recruiting idea

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:48 am

Look what Oregon is doing.

This doesn't sound that expensive if a lot of it can be computer-generated...

I'm not suggesting copying this... but I'll bet there is an equally innovative idea that could spring from this.

Are our VCT students smart enough to create personalized video like this, for example?

(Not sure what publication this is from; it was e-mailed to me).

Rock 'em, sock 'em recruiting
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
RYAN WHITE
Brian Truelove gets letters. Lots and lots of letters. From school after school wanting the 6-foot-2, 267-pound defensive lineman from Georgia to come play football.
Hundreds of letters. So many he gave up trying to organize them. They arrive on official letterhead. They begin, Dear Prospect.
"Just boring looking stuff," Truelove said.
Then, a package from the University of Oregon arrives.
"I get this comic book page and it's got me on the cover, and No. 72 and it says, 'A Hero Is Born,' " he said. "It was like, 'Oh my God, this is crazy.' "
Page by page, players being recruited by Oregon this year have received comic books starring themselves starring for the Ducks, winning the national title, graduating, and moving on to the NFL.
"Oregon has done something totally different," Kevin Garrett, a safety from Harbor City, Calif., said. "It's like they've put you in the program already."
Dozens of big-time schools try to make an impression, try to strike the nerve that triggers a finite number of kids to commit. It's big business with, ultimately, millions of dollars hinging on wins and losses. Big business requires marketing.
Maybe the most amazing thing then isn't that Oregon is sending comic books. It's that the Ducks seem to be the only ones doing anything close to it.
"About this time last year, someone suggested comic books. Oregon got the idea cleared by the Pac-10 and the NCAA, and Gilmore's team set off to make it happen.
"It'll show a picture of my face, and it'll look pretty much like me," Truelove said. "Who is doing this, I don't know."
Brian Merrell, a fifth-year multimedia and design major born in Eugene and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho, is doing it. By himself. And it takes a long time. Each mailing goes out as quickly as he can get it finished.
On some panels, he has to change only some type. Some require no changes. Some require very personalized touches.
About 70 recruits began getting the comics. If one committed to another school, the comic stopped coming. The comic takes them through the entire experience, from classes, to the weight room, to game day. UO radio play-by-play broadcaster Jerry Allen calls a personalized play. Phil Knight pumps his fists after the win.
The player's face beams off the scoreboard as the "Nike Player of the Game," something the Ducks couldn't do on an actual recruiting trip. There's a private jet and the green Oregon Hummer, two transports the NCAA has outlawed.
"Originally, it was going to be 20 pages," said Merrell, who wants to get into filmmaking. "I had never done anything like this before. I didn't know fully what was involved. I couldn't estimate how long it would take."
Time constraints whittled it to 14 pages, and that's taken a lot of seven-day work weeks and 14-hour days (plus a little time scouring the Internet himself to see if his work is being mentioned by recruits). He makes $1,000 a month as an intern. Oregon gets a pretty good deal.
Then again, Merrell is about to enter the job market and, "Phil Knight has seen my work and knows me," he said.
The recruits have seen something, too: themselves as Ducks. Both Truelove and Garrett have made oral commitments to Oregon. Both also said the comics showed them what could happen if they work hard enough.

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:01 pm

Frickin' brilliant!!!!!!!!!!

Falcon30 · Post by **Falcon30** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:27 pm

1987alum wrote:Frickin' brilliant!!!!!!!!!!

I agree - creativity gets 'em every time

Taking off of Schadenfreude's tag from last year....

We have coach Brandon show up at the door to deliver the comic in a brown short-sleeve button down shirt and Brown Shorts with a UPS-style package and say "what can brown do for you?"

OK maybe not the shorts

jmillerbg · Post by **jmillerbg** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:52 pm

I know from listening to Coach Stud speak a couple years ago that they were sending out emails with pictures of the recruit scoring a toughdown at the Doyt with their HS jersey number and stuff like that.

Oregon has gone above and beyond though. What a fantastic recruiting tool.

momtartin · Post by **momtartin** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 1:01 pm

Are our VCT students smart enough to create personalized video like this, for example?

I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to do, provided we get actual clips of the prospect, I'm sure Metzger will agree with me on this. I'd be up for giving it a shot

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 1:23 pm

Cool, but I guess I'm old school on this. I would rather see a personal letter in the mail from the head coach or something to this effect.

PGY Tiercel · Post by **PGY Tiercel** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 1:26 pm

No, This is brilliant. The comic books are just a good idea.

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 1:51 pm

Rather than pictures of them scoring a TD at Perry, why not send them pictures of them scoring with Lindsay Lohan at Perry Stadium.

That would certainly generate some discussion.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 2:36 pm

Falcon30 wrote:
1987alum wrote:Frickin' brilliant!!!!!!!!!!
I agree - creativity gets 'em every time

Taking off of Schadenfreude's tag from last year....

We have coach Brandon show up at the door to deliver the comic in a brown short-sleeve button down shirt and Brown Shorts with a UPS-style package and say "what can brown do for you?"

OK maybe not the shorts

Obviously, I like this idea.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 2:42 pm

Flipper wrote:Rather than pictures of them scoring a TD at Perry, why not send them pictures of them scoring with Lindsay Lohan at Perry Stadium.

That would certainly generate some discussion.

Gimme a Letter of Intent. NOW!

jmillerbg · Post by **jmillerbg** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 2:45 pm

I think this idea is so good because it is not just ANOTHER letter from a head coach. As mentioned in the article, these kids receive piles of letters everyday.

I do agree with you though if we were a top 5 school a signed letter from the head coach would probably be the best way to go. Who wouldn't want a letter signed by the head coach at USC or Oklahoma to spark their interest. Oregen, however, is not what I would call a premier football destination. To complete they have to stand out and be different which they obviously excel at (just check out the uniforms they wear). This is just another thing to stand out in a recruit's mind.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 2:45 pm

momtartin wrote:
Are our VCT students smart enough to create personalized video like this, for example?
I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to do, provided we get actual clips of the prospect, I'm sure Metzger will agree with me on this. I'd be up for giving it a shot

I didn't realize we already sent out personalized photos. That's cool. Very cool.

The video thing could be very ambitious; I threw it out there but I don't know how hard that is.

transfer2BGSU · Post by **transfer2BGSU** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 2:51 pm

hammb wrote:
Flipper wrote:Rather than pictures of them scoring a TD at Perry, why not send them pictures of them scoring with Lindsay Lohan at Perry Stadium.

That would certainly generate some discussion.
Gimme a Letter of Intent. NOW!

Why should we waste our money on things like that?

We didn't even give hammb a pic of him and Lohann and he's ready to sign with us.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 3:32 pm

transfer2BGSU wrote:
hammb wrote:
Flipper wrote:Rather than pictures of them scoring a TD at Perry, why not send them pictures of them scoring with Lindsay Lohan at Perry Stadium.

That would certainly generate some discussion.
Gimme a Letter of Intent. NOW!
Why should we waste our money on things like that?

We didn't even give hammb a pic of him and Lohann and he's ready to sign with us.

One good reason would be because you may want a more qualified "athlete" than myself

Sure, I jump at that idea without even seeing the pictures, but the competition is not real stiff to secure my athletic services. Now if there was a team for making an omlette while drinking beer at 8:00 AM, I'd be all over it! Or deep frying pizza rolls...that's my specialty

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 3:43 pm

hammb wrote:Now if there was a team for making an omlette while drinking beer at 8:00 AM, I'd be all over it! Or deep frying pizza rolls...that's my specialty

And you'd be a Heisman finalist, too!