How To Get A Scholarship As A Running Back

As you know running back is a very important position in football.  There are plenty of great running backs with all the stats in the world but only end up playing at a NAIA school. While there is nothing wrong with playing NAIA we hear at StudentBlitz like to get athletes to play either division 1 or division 2. In fact 70% of our athletes earn FULL athletic scholarships.

When it comes to playing running back most coaches want to see the athlete up close and personal before offering them a scholarship. The size of a running back is very important to coaches unless your highlight tape is amazing you’re unlikely to get a scholarship offer until you meet the coach in person. The best time to meet coaches is during junior days or at a summer camp. Coaches can also come to your school and visit you but contact with the coaches is very limited because of NCAA rules.

Highlight Video

With your highlight tape you want to show your long runs, any good moves you made to get by a defender basically anything that shows your athleticism and ability to run the ball. Avoid any short runs up the middle unless you’re running over defenders or junking would be defenders.

Other important skills you want to showcase is your ability to block and to catch passes both of these skills will give you a chance to show your versatility but I would include these plays at the end of your highlight video because you always want to put your best plays first.

When talking to college coaches find out how their program likes to use their running backs. Do they play only one running back at a time? or do they use multiple running back sets? Know what the depth chart is looking like when you talk to coaches it wouldn’t be in your best interest to go to a program with 3 freshman running backs. When talking to coaches find out if their system will use your abilities to the maximum potential, if you’re a speed back you don’t want to go to a school that runs the ball up the gut all the time.

College camps and combines are vital for running backs, if you play for a small high school you need to use camps to prove to coaches that you can play with the big boys. Be prepared to run the 40 yard dash, you likely want to have a in the 4.5s to be considered as a division 1 running back.  Some drills to look forward to are running drills, blocking drills and catching drills so that coaches can be sure that you have what it takes to play at the next level.

StudentBlitz can help you showcase your skills in front of college coaches; if you’re a running back with a highlight video that is ready to be seen by college coaches create a free recruiting profile by filling out the form above and let the journey to the next level start here………….