Football Scores with Recruits

Oberlin is known for many things: a first-rate conservatory, Cynthia Stewart, and hippies, to name a few. Football, for better or worse, is not part of the list.

Things do change, though.

Head Coach Jeff Ramsey and his assistants have put together the largest recruiting class in recent memory. Though they are wary of counting their chickens before they have hatched, the coaching staff is expecting 30 new recruits to step on the practice field for two-a-days in August. Roughly 22 will be freshmen, while the remaining eight will be transfers from junior colleges or other four-year schools.

Perhaps the biggest change on Oberlin's roster next year, besides the increased numbers, will be the addition of numerous players from Ohio and surrounding states.

"I consider our recruiting base to be Ohio, southeast Michigan, and western Pennsylvania," Ramsey said. "I took the approach that I've taken at other non-scholarship schools. We were facing some unique problems-mainly, not having many Ohio players. We got in front of as many people as possible, and Ohio high school football coaches in particular. At least 20 players will be from our base."

Recruiting football players to a school with as nefarious an athletic reputation as Oberlin is no easy task. Besides convincing high school coaches that Oberlin is intent on changing its football fortunes, the coaches had to deal with a reputation that could potentially alienate recruits.

"We didn't hide a thing about the school," said Ramsey. "We let people see the campus for what it is. Some students were turned off, but that's fine. They don't belong here. They saw the diverse population, the ability to experience different things. But we didn't hide a thing."

"Some (recruits) didn't like the lifestyle, but I told them that what goes on in Oberlin goes on in the world," said Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Keith Majors. "If you can't deal with this, then you can't deal with the world."

For some, the college was also too small or too far away from home.

"About 20 recruits thought that this wasn't the place for them," said Ramsey. "But that's OK, because they didn't see the value of Oberlin College. Battles like that, I'm not going to win. I'd have to try really hard to try to change their minds, and I'm not going to do that. It's not in our best interest, and it's not in the student's best interest."

Still, there were plenty of positives to sell. Besides offering a quality liberal arts education, the coaches emphasized that the players could do great things while at Oberlin and after they leave.

"We tried to sell the positive aspects of Oberlin College," said Ramsey. "It's a prestigious liberal arts school, and we have an excellent track record of students doing good things. They bought into that, they saw it, they talked to people on campus, they talked to professors. They saw that Oberlin College can really help them."

"I told them about academics. I also told them that they had a chance to be a part of something great," said Majors. "I also told them that they had an opportunity to play and make an impact."

Though information on this year's recruits is not yet public record, Ramsey is pleased with their academic accomplishments and promise. So, evidently, was the admissions department.

"We presented them with an excellent pool of applicants, and they worked with us," said Ramsey. "The communication was excellent. We just needed to put quality people in front of them. In fact, we had 300 prospects come to campus."

While Ramsey deserves a good deal of credit for this year's bumper crop, so too does his coaching staff.

"Our coaches were relentless in their pursuit, even while they were coaching another sport," he said. "We tried to show the kids what we were reaching for, what our values were, and how we were going to get there. We got to know some of them pretty well, and they came to know us. Almost everyone was receptive."

In another promising development, Oberlin lost 50 players to schools that offer scholarships. "This means that we were on the right kids," Ramsey said. The coaches also lost six players to the Ivy League.

The school currently has 18 deposits from recruits. Of those 18, eight are offensive linemen and four are defensive linemen. The rest are waiting on financial aid packages.

One of the coaches' biggest hopes is that their hard work translates into an established relationship with football coaches in their base recruiting zone, as well as from throughout the country. Players should be coming from Utah, California, Idaho, and Texas.

"Whether we start a relationship with the coaches depends on how the kids do," said Majors. "If they do well and go home and say good things about the place, then it will be the beginning of a good relationship. But, if they don't do well, they won't say good things about the place. We have to keep the players we have, and they have to graduate. They need to have a positive experience."