Football Team & Rush
 

I didn't go to a school with a football team and all of our recruitment activities where in the Spring, so I'm not sure what advice to give my sons. They both are going to be playing on their college football team and they both want to rush. Will they be able to do Fall rush at the same time? Or should I tell them to plan to hold off until Spring? I don't want to list the exact school

Tell them to talk to their coach. Some football coaches (including some in the SEC) won't let scholarship players rush or will at least very strongly discourage it. Fall rush is probably fine though because the houses realize the time commitment of football and will abbreviate or rework the schedule of pledging for athletes who pledge. My house has pledged baseball and cross country athletes before and I believe we did that.

I know at UNC there is a house with several football players currently (including the starting QB -- who pledged AFTER becoming the starter). I believe they all pledged during their Spring Semester. Most pledged during the Redshirt year. So it can be done.. but it is a timing issue.

Related query
 

Thanks guys! Would the same apply if they were not on scholarship for some reason? Sorry, despite attending every game and being a proud team mom, I really know nothing about the proper terminology, DH handled all of that

I think if you're on the team--starter, bench player, scholarship, walk-on, etc-- you have to defer to the coach or your life will be hellish.

On a simplified level... Redshirt means you don't play any games for the year just practice and condition (hit the weights); obviously this mostly occurs the player's freshmen year. Sometimes players redshirt for medical reasons, too. Essentially it allows football players 5 years in total to play ball for 4 years.

Thanks for clearing it up. I'll tell them to ask their coach (that was what I figured my advice should be).

DGwithagrey, My husband played big-time college football and pledged (this was back in the stone ages), but, he said that the time committment for football was HUGE (and it is worse now, my son's bf plays for Rice and it is 7 days a week, 12 months a year - and we're talking Rice -so SEC big time football is going to be INTENSE). They may want to dig in a bit in their sport before pledging.

My husband says that back in his day, he really didn't do much with the fraternity, he couldn't have a "normal" pledgeship because he couldn't attend the scheduled events. He worried that they would kick him out, but they didn't, they were glad he was a member of XX, but he didn't have the same kind of bond with the other guys. In fact, the true bond he had was with the other members of the football team - blood, sweat and tears kind of bond.

Not trying to discourage you, but just laying out the realities of the situation as I know them.

I know that for many students, Greek life (or one's hopes of being Greek) can be a very important factor in choosing schools, but I cannot imagine giving up a scholarship simply to make it more convenient to pledge.

I guess if "money's not really an issue", then you probably have a different perspective. But making such a huge decision based solely on the premise that your sons would have an "easier" time pledging without the burden of a scholarship or coach on their shoulders, to me, is ridiculous.

Aside from that, there is no guarantee they are going to get bids. You might well be throwing that money away for no reason. Even if you can afford it, does it make sense to refuse it based on a "what if"?

BTW are they twins? Or are they in different schools, or different grades at the same school? You don't have to answer that, but you said that both your sons are in this situation.

PS Redshirting does not mean that they are a "walk on". Reshirting refers to the practice of having players benched (practice but not playing) for (usually) the first year to get used to and improve their game. Since NCAA only allows 4 years of play, if they got injured in let's say, the first game, that is one whole year of eligibility out the window. Some players who are injured at the end of a season may redshirt the following season bc they won't be healed enough to play the whole season. Not all freshman are redshirted, and not all reshirts are freshmen, but it happens regularly.

From what I got from her post, whether they are signed or redshirting affects their scholarship status. I don't think they're about to change schools at this point.

You're being way too hard on this mom, IMO.

I don't mean to be. What I read is that they may be willing to give up the scholarship if it meant that their coach would go easier on them regarding pledging.

To me, throwing away a scholarship "simply" or "only" in order to make it more convenient to pledge, is a waste of money. If there are other reasons to give up the scholarships, and not have the coach/team/campus burden on their shoulders, that's one thing. But from what I read, it would be simply to lessen the conflict of pledging AND playing at the same time.

Mom/OP - can you clarify?

Let me add that it IS your money and if you can afford it, more power to you. I just cannot imagine being in that situation.

I didn't think you were being impolite; however, I want to clarify that not being on scholarship has NOTHING to do with a desire to pledge. Honestly, my sons don't need an athletic scholarship to attend school--I'd rather not go into further detail in that regard. Thanks for the advice.

Ok, good, bc I didn't intend to be impolite. That's fine keeping your info to yourself; in fact, I suggest changing some of what you wrote. I wish them luck at school, and wish you luck having 2 kids in college. ;)

It has been my experience that basically, those that participle in fall semester sports generally pledge in the spring. And those that participate in spring sports, generally pledge in the fall.

Now depending on the school, there might be summer rush happening right now. If so, they can attend the rush events now, hopeful secure a bid, and then pledge in the fall *WITH* the understanding that school related activities (i.e. football) come first.

Also, if a chapter is interested in them, and knows they are involved with football (sports etc.) the chapter may be more lenient regarding attendance at rush events and not require them to attend that many rush events. I know of some chapters that set up times for the brothers to meet with incoming athletes away from the scheduled general rush events. (As allowed by the IFC and the athletic department.) Again, all of this is with the understanding that football has to come first.

Otherwise, they might need to defer to the spring semester to rush. For what it is worth, at Kentucky (UK), the spring is when most of the football players pledged. Not that there were a lot who did pledge, but those that did, generally waited until the spring to do so.

If its Tennessee then forget about it

At Oklahoma you see some FB players pledge.
Same at Ole Miss.

I'm sure there are other schools.

Your sons talking to the coach is a good call. It is also a good call for them to rush and make it very clear during rush to the fraternities that they are going to be on the football team. Any fraternity that is any good at all will know what that means and make their own decisions accordingly.

Srmom has it right- a good fraternity at a good school anywhere will jump at the chance to pledge a solid guy who has made a major personal committment to one of that school's sports teams.

And like she said, time and priorities will have an impact on where such individuals place their loyalties and develop their closest bonds.

All the same, your sons can find great value now and in the future in going Greek- and the chapters they choose will benefit as well. That is what it is all about.

Every chapter has guys who are at the house all the time and make it their life. And every chapter has guys who are rarely present and do not have the same direct connection while in school. But the latter group includes guys who care about the chapter but also have other obligations.

A good fraternity wants solid men- even if those solid men have other priorities in their lives. A guy who makes the committment to participate in football brings- by virtue of his efforts and drive- great credit on his fraternity that overcomes any issues with him not being at every pledge meeting or coming to every party.

So my advice for your sons is to rush if they want, but just be honest and up front about their committment to football. Any fraternity worth having them will understand and adjust accordingly. Take this advice from an alumnus of a top southern school which had many athletes in our chapter. The ones who wanted to be part of our group were given the chance to do so with genuine consideration for the demands on their time.

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! I've relayed it all to them and I hope these postings have helped other guys in a similar boat.

As someone who has been there and been on both sides of the issue, first find out if the coach has a problem with it. Most won't, but check anyways. Also, will they be walk-ons or scholarship players. That will also determine the coach's response. If they are scholarship players, they should make sure that the fraternity knows that their school is being paid by that scholarship and they need to commit to that first, and the fraternity second. Most houses understand that.

When these players rushed, they also made sure the fraternity knew, and the fraternity would make allowances for many things and would lower the requirements for pledgeship because of the football commitment. Also, your boys should already be talking to fraternities, and that is shomething they should bring up as an issue, and NOT as a way to boast. Seriously, that is a huge turn off.

Just to clarify, there aren't many football players at OU that rush. Mostly, walk-ons are the guys who rush. Very few scholarship players rush, but there have been a few.

Also, bit of advice, tell them NOT to drink during the season. It will make them drag a$$ and they will not survive long. I don't care if they did it in high school, they need to stay away from it in season. That's mostly if they would actually play on Saturdays though, if they are only on the practice squad like most first year guys, they probably can get away with it.

Hope this helps from someone who has done it first hand, and been on both sides of the issue.

I say let them rush in the fall. It will give them something to take their mind of school and football when they need to. Most fraternities will go easy on them because theyre athletes. Nothing better then starting off college as NCAA player who is also a new greek.

Back in the old Southwest Conference days (dating myself), we pledged and initiated the starting QB. We did it in the Spring. There's zero chance he would have endured a fall pledgeship. As it was, we made a lot of allowances for his athletic commitments in the spring. Of course, the reduced pledgeship burden he endured was a heck of a lot harder and longer than any of today's pledges likely see.

I would think most houses will cut athletes slack. Some houses also have reduced dues for varsity athletes. My chapter did.

The football coach didn't have any problems with guys pledging our fraternity. I'm sure the fact that one of our alums gave a lot of money to the football team and was a hunting buddy with the head coach didn't impact it at all.

This was not our only athlete or football player. My roommate was a football player until an injury left him to choose between walking and football. I was a varsity athlete in a different sport. I pledged in-season, but was badly injured and going through rehab. If I was playing, there's no way I could have pledged. Even if I could, I would have missed a lot of the pledging experience.

Tell your sons to talk with the coach. Maybe they can rush now, but pledge in the spring. Personally, I would recommend focusing on football and school. The fraternity can come later.

Most houses will have a positive bias for football players. They'll accomodate your sons' requirements. Plus, waiting will give your sons time to make sure they're selecting the house that fits them best.

Good luck.

They've made their decision and will be going through, but I don't want to give any more info out. Your advice was relayed to them and really helped. Thanks!

They should ask their coach what to do. Our scholarship athletes are typically not allowed to pledge. I had a friend who ran track, and had to wait until the end of his senior year to accept a bid.

That is great!

My Alma Maters coach says no to Greeks but one of our now Alums was an All American Academic Scholar so he did make time and was president of the chapter.

Also remember when looking at many schools, there were many outstanding players who were GLO members!:)

Coaches feel that their players have to concentrait on nothing but foot ball! Being a member of a GLO takes that away from the team.

I would rather have a well rounded son who has gotten experience from something but grinding up the grass.

Another point is that GLOs have higher GPAs normaly than the schools.:cool: