Why is HS football so weak in New York?

I may be wrong, but I think it's pretty unfair to base an entire state's status off of one school. If this is a perennial powerhouse we're talking about, then maybe...but still an unbalanced assessment IMO.

New York has had a reputation for sub-par HS football for a long time. They have the lowest number of D.1 recruits per capita in the country. Syracuse U. has only 15 NY natives on the roster (And one played HS ball in NJ).

I don't know why. I have friends that coach or have coached in the state and they all complain that the state association puts a lot of restrictions on them. Other than that I can't really say what the problem is. 

Good point, I wonder what states produce the most D1 talent relative to population

Scroll down some to the per capital section

www.footballstudyhall.com/2013/9/11/4718442/college-football-state-texas-california-florida


Being from PA I think, and this may seem weird in a way, the states up north that are good for football talent seem to be generational states that have some kind of genetic link to the talent here.   Like it's just in the blood around here.  I don't even know how to explain it sure someone smarter than I am could.  

Interesting, so 13 of the top 15 states per capita are from southern warmer climates, where 13 of the bottom 15 are from northern or colder states. I'm sure part of that could be the number of schools available in a given state, and some could also reflect the popularity of other sports in a given region.

Naw, this was going going long before the CTE talk started. 

I think there is something somewhat to that. Being from Ohio I think the quality of teams across the state is pretty solid. There areas that aren't "as strong" but even there I can think of teams who have made state title runs from there recently. From the big private powers, to first ring suburb public powers, to small school powers in economically depressed areas. Lots of variety in the types and places of good programs.

An article that kind of hits on the point I was trying to make earlier.

www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2015/01/30/Football-roots-run-deep-from-Aliquippa-to-Super-Bowl/stories/201501300126

I lived in NYC most of my 26 years and now live in central NY:

Basketball is king in NYC and it isn't even close. Most schools don't have the space nearest their to have a football team. My former HS had football 4-5 years before I even attended and chose to have soccer instead be their fall sport on the field nearby. Unlike the south or many other places football is not seen as a rite of passage growing up so no there isn't an emphasis on it especially as many schools have other things to pay for. Also as i've seen in a few NYC HS's the weight rooms leave much to be desired (not that you couldn't Macguyver your way into a solid S&C program my basketball coach did a good job of it, pull ups at the crosswalk anyone?). There are plenty of athletes in NYC/LI though relative to the rest of the state. Yuppies/hippies have little if nothing to do with the fact the game isn't as good as some other states near by as those kids probably aren't going to be very good players let alone teammates/assets to the program. The layout of football across the state (from a collegiate stand point) are as follows: 3 FBS, 8 FCS, 2 DII, 17 DIII & 7 JUCOs. It isn't as if there isnt a place for the kids just within NY to have a place to go to play. Syracuse hasn't been good in many generations, Buffalo had a very short stint of notoriety a few years ago and Army is Army; historically great if not ever in the conversation for most HS players so the talent usually doesn't go there.

There's a lot of New York that isn't New York City and I was talking about the whole state, overall. 

As a Buffalo-area resident and coach thank you for remembering that the state is more than just NYC. In my opinion it's that the emphasis on football isn't really that strong. I'm curious if a good college football environment is sometimes conducive to a strong football mentality. Ohio has Ohio State, Michigan has Michigan, Michigan State, Pennsylvania has Pitt, Penn State. Thoughts? 

I don't think politics plays a huge part. As much of a liberal state as California is, the state produces great football. However, there is also some really bad football played here too especially in the urban areas such as Los Angeles city even though there isn't a shortage of talent over there. I'm sure the same can be said for Northern California. It just seems that the more urban the area, the worse it is and the more rural the are, the better it is. Take a look at the inland empire of California (think corona cente ial). There is great football played out there and although there is more and more development, it's still an area known for dairies and. cows. While areas of downtown LA have high populations, are almost overly developed, and have very diverse populations, the football is terrible!

The county breakdown is pretty interesting. I like checking which counties have the red/dark red stats.

I know for a fact there are more than 14 college football players from the Monterey County