four or five years ago we would cut open an envelope, take out a DVD, pop it in a DVD player and hit play," Sawyer said. With Huddle, Sawyer said he has not touched a DVD in three years.
That's how they start what is called their "overall board," which last year initially had 2,400 names. That gets pared down to 300-400 by May when coaches hit the road.
Prospects are viewed as a staff and talked about collectively, Sawyer said. Coaches are asked how each will fill a specific role.
Viewing video also helps personalize the relationship between the recruiter and athlete. Being able to single out specific video clips and talk to a prospect can stand out in their mind. It's that personal, family approach that sometimes sets Eastern apart from other schools.
"We go to the areas, we talk to coaches, we talk to kids and occasionally in May, if there's somebody that we really like on film we may even go there as a position coach," he said. May is also the time to push the camps and to extend verbal offers, Sawyer added.
One of the most effective recruiting tools Eastern uses is their annual summer football camp. "Every kid that I've signed except for one, has been at our football camp," Sawyer said.
The camp provides something video, home visits or coaches' sales jobs cannot.
"Are they coachable, can they learn?" Sawyer said. "I get to watch them move through my drills, coach them a little hard - not hard as I do when they are here - I get to challenge them a little bit."
Some decisions are based on junior year film, Sawyer said.
"There are some no-brainers,' he said. "He's 6 (foot), 4 (inches), 240 (pounds) and he can run like hell, (but) at the end of the day that kid may end up going to Washington State, UW, but we're still going to get in the mix early."
"Our name's out there, if something happens (and) he bounces back to us, great," Sawyer said. While they lost their share of battles with bigger schools, Eastern is now winning a good share of those once lost to Football Bowl Subdivision programs. Eastern signed 21 in 2015, of which 34 took official visits.
Everything else aside, there's one thing that often is the final selling point for the program, Sawyer explained.
"Putting the product on the field is going to be the best recruitment tool," he said.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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