Tom Donahoe is a Pittsburgh native who worked for the Steelers from 1983 through 1999, the last nine years as the Director of Football Operations (the Steelers equivalent of General Manager). All Steelers fans who go back at least a few years remember Tom and his role in the Steelers’ success. After his 17 years with the Steelers, Mr. Donahoe moved on to the Buffalo Bills and served as their President and General Manager from 2001 through 2005.
This past July, he moved back to Pittsburgh and now spends some of his time working with NCSA Athletic Recruiting (NCSA), a company that helps match up high school athletes with colleges. Since I was not familiar with NCSA, I invited Mr. Donahoe to sit down with me over a cup of coffee and a bagel to discuss his recent activities with NCSA. He was kind enough to accept my invitation.
Tom’s involvement with NCSA goes back to when he was working for the Steelers and met Chris Krause, NCSA’s founder. When NCSA was founded in 2000 Mr. Donahoe agreed to serve on its Advisory Board.
It turns out that NCSA has been around for a while, but has not been very active in the Pittsburgh area. With his move back to Pittsburgh, Mr. Donahoe agreed to help “get the word out” in Western Pennsylvania regarding what NCSA has to offer to high school athletes. He is a big believer that NCSA is a valuable tool for high school athletes and it came across very clearly that his support comes from the heart and not financial gain. Prior to joining the Steelers, Tom was a high school teacher and football coach so he is well aware of the issues from the perspective of the student. In addition, his two children have both used NCSA to find colleges where they could participate in their respective sports (basketball and golf).
Mr. Donahoe has been networking with high school coaches and athletic directors, offering to give free recruiting talks at high schools for athletes and their parents. So far, he has made presentations at a number of schools including Keystone Oaks, Shaler and Knoch and is scheduled to visit such schools as North Allegheny, Fox Chapel, Meadville and Erie McDowell in early spring.
In his talks, he stresses that parents have a clear understanding of what they are getting for their money before they sign on with NCSA or any of their many competitors. He also talks about the “five things you need to know” and the “five things you need to do”.
The five things you need to know are:
· The recruiting process started yesterday!
· Recruiting starts with verified 3rd party information (e.g., most coaches show up at events with a list of players they will evaluate)
· College coaches evaluate prospects online
· Be realistic: less than 1% get a D1 full ride
· Don’t blame your coach
The five you need to do are:
· Develop your game plan and get evaluated
· Post your academic-athletic resume online
· Create a winning highlight/skills video
· You need to contact 50-100 (or more) realistic programs
· It’s not a 4 year decision, it’s a 40 year decision
NCSA offers its service to athletes in all sports. They provide a free evaluation to interested players and then offer services, the cost of which is based on the level of service requested. There is no charge to college coaches to access the athlete’s information.
As most of you know there are plenty of services like NCSA, so I asked the people at NCSA headquarters (in Chicago) what made them different from their competitors. Here’s what they said.
“I would say the biggest thing that sets us apart from our competitors is our partnerships. We are partnered with some of the biggest names in the industry including Nike, ESPN, Under Armour, IMG and the NFLPA (National Football League Players Association)among others. We have also built trusted relationships with college and high school coaches over the past decade. NCSA prides itself on continuously educating athletes, parents, high school and college coaches. We have weekly newsletters and webcasts which are all free and cover a variety of different topics. We also have educational talks at high schools, camps and combines to educate student-athletes and their parents. All of our high school events are also sponsored by the NFLPA which allows it to be free for everyone. Lastly, NCSA qualifies and verifies all of our student-athletes (basically you can’t just sign up.)”
It is the policy of West Penn Baseball Prospects not to endorse products or services. If you want to learn more about the company and their services, I recommend you visit their website at www.ncsasports.org,