In collaboration with Daryl “DJ” Smithling Jr., Assistant Director of Player Personnel at Methodist University, a realistic yet just an idea of a football recruiting camp was created as the final project. The purpose of the two-day “Monarch Football Elite Recruiting Camp” is to find and assess high school football players while increasing Methodist’s regional recruiting efforts. The project includes a complete execution plan, and promotional flyer all of which are based on skills learned throughout the course, including event planning, marketing strategy, and professional collaboration. Under DJ’s direction, the camp’s format was shaped to emphasize player evaluation through scrimmages, position-specific drills, combine testing, and one-on-one matches. Social media, email outreach to high school coaches, local media involvement, and DJ’s professional network would all be used for promotion. Team play, scrimmaging, and feedback would be the main topics of day two, while athlete evaluation and position drills would be the main focus of day one. Athletes would gain a better understanding of the Division III recruiting process by attending a recruiting education session led by DJ. This project proposes an useful initiative that addresses real-world goals in collegiate football operations by utilizing both academic learning and industry knowledge.
