The NFL Next Step

254 young men had their live's changed over the past weekend. Some of them were already nationally known sensations. Some were coming out of small towns in Wyoming. It doesn't matter, they are now employed by different teams in the National Football League.

Up until 1936 athletes who chose to play football as a profession were free to sign with any team of their choosing. Bert Bell, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles at the time came up with an idea that revolutionized sports forever. The concept was simple athletes coming out the college ranks would be drafted by NFL teams in the order opposite of how each team finished in the league the year prior.

This idea change the NFL and sports as a whole. The NFL draft has become a spectacle in its own. With over 600,000 people in attendance in Nashville this year and over 47 million viewers on TV. The NFL draft has become a must attend or watch event.

The NFL draft gives something to every NFL team, that many do not have, optimism. No matter how your team finished 3-4 months ago each team has the ability to select their future. No matter where the pick is in todays media each athlete has a back story and a reason for hope that they could be a star. Athlon sports even did a story about the best player to be selected in every pick of the NFL draft.

Players like Joe Montana, Brett Farve, Johnny Unitas, Mike Singletary, Chris Carter were all taken late in the draft and now sit in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Recently players like Tom Brady, Robert Mathis, Jared Allen, Antonio Brown, and Richard Sherman were all taken in the 4th round or later and have gone on to change franchises forever.

This year there were surprises and outcomes written in stone. One thing remains constant in 10-15 years someone no one expected will have made a name for themselves in the NFL.

Check out this years results and see if there is optimism for your teams future. 

The NCAA Social Media Spotlight

The saying "Any publicity is good publicity" may have taken a turn against the National College Athletic Association over the past month. In a new media campaign the NCAA is putting "the life of a college athlete" on display. 

Responses ranged from current student athletes, celebrities, to professional athletes. But there was one constant, the response was not positive.

"Y'all payed the actors more than the real student athletes" 
"This is not how it goes" 
"this is the most inaccurate thing I’ve seen in a while..."
"You damn crooks made this look like being a Student athlete was easy."
"Where the early morning workout? I dont see any ice wrapped on that arm hes raising. Did he not have any homework or studying to do before bed? What kind of major he got? Underwater basket weaving? And this bum doesnt watch film but got time to dance. NCAA is lying to these kids"

Countless athletes came to the twitter world just denying the video's authenticity. 

With the original campaign goal to be to show how college athletics help college athletes go pro in something other than sports. The NCAA has been playing recovery since many of its main revenue providers have put the campaign in a bit of a precarious spot to continue. 

Interview with Head Football Coach Dean Paul

For this week in Social Media Principles students were tasked with interviewing an expert in a field of their interest and ask about the effects of social media in said field. 

Myself and graduating senior Alex Eblin chose to interview Ohio Northern's Head Football Coach Dean Paul. Both Eblin and I are sport management majors. We looked into the effects social media has on coaching, recruiting, and marketing through all platforms at all levels of college football and also in the perspective of ONU Football. 

Questions asked were as followed:

1. How long have you been using social media?

2. Which social media platforms do you use personally and for the program?

3. How do they benefit the program? 

4. Have you noticed any easier task such as recruiting with social media?

5. Do you look for specific post to comment or share?

6. Have you ever had any negative comments or feedback on a post and if so how did you deal with it?

7. Which platform do you find the easiest or most effective to use?

8. Where do you see the future of social media in college football?

Coach Paul spoke on his history with social media along with how he sees it progressing. He talks profusely on the development of a plan and having a strategy in everything they do on all forms of social media. He also acknowledges that social media is ever-changing and he along with the coaching staff must stay up to date on the newest tools and regulations when it comes to social media. Something that truly applies to all aspects of business and life. Social media is an ever changing domain that never stands still something that the world today is still working to stay on top of.

The Visit

The visit it has long been considered one of the most important things about a college decision. Students get the sense of campus while interacting and seeing students and faculty in everyday life at ONU. When it comes to athletic recruiting another element is added to the visit.

When prospective student-athletes visit ONU they are given the option to spend an overnight with the current athletes of their athletic team. They spend the day receiving a tour and meeting with the coaching staff. They learn about the program its goals and mission and receive the recruiting pitches from coaches some that they expect and some that they don't. Once that has concluded they are dropped off with a current player sometimes from their home state or the position they play.

The night is then the easy part of the visit. The recruiting pitches are over other than the occasional "where else are you looking?" question. Recruits are free to relax and find out if ONU is the place for them. Most nights freshman with recruits will let other freshman know and it becomes just another night of hanging out.

The most important thing to a college decision can become just being yourself. Recruits are given the opportunity to be themselves and hangout with the guys they would be hanging out with in college life for the next three to four years. The pressure of parents or coaches fall away and teenagers are allowed to be teenagers. Letting them decide whether or not ONU is a place they can see a future.

The college decision process is a difficult one for any student making the next major change in their life. Being a student-athlete adds a dimension to the college decision that most don't encounter. The decision comes down to the people you will be surrounded with for the next years of your life. Yet the true deciding factor is being yourself or better yet the ability to be yourself.

Visits at ONU will continue through much of the spring and coaches will continue to give their talks and tours but much of the decision making process will come down to teenagers being teenagers.

The Era of the Transfer

College athletics will always be a powerful part of American culture, as it draw at the heartstrings of alums, current students, families, and relatives across the country. One thing, that seems to bring a lot of people together in a multitude of ways, respect, pride, elation, dismay, disbelief among just a few adjectives that can affect a 21 year old college student or a 80 year old alum. Almost everyone has a team and a school.

But often forgotten is that while the fan is so keenly affected by the outcomes on the field, or court. The athletes competing are still 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 years old. They are also continuing to go to class, do homework, take exams, write papers while also trying to balance practice, games, lifting, socializing, and trying to still be a regular student.

Social media has made the day and age of the athlete all that much more, student athletes at premier schools for their sport have followings the sizes of professionals and often have an equal amount of pressure to preform if not more as many times they are looking for their professional life to continue in their athletic area of expertise and skill.

As a college athlete myself, albeit at a much smaller level school, even I have felt pressures from the late years of high school to now when it comes to my performance on the field and often more importantly so my actions and perception off of it.

College athletes have a lot going on in their busy lives and have a lot to weigh in ultimately every decision they make, but there seems to be one large topic at the top of almost every social media platform that follows college athletics these days. We have entered the era of the transfer.

Most people are aware that when a student athlete chooses to attend a university and continue their athletic endeavors they sign a National Letter of Intent, now what most don't know is what has gone into that moment in their life the work they have put in the sacrifices that they along with families have made and it is unique to every student athlete as no journey is ever the same. Motivations are always different, the factors in decisions are always different, the need for a new beginning or the need to stay close to home can change every other week depending on the student athlete.

Now the rule has always been that when a student athlete chooses to transfer, they must sit out a year at their new institution and they lose one year of eligibility but then they are free to compete for their new school. Recent months have made this become increasingly easier for student athletes as the NCAA has issued a new tool called the Transfer Portal, in which a student can choose to input their name and they are basically putting it out there that they are open to being contacted by other schools about the possibilities of joining a new program.

As more and more student athletes take advantage of this tool that is now at their disposal. I watch as fan bases, reporters, and yes even coaches mock this tool and the decisions of so many student athletes, but I ask how is it different from a young business man taking an interview with a different company I ask how is it different from a young doctor talking to multiple practices about which is the best fit for his professional setting. What ever the motivations may be, and while it looks to be that most transfers are looking for the opportunity to play the athletic competition they love I ask you to think deeply and realize that each of these student athletes is a human being trying to navigate and put themselves in the best position to succeed for the next stage of their life. No different than that of you and I. Yes, your alma mater may lose a talented young athlete but keep in mind that athlete is still a college student, and the job of a college student is to grow, mature, and ultimately head out into the work force, no matter what profession it may be, in the best position to be successful.

CBS Writer Dennis Dodd wrote a phenomenal article on the social media effect as well,
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/social-media-shaming-is-helping-college-players-fight-unfair-transfer-rules-gain-eligibility/