Is a Post Grad Year Right For Your College Football Recruiting Journey?

Here are the things you need to know before considering a prep school year.

*Note: the terms post grad or prep school are use interchangeably to mean any post high school football play without going to an actual college that does not count against your NCAA eligibility (unlike JUCO)*

Prep schools have become a popular route for aspiring high school athletes who have their eyes on potentially larger college sports programs to play for.

In the Northeast, there is a higher concentration of these prep schools i.e. Choate, Taft, Deerfield, Loomis, Cheshire Academy, St. Thomas More, Trinity Pawling and more. They all compete in a separate league outside of public school play called the NEPSAC (New England Prep School Athletic Conference).

These schools typically offer a vastly different experience from public school: boarding school atmosphere, more rigorous Ivy-League-Level instruction, greater independence, higher levels of diversity, greater resources and more robust athletic competition that attracts larger college sports programs.

Same pond, more fishermen

New England isn’t even on the map for most FBS college football programs but Greg Schiano will charter a helicopter out to Loomis Chaffee outside of Hartford, CT to check out a few recruits and Jim Harbaugh will fly out to the literal middle-of-nowhere Oakville, CT in the woods of Eastern Connecticut to go bowling with some recruits from powerhouse St. Thomas More.

For kids whose regular public school football programs get little to no recruiting attention, just being there at a prep school might be enough to finally get some FBS traction.

The earlier you try to go to a prep school the better.

Most prep schools will prefer an underclassmen they can get a few years out of to a high school senior who is trying to play what is called a post graduate year.

PG isn’t easy

A PG year isn’t a sure bet. Prep schools only have a handful of PG spots they can dish out ever year and they will be very cautious as to who they give those coveted spots out to. You need to be combination of a high-priority need for the program that year and be a world-beater at that same position.

QB’s, WR, LB’s, OL/DL studs have a much better shot than kickers or de-prioritized positions will.

Reclassify

What’s much more likely to happen is that a coach may ask you to reclassify as a junior or senior again to repeat a portion of your high school career. This lets you spend another year or so in the weight room, contribute more to the team and lets the school get a greater return on investment from you.

It’s also very unlikely you can only play football at these schools. In fact, some schools, like Avon Old Farms (Avon, CT) require you to play more than just a single sport.

Being a multi-sport athlete is a huge advantage in the prep school world.

Financials

The cost of these schools is quite high. Some of these schools can cost more than 3 years of tuition at a state college with tuition running north of $60,000 in some situations. If you are in an economic situation where you can foot most of the bill as a “full pay” student-athlete and you are decently talented you’ve got a great chance of being given a spot on the team.

Financial aid does exist, but it’s not as clear cut as something like FAFSA would be since these are prep schools, not colleges. Even if you get $30,000 of tuition scholarship, you still need to fork over another $30,000 to pay for a $60,000 tuition program.

And, just being at these schools does not automatically guarantee you receive that big-time college football offer to play for Ohio State. Yes, these programs have great networks with marquee FBS programs. Yes, these coaches have the cell phone numbers of guys from the B10, ACC and Ivy League. Yes, it is an awesome campus experience you won’t find anywhere else.

But you don’t get to decide what the football recruiting market wants.

Like anywhere else, timing, chance and luck play a significant role in the college football recruiting game. The only thing that being at a prep school guarantees beyond a reasonable doubt is that you will be playing football for a program with significant big-time recruiting traffic in and out of their offices throughout the year.

But, beyond that, there can be no guarantees of you actually playing at your dream school.

If money isn’t a large issue, you are stud who can get a full ride or you are a brainiac and can land a merit scholarship, you’ll need to seriously weigh your options on whether or not a prep school is worth it for you.

Public vs. Prep Debate

Not everyone likes prep schools — public school football coaches especially are frustrated. These schools gain drain their local talent and poach student-athletes out of their school districts with the allure of a higher level of football play.

In an area of the country already experiencing depopulation (probably due to outrageous taxes!) the tension between prep and public schools will likely only increase.

If you are from an area outside of the Northeast considering a prep school you do have a greater advantage in getting a nicer deal because you will create more diversity for their programs.

Covid Concerns

Whole prep schools have more leeway with what their seasons will look like, a significant portion of their populations are from out-of-state and out-of-country.

With no clear end in sight for covid concerns, prep school football has many question marks:

Will they still have a season?

Will they still have a season despite a significant portion of their football rosters being from out-of-state?

Will these schools be able to dorm students like they have in the past despite covid concerns?

Will these programs still have a season despite having a large percentage of their rosters from overseas countries who have travel bans on the US?