Recruiting in China

The first letter arrived, as Mark Fisher recalls, on a Tuesday in spring 2005 when he was a rising junior.

It was from Michigan.

By the time he completed his senior season, there had been hundreds, perhaps thousands.

He never knew that so many people had so much to say to high school football player. Or so little.

Ahhh, the letters. They¡¯re the first step in an odyssey that leads to the fulfillment of a dream for a young man who aspires to play college football.

Beyond those letters, brochures, et cetera, are e-mails, text messages and, of course, telephone calls. So many, in fact, that it¡¯s impossible to keep up with who is writing, who is calling, who is texting. It is all part of football recruiting.

The payoff for colleges was Wednesday ¡ª national signing day ¡ª when high schools seniors signed letters declaring where they¡¯ll play at the next level. For recruits with enough recruiting service stars attached to their name, it is quite the process. Charlie Weis, Steve Spurrier, Phillip Fulmer, Lloyd Carr ¡ª icons of the coaching profession ¡ª practically beg them to sign with their school.

Change in plans

That wasn¡¯t exactly the way recruiting played out for Fisher. The Goodpasture senior lineman signed on Wednesday. He will be a Middle Tennessee State Blue Raider in the fall. He knows there is nothing wrong with that. He also understands that if he works hard and develops as he hopes, the road to professional football could just as easily go through Murfreesboro as Ann Arbor. And, today he understands that recruiting isn¡¯t always a storybook process.

¡°The letters are nice, and you get excited about them when you get your first one,¡¯¡¯ Fisher said. ¡°It gets your hopes up because it makes you think that someone thinks you are good enough to play at the next level. Really, until you are offered (a scholarship), the letters don¡¯t matter. And even then, you know you¡¯ve got a lot of work to do. You don¡¯t work and you know that the letters from Notre Dame and Michigan won¡¯t be coming anymore.¡±

Fisher¡¯s a 6-foot-4, 260-pound lineman with 4.8-4.9 speed in the 40-yard dash. Adequate size. Acceptable speed. Add in excellent character, and it would seem he was tailor-made for a big-time scholarship. Yet, offers seldom came.

¡°Outside of Patrick Turner ¡ª and he was rated as high as anyone in the nation ¡ª Mark was probably the most recruited football player we¡¯ve ever had here,¡± Goodpasture Coach David Martin said. ¡°It seemed like everyone wanted him at one time. Then, there seemed to be a sudden drop in interest. No one has ever explained why.¡±

As a veteran coach, Martin knows the recruiting routine by heart.

¡°The first two questions a recruiter asks are: ¡®What kind of grades does he have?¡¯ and ¡®Can you send me some tape on him?¡¯ After that, when a recruiter comes to the school, the first words you hear are, ¡®Who else has offered?¡¯¡± Martin said. ¡°It¡¯s almost like no school wants to be the first to offer unless it is absolutely sure that someone it plays against is offering, too.

¡°I am convinced that Mark would be successful in the SEC. He has the intangibles, especially character and work ethic. MTSU got a steal.¡±

Family involvement

While Golden Tate of Pope John Paul II became the darling of recruiters who canvassed Middle Tennessee this past fall, the recruitment of Fisher was more typical of what many potential college players experience. The process is akin to a carnival thrill ride for the family and the recruit with as many highs as lows.

¡°It was an emotional roller coaster for Mark, my husband Terry and me,¡± said Rosemary Fisher, Mark¡¯s mother. ¡°Sometimes a college coach is telling you just what you want to hear, especially on the phone.

¡°When they come to your house and you see them face to face, you can look in their eyes and tell that they¡¯re lying to you and making things up. As a parent, you want to protect your child.¡±

Mark Fisher said his college dream began when he was 5 or 6, playing youth football. It permeated his family.

¡°When you have a son that you watched since the day he was born, you want what your child wants,¡± Terry Fisher said. ¡°When the recruiting starts, the pressure begins to build. It gets very costly with camps and campus visits, and you get on edge. All you want is what is best for your child, and for us, a good education was the first priority.¡±

Mark¡¯s recruitment included official and unofficial visits to Michigan, UT, Louisville, Mississippi State and Mississippi, among others. Some never offered. He put others on hold, perhaps too long.

¡°So many times in recruiting, you find a player you like, but all of a sudden, you find someone you like better,¡± MTSU Coach Rick Stockstill said. ¡°That¡¯s how some guys can go from being really hot in the spring, summer or even the first of the fall.¡±

He got offers from Vandy, Mississippi State, Louisville and Ole Miss last fall.

¡°Mississippi State was the first one to offer,¡± Fisher said. ¡°I was bouncing-off-the-wall happy.¡±

Yet, he did not take any offer immediately. Trying to be judicious, he hesitated.

Those schools that offered Fisher initially could not wait. The schools had made commitments to others with what had been Fisher¡¯s scholarship.

¡°MTSU may not be where I thought I was going several months ago, but I feel very, very comfortable with the school and the coaching staff,¡± Fisher said.

¡°Some of the coaches at some of the schools ¡ª I felt like they misled me. I think I could tell when they were fibbing. I hope I may get to play in the NFL someday, but I know the most important thing is go get an education and enjoy the experience of playing college football. That¡¯s what I¡¯m looking forward to doing now.¡±