When getting recruited to play college football, you need to make yourself visible to coaches. Just playing in your games during the season isn't good enough–you need to work around the clock, 365 days a year to make sure you're on coaches' radars. Sending out your highlight tape, attending showcases, and going to camps are all great ways to get seen and garner interest that can hopefully lead to an offer. However, it's important to make sure you're presenting yourself in the best light possible. So with that in mind, should you attend combines?

All over the country, there are many organizations that offer regional football combines where an athlete will have the opportunity to run a 40-yard dash, jump a vertical, run a 5-10-5 shuttle, maybe bench press, and whatever other drills each combine might present. Combines are designed to feel very official, just like the NFL Combine. 

However, there is a glaring difference between these combines and the NFL Combine: the players who are invited to the pro combine are the elite of the elite in college football. These are the guys who make all of the superhuman plays on the biggest stages on Saturdays, and receive around-the-clock training for just combine-specific drills. 

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This means that if those guys, who are phenomenal athletes to begin with and spend months breaking down the science behind those drills, still only run times like 4.4-4.5 seconds in the 40, chances are the high schooler who says he runs those times isn't telling the whole truth. A college coach who sees times like those attached to a player's profile isn't excited by them, they're skeptical of them. Most regional combines aren't sanctioned by reputable organizations, and there's no universal way that they're recorded, so combine scores aren't generally trusted.

However, it must be noted that the uncomplicated nature of combines make them great to attend while in the offseason to track your progress. The purpose of the off-season is to work on your athletic, not football-specific ability. If an athlete runs track in the spring, then something like a 40-yard dash wouldn't be too complicated a task to accomplish. Not to mention running track makes you more attractive to college coaches. If you play another sport in the offseason, you can work on your fitness and still attend combines because most of the drills are based on athletic ability, not football skills. 

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The truth is, most high school players are going to accomplish average times at best. Combines measure physical prowess, not playing ability. The very rare few will achieve scores that will attract college attention, the scores of the majority will be unremarkable, or even disappointing. If an athlete has film that shows that they might be a phenomenal athlete, subpar combine scores will suggest an alternative picture to coaches. 

Remember: in the recruiting process, you want to show yourself in the best light. Maybe you don't test well in combine drills, so it's better to stick to things like camps and showcases to let your play do the talking, and use those combines as a training tool, not a recruiting tool. 

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* Originally published on November 22, 2022, by Isaac Haney