(I have changed the name of the emailer and the schools he was inquiring about, so "D1 School" refers to the school he wants to walk-on at while "D3 School" refers to his current commitment.)
Dear Mr. Judge,
My name is John Doe and I am from Your City, USA. I recently graduated from XYZ High School and while I was recruited by a few division 1 school I was only offered a few scholarships to some NAIA schools and 1 Division 2 school. I decided to sign with XYZ College which is a D3 program because it was close to home. After signing I am getting ready to report here in about 3 weeks and I have been constantly feeling like I made the wrong choice. I am a HUGE (insert Division 1 school here) fan and it has always been my dream to play for them. I have been thinking about trying to transfer after this season and trying to walk-on at D1 School. My best friend just signed with them back in February and he loves it down there. I was wondering if you know anything about transferring from the Division 3 level to Division 1. I understand that i might never see the field but my goal is to wear their colors. I am about 6-1 and weigh about 230 pounds, and run a 4.8 in the 40 and was hoping to either walk-on as a fullback, linebacker, or both. Do you think they only have a limited number they allow to walk-on and the rest they cut? I know that they have a 105 roster which includes 20 walk-ons but just because you dont make the 105 doesnt mean you cant walk on does it? Thank you for taking the time to read my email!
My Response:
Thanks for the information. Here is my suggestion, if you are serious
about wanting to attend D1 School and walk-on to their team, then I
would either a) try to attend D1 School this school year and try to
walk-on this Fall or next Spring or b) enroll at D3 School but do NOT play
football there. I know it is very late in the game to try and go to
D1 School for this Fall as school starts in a month or so, so I am not
sure if that is realistic or not. But that will allow you to mentally
and physically get accumlated to the school so you can focus on
football and trying out. If this is not possible, then go to D3 School for
a semester or two and then transfer to D1 School. The reason I say not
to play is that you will lose that year of eligibility and you will
have to sit out one year if you transfer "up" to D1 School. So you wont
be eligible to play for D1 School until 3 seasons from now. You will be
much more "usable" as a walk-on if they dont have to deal with you
sitting out a year, this may or may not be a deal breaker for them, so
this is just speculation on my end. If you plan on going to D1 School
this Fall, get in touch with the football program and see when walk-on
tryouts are. The 105 number is only the limit of players that can
attend camp, so if you dont make that cut you can walk-on after camp
when school starts and earn your role that way. That is much more
realistic at this point because most camps start in a week or so. If
you decide to attend D3 School, then decide if you want to play this year or
not, then focus on your grades and progress in order to get admittance
to D1 School. The general rule is that you will have to sit out one
year if you transfer up to any college, but this can also be used as
your redshirt year, so its not terrible if you have to do that.
I hope this helps a bit, these are just suggestions so ask around and
talk to some more people before you make any decisions. Let me know
if you have anymore questions.
Good luck!
My Response:
Thanks for the information. Here is my suggestion, if you are serious
about wanting to attend D1 School and walk-on to their team, then I
would either a) try to attend D1 School this school year and try to
walk-on this Fall or next Spring or b) enroll at D3 School but do NOT play
football there. I know it is very late in the game to try and go to
D1 School for this Fall as school starts in a month or so, so I am not
sure if that is realistic or not. But that will allow you to mentally
and physically get accumlated to the school so you can focus on
football and trying out. If this is not possible, then go to D3 School for
a semester or two and then transfer to D1 School. The reason I say not
to play is that you will lose that year of eligibility and you will
have to sit out one year if you transfer "up" to D1 School. So you wont
be eligible to play for D1 School until 3 seasons from now. You will be
much more "usable" as a walk-on if they dont have to deal with you
sitting out a year, this may or may not be a deal breaker for them, so
this is just speculation on my end. If you plan on going to D1 School
this Fall, get in touch with the football program and see when walk-on
tryouts are. The 105 number is only the limit of players that can
attend camp, so if you dont make that cut you can walk-on after camp
when school starts and earn your role that way. That is much more
realistic at this point because most camps start in a week or so. If
you decide to attend D3 School, then decide if you want to play this year or
not, then focus on your grades and progress in order to get admittance
to D1 School. The general rule is that you will have to sit out one
year if you transfer up to any college, but this can also be used as
your redshirt year, so its not terrible if you have to do that.
I hope this helps a bit, these are just suggestions so ask around and
talk to some more people before you make any decisions. Let me know
if you have anymore questions.
Good luck!
1 comment:
Hey if you could answer my question I'd appreciate it. I'm basically an unknown person. A person who didn't play football in school. I've always been a natural athlete. Although irrelevant, I pitched baseball and for 5 years never lost a game. I quit and went to football during the summer. Then got into other activities more and just worked out. I've wrestled and did well. And MMA and done well. Now I'm older 24 years old. And I finally decided to give into my urge to play football. I gave up more or less because I was scared to try and not be the best. Now I'm extremely explosive and strong. Way stronger than just gym strength. I can bench 225 over 30 times. I can run the 40 in under 4.8. And am very agile and explosive. I feel I would make a very good d line or fullback. But, with no evidence other than ability to load youtube films. How can I walk onto a college team to start my challenge? Where to go? Who to talk to? I need field experience before I will even attempt to think about the nfl. I'm about 99% sure I have what it takes. But, I need to know how to go about this. My grades in highschool were not great. So I don't think a big school will take me. Or will they?
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