Portal Movement in the NSIC

[Purple Mav Man]

It's not only about going home, but families coming to visit. A regional recruit drastically increases the odds that the parents/family/friends can come to a number of your games.

100%
My reference was to general student population, as noted in the ‘non-athlete’ portion.

[Brandon]

When I think of a "local" student, I think of someone who could feasibly drive home over a weekend if they wanted/needed to. Somewhere in the < 6 hour drive-time range where one could leave school on a Friday afternoon, and drive back on a Sunday afternoon. That would max the range out at about 400 miles..

It's funny you say that.

Former Grand Valley coach Matt Mitchell used to talk about how GV had a "tank of gas" recruiting philosophy. The majority of their team would come from the area in which they could drive on a tank of gas. 25 miles per gallon x an 18 gallon tank = 450 miles.

[Brandon]

It matters where you are within a state too.

Right.

[Brandon]

That’s not geographical realistic. That really over extends the footprint. For most boosters and alumni “ local” means in state. Certainly not neighboring states. Most coaches my extended to a nearby state—- Moorhead may extend to ND or SD—- Angie & SF may extend to Minnesota and northern Iowa. Its fan like to try to extend to regional rather than local.

Are you just arguing the definition of local versus regional? If so, I amend my original thoughts to state that the core of a good D2 football program is comprised of regional recruits. A team can't rely on kids who live so far away they have to fly in.

I know who you are and what your experiences have been. I have been publishing this site for 25 years. I have seen how recruiting has changed from 1900 until now. I'm not engaging in some fantasy.

[Stanger86]

I completely understand your point here. But it’s always baffled me…if the student’s desire is to go home every weekend (and some certainly do) why choose a school more than a couple hours away? Since we’re talking non-athlete students.

If your football players are going home every weekend, you’ve got some issues! Ha :)

It's not only about going home, but families coming to visit. A regional recruit drastically increases the odds that the parents/family/friends can come to a number of your games.

[Purple Mav Man]

Each coach makes their own personal choice. They all have their comfort areas. It isn't necessarily a direct correlation to the talent level there.

Minot State dropped from 17 North Dakota players to 5 from 2022 to 2023. Do you think the talent level suddenly changed? No. They hired a coach with zero regional ties and as such the program is not placing as much focus close to home.

They do make their own choices. And it seems they choose to not heavily recruit those areas.

No, I don’t. But it’s possible. However that’s not the point I’ve been making. The point is there isn’t enough talent in ND to support three D2 teams with predominantly local kids. Even as people have laid out their various definitions of local.

Also, just so no one’s feelings are hurt…I’m not ragging on small town/school players. Talent is talent. But the volume at larger schools generates competition within teams rather than just between area teams. Some HSs in the metro have superior facilities to colleges. Some look like mini college campuses (and some have much larger enrollment than NSIC schools). Opportunities are more plentiful for training, etc. I grew up outside the metro and had a chip on my shoulder about how the all-state teams were basically all-metro teams, back in the 2-class days. Some outliers for sure. But then moved here almost 15 years ago and understand why. Also not saying the small school kids should be overlooked or underestimated, but it’s generally safe to say that a kid from a 9-man team isn’t facing the level of competition a kid from a 6A team is on a weekly basis.

[Matt Witwicki]

When I think of a "local" student, I think of someone who could feasibly drive home over a weekend if they wanted/needed to. Somewhere in the < 6 hour drive-time range where one could leave school on a Friday afternoon, and drive back on a Sunday afternoon. That would max the range out at about 400 miles.

For USF students, that would mean most of South Dakota, a lot of Nebraska, most of Iowa, most of Minnesota, the southeastern portion of North Dakota, and even into the edges of Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas.

And of course, there are degrees of locality. Someone going to school 10 miles from home is more local than someone 350 miles from home. The 10 mile student could easily go home every weekend where it would be burdensome for the 350 mile student to do so with the same frequency.

Local/regional combo = guys from the state or within an easy drive. Agreed.

I think there's a distinction between that recruit in the NSIC and then guys who have to typically fly-in from CA, NV, AZ, TX, FL, and such.

[Purple Mav Man]

When I think of a "local" student, I think of someone who could feasibly drive home over a weekend if they wanted/needed to. Somewhere in the < 6 hour drive-time range where one could leave school on a Friday afternoon, and drive back on a Sunday afternoon. That would max the range out at about 400 miles.

For USF students, that would mean most of South Dakota, a lot of Nebraska, most of Iowa, most of Minnesota, the southeastern portion of North Dakota, and even into the edges of Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas.

And of course, there are degrees of locality. Someone going to school 10 miles from home is more local than someone 350 miles from home. The 10 mile student could easily go home every weekend where it would be burdensome for the 350 mile student to do so with the same frequency.

I completely understand your point here. But it’s always baffled me…if the student’s desire is to go home every weekend (and some certainly do) why choose a school more than a couple hours away? Since we’re talking non-athlete students.

If your football players are going home every weekend, you’ve got some issues! Ha :)

[Tundra_Man]

When I think of a "local" student, I think of someone who could feasibly drive home over a weekend if they wanted/needed to. Somewhere in the < 6 hour drive-time range where one could leave school on a Friday afternoon, and drive back on a Sunday afternoon. That would max the range out at about 400 miles.

For USF students, that would mean most of South Dakota, a lot of Nebraska, most of Iowa, most of Minnesota, the southeastern portion of North Dakota, and even into the edges of Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas.

And of course, there are degrees of locality. Someone going to school 10 miles from home is more local than someone 350 miles from home. The 10 mile student could easily go home every weekend where it would be burdensome for the 350 mile student to do so with the same frequency.

[FB Player Coach & Fan]

I consider Iowa and Wisconsin as well as the Dakotas to be "local" for teams in Minnesota.

When I mentioned the core of a team being local, that's what I mean.

That’s not geographical realistic. That really over extends the footprint. For most boosters and alumni “ local” means in state. Certainly not neighboring states. Most coaches my extended to a nearby state—- Moorhead may extend to ND or SD—- Angie & SF may extend to Minnesota and northern Iowa. Its fan like to try to extend to regional rather than local.

[Stanger86]

I consider Iowa and Wisconsin as well as the Dakotas to be "local" for teams in Minnesota.

When I mentioned the core of a team being local, that's what I mean.

It matters where you are within a state too. For Winona and probably Mankato, northern Illinois is close enough for local/regional recruiting. For SMSU, Omaha is a short 4 hour drive.

I remember Gophers coach PJ Fleck talked after his hire about his recruiting home base being within an 8-10 hour drive. That probably gets tightened up for schools at the D2 level, but five hours should be a pretty reasonable area to find 50-75% of your recruits.

[SW_Mustang]

That's a strange statement all states surrounding Minnesota to be local for them.

"Regional" is probably a better term for it. I wouldn't really consider Minot to be "local" to Winona, but regional - perhaps.

And considering WI has 0 D2 FB schools and IA has 1, I think it's a valid assessment.

[vikingfaithful]

I consider Iowa and Wisconsin as well as the Dakotas to be "local" for teams in Minnesota.

When I mentioned the core of a team being local, that's what I mean.

That's a strange statement all states surrounding Minnesota to be local for them.

[Brandon]

can D2 programs ( middle or lower tier programs) fill a roster of 100+ with 50 to 60 % local talent? I say doubtful. Yes you recruit as much local talent as possible—-and you augment from surrounding states or states that have easy access to remote areas to fill out the roster with as much talent as possible.

I consider Iowa and Wisconsin as well as the Dakotas to be "local" for teams in Minnesota.

When I mentioned the core of a team being local, that's what I mean.

[FB Player Coach & Fan]

Augustana claims 31 SD natives on their roster and a high percentage are starters and contributors. SD numbers of HS football players may be small, but doesn't have to be ashamed of the quality. With 5 D2 schools to recruit them it's a scramble. Look at MN D2 rosters most have more out of state players than in-state. BSU is the exception.

I think 31 is a very good number——anything above 25 is a solid in state recruiting number. No one that plays college football should be ashamed. It’s just impossible to build a competitive football roster of 100+ athletes without recruiting neighboring states and those mentioned deeper talent pool states and communities— and to recruit those kids out of those deeper talent pool states—they are use to a certain level of amenities (they my flop, they maybe great, they may transfer) and to have the best opportunity to get them to your campus—-you better be in the playoffs or have great facilities or have some advanced community amenities.