Dave Roberson

Trying to figure out if you want to play football or just say you were on a football team. That’s what Dave Roberson, the Director of Player Personnel & Recruiting Coordinator at Arkansas State University, helps kids figure out every recruiting season. With advice for high school coaches and how to best help their players get a scholarship, to how parents can assist their child in making the best choice, Dave fills this episode full of recruiting know-how.

Show Highlights

Beginning with advice for coaches – Dave understands the priority high school coaches put on “selling” their athletes to recruiters. But the truth of the matter is, if a recruiter is interested, they already know the kid can play. What coaches should help with is giving recruiters the full picture – if he’s good enough to play at the next level, it becomes more about recruiting everything off the field. 

Then we moved on to advice for parents, the first of which is being real about at what level your child can play. And he’s sure to say PLAY because there’s a big difference between playing and just being on a team. The second piece of parents is to make sure you’re helping your child make a decision because they love the school. Not the coaches or the team or the football facilities, but the school itself. That’s how to guarantee they’ll be set up to make the most of their college experience. 

Getting a college scholarship is HARD, Dave says it multiple times. It’s difficult!!! There are hundreds of thousands of kids all vying for the same scholarships, and teams are always trying to replace the talent lost in senior classes. New kids come in each year, trying to earn a starting spot, and now the transfer rules are making it a merry-go-round of athletes in schools. Choose a college for the right reasons and with as much information as you can get, and you’ll have the best chances for success!

Dave Roberson can be reached at daveroberson@astate.edu