Hello all!
I am a rising senior lineman who is looking to play division 3 football in college. Last summer I went to the NE elite camp, as well as one Ivy League camp. This year I will be going to a few prospect day camps at schools that I’m interested in. Chow do these 1 day camps compare to the Ivy or NE elite? I know they will be smaller and without contact, but what do you do (specifically for lineman.) I’ve also heard they are relatively difficult, how do they compare to the ones I’ve attended before? Also, are there any other camps you guys recommend? I went to Dartmouth last year. And Inmight want to go to a different one this year.
Thank you
My son is an offensive lineman who attended only Ivy and Patriot camps last year, so I can’t compare them to D3 camps. I will say that a number of D3 coaches were present at all of the camps he attended (Colgate, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth and Penn). There were maybe a few more at Yale and Princeton, but it wasn’t appreciable. At Colgate, a few of the D3 coaches participated in running the drills. At the Ivy camps, the Ivy coaches ran all the drills and the D3 coaches observed. Some of the Ivy camps are shells (Penn and Dartmouth) the others were helmet only (Princeton and Yale). Because our state does not permit attending contact camps, my son did not wear shoulder pads at any camp, and I do not think that was a real issue. He missed one drill at Dartmouth (the board drill) and I don’t think he sat out any at Penn, because there were other kids who did not wear shoulder pads.
All of the Ivy camps were similar to Dartmouth in structure. The only real difference is that some did bench testing (Princeton and Yale if I remember) and the others did not. I believe Penn was the most physically demanding, although that may be because he saw the most D1 caliber kids at Penn. A couple of things stood out to me after that experience. One, a lot of kids are not in shape for the camps and are sucking wind by the end of the day. My guess is that the camps are far more demanding than a normal high school non contact practice. You should work to get in excellent aerobic shape before the camps start. I would not go into camps unless I was in two a day shape at least walking on the field. Treat it seriously. Second, there was a wide band of talent evident among the lineman at the camps my son attended. Each camp had a couple/three guys who were just better (there were maybe a half dozen in this group at Penn). Bigger, faster, stronger, in better shape. There were also some kids who were on the other end of the athletic spectrum, who, not to sound harsh, would have a hard time playing on a decent high school team. For this reason, I believe that while it is safe to assume that camps at D3 schools are run similarly to the Ivy camps, I would guess they may be less physically demanding. This is because the competitive level is likely lower since you are going to have fewer of the top end kids at some of the smaller camps. You likely will have less kids at the lower end of the spectrum as well though, so there will be less “free” reps. Maybe that makes it even out.
As far as picking camps, three things. First, I think that camping “up” as it were will help you. Test yourself against the better competition. One of two things happens. Either you flash, and put a hurting on some guys there (which will really make the NESCAC, et al coaches take notice) or your weaknesses get exposed by better players, and you learn what to work on before your next camp. Better to find out you are too slow coming out of your stance in pass pro at an Ivy camp (if you want to play for Williams) then having guys blowing by you all day at Williams’ camp. Second, I would find out from your recruiting coaches what camps they are attending and try and hit one or two of those. Even better, find out what camps your potential position coaches are attending and go there. Third, if you are still casting a wide net, and hoping to catch someone’s eye, then pick a camp at a school which runs an offense tailored to your strengths, and camp there. While all of the Ivy camps are structurally similar, they have different offenses, and thus the drills are designed to highlight different things. Penn wants to run the ball down your throat, so that camp was heavy on footwork in the box and explosion drills. If you are a tight, powerful guy you have a better chance of looking good in those types of drills. By contrast, Princeton runs up tempo, zone read stuff. So that camp was heavy on reach drill, pass pro, etc. If you are maybe lighter and quicker, then you have a good chance of shining there.
Ok, thanks for the info.