Everything that is wrong with football in one place

True but this is getting absurd.

Out of 15,000 or more schools? That sounds pretty tough to me.

I imagine there are more teams that don't want to play them than those that will. I could see it hard scheduling the tougher teams toward the end of the season.

The only way to stop companies like this is basically to refuse to play them. And it helps that the state of Florida won't let them play for a state title.

We have this same problem in my area because we are more of a baseball area. We have the talent to win or compete for a state title every year but these kids don't play because their AAU team is playing out of state.

It's hard to compete with a tournament in Florida vs. going down the road on a bus in Podunk Arkansas and playing a team

I would love to play them, just from an ego standpoint... And we would be lucky to keep it w/in 50.
For what it's worth, all of you in favor of club football, there you go. The word amateur gone forever.

Our basketball team lost a kid to them or someone like them not long ago. Seems kind of silly and also a good way to potential expose yourself as not as good as you thought...

so we should all be recruiting 8th graders to live on campus and only focus on football?

doubt their education is worth anything. 

This is a tough one. Besides elementary school, I've always been a public school kid and now coach at my Alma mater. So, as a public school coach we never like the private schools much. However, this is good ole Merica. If the best of the best want their own school, and if a group of businessmen want to put up the cash and take a chance on a for profit school, then all the power to them. They have the right to do so. This doesn't mean this school has to be allowed to compete in any type of post season and it also doesn't mean schools will be forced to play them.

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All if that's true but would you feel that way if one of your guys was one of the best of the best? 

The vast majority of me hates it. They openly recruit and because of marketing and advertising they are drawing from the entire nation. They live or die on being able to schedule games, and I hope nobody schedules them. On the other hand I'd love to see them play some of the top schools out here and get beat, because they would.

On the other hand... as a coach, this could reshape the high school football world. Maybe (like a 1% chance) even for the better. With all of the televised games, more media coverage of HS ball, and ultimately the more money coming down to high school football, we could potentially one day see coaching jobs with substantial pay without classroom duties. I love the current system in my state a lot, but I'd almost sell my soul to make around 100k and not have to deal with the classroom.

from the article...my comments in parenthesis...The school, 45 miles south of Tampa, recruits football players from around the country. It offers high-performance training (I am certified by USAW and run the Georgia Strength Coaches Association), college preparatory courses(we have those here along with dual enrollment and AP classses), coaches with N.F.L. playing experience(our HC played in the NFL and coached in college and Arena), facilities that resemble a small college more than a high school (we are getting a new gym with indoor facility, weight room, and dressing rooms), and a chance to play a national schedule and on ESPN(my school played on ESPN just a few years ago) against some of the highest-rated teams.

With that being said, private schools have been doing this for a loooooong time.

I've had a few conversations with players and some friends of mine that are parents. I truly am honest and advise these kids with what's best for them in mind. If I have a player that is good enough to get substantial playing time at a private powerhouse and their parents had the money, then I would tell them to go. A 2 year successful starter at a football powerhouse playing against top notch talent would be way better for his future than if he were a 3 or 4 year starter at an average team that doesn't play great competition. If a kid has a pipedream and would sit the bench and maybe get some playing time by senior year then I would try to talk them into staying.

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"A school guide describes a typical day for athletes: Breakfast from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. Three classes lasting 80 minutes each. Forty minutes of tutoring and preparation for standardized tests. Lunch. Training and conditioning from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Dinner. Another hour of available tutoring and a mandatory 90-minute study hall"


To those who say the education is lost, let's compare to a day in the life of a kid from a typical public school, which is where I coach:

-7:20 schools starts
Classes where you are a high achieving student surrounded by kids who could care less about being disruptive or even graduating. But you better not separate the students, because that would be unfair to the dumb students.  So a smart student has to learn in an environment where everything is dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. 
 
-Now you get a crappy lunch the govt says is healthy, but nobody eats.

-Back to class with more dumba$$es.

-Schools out, now you put on your school supplied equipment that hasn't been upgraded for YEARS.  And you strap on your helmet that is old technology, because it isn't in the budget to use the newest technology (helmets, classrooms sharing computers, text books....oops, forgot this was about football).

-Go practice on a practice field that most farmers wouldn't drive a tractor on.  Hope you don't roll an ankle or anything, because for a lot of schools there is no $$ in the budget for a trainer.

.....you get the picture.

Now, contrast that with the IMG school day and learning environment, as well as the athletic environment, and then stand back and wonder why anyone would want to be a part of that...seriously!?

Let's be honest, if you had a son who had aspirations of PLAYING college ball (not just being on a team), and you had the means to do it, I think the majority of guys on here would be on board with a place like this.  As a side note, and this is by no means scientific, but if a parent has $70k to send a kid to a school like this, they are probably a high achieving individual and that rubs off on the kid.  That kid will be able to handle the being away from home more than not, as well as not being a part of the "local school" environment just fine.

see thats where i differ, i wouldnt. I wouldnt send my kid to a long term boarding school where they "might" get to be a normal kid when they come home for holidays if they are allowed to because year round training.

sometimes, us coaches need to realize this is just a game....