Want to play college football?

College football is iconic, big crowds, national TV, and intense school pride. But behind the spotlight is years of grit, hustle, and preparation.

With over a million high school players across 16,000 teams, Friday nights are filled with passion. But only the most dedicated make it to the next level.

Getting recruited takes more than talent. Athletes need strong academics, a smart recruiting game plan, and relentless effort, from building a highlight video to connecting with coaches and navigating offers.

This football recruiting guide breaks it all down so you can stay on track from your first snap to Signing Day.

Learn how the NCAA recruiting rules and calendar affect the football recruiting process

Wondering when college football coaches can reach out? The NCAA recruiting rules and calendar outline exactly when and how coaches can contact athletes. These rules are designed to protect players from being overwhelmed by early interest. But here’s the good news: while coaches have restrictions, athletes can take the first step much earlier. In this guide, we break down the written—and unwritten—rules so you can get ahead in the football recruiting process.

Understand how to use the football recruiting rules and calendar >

See what coaches look for in Football recruits

Have you considered where your athlete stacks up next to a D1 linebacker or quarterback? To find out the measurements for the average college football player by division, we went to the source: college football rosters. We pulled data from all NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA football teams’ rosters for the past five years. Then, we averaged all the heights and weights for each position at all division levels. Families can use this information to generally see what division levels might be a good fit based on their athlete’s size.

See how your recruit compares to the average college football player in his position >

Find out how college football scholarships work

Scholarships are available for collegiate football players at the NCAA Division 1 FBS, Division 1 FCS and Division 2 levels, as well as at NAIA colleges and junior colleges. Learn more about scholarship opportunities, how they are divided up and how D3 athletes can find scholarship dollars.

Learn more about how much football scholarship money you might qualify for >

Get discovered by college football coaches

College football coaches are looking for recruits with extensive varsity experience, a stellar highlight film, the right body type, high football IQ and good academics. However, even if athletes have these characteristics, there’s no guarantee that a college coach is going to find them. In this guide, we go over how to find the right schools, contact football coaches, develop relationships with programs that would be a good fit, and much more.

See what it takes to get recruited for football >

Create an eye-catching highlight video coaches will respond to

Having a stellar highlight video is a must for athletes in the football recruiting process! Highlight videos are oftentimes a coach’s first—and possibly only—way to watch recruits compete, so it needs to really capture their best qualities as a football player. Our former collegiate coaches give insider tips on how to make the best highlight video, including how to start the video, the right footage to use and the skills coaches want to see based on position.

Check out these guidelines for making your best highlight video >

Attend football camps, combines and Showcases

After the highlight video, football camps are going to be the best way to show off recruits’ skills in front of college coaches. However, with all the different football camps and combines out there, it’s tough to know which one is really going to move the needle in your athlete’s recruiting. We break down the different types of camps, who they best serve and much more, so families can create a football camps and combines strategy that will take their football recruiting up a notch.

Find the right event to get recruited for football >

Explore college football teams across all division levels

With hundreds of college football teams all across the United States, it’s tough to know what all your options are. We’ve created lists of all the football colleges, broken out by division level, conference, city and state. We also explain the difference between each division, to give you a better idea of what might be the best fit for you or your athlete.

View our full list of football colleges >