college football camps

Football camps are a very important aspect of college recruiting. Athletes can choose to attend a number of different types of college football Camps, Combines, and Tournaments each providing unique experiences for their attendees. Certain camps, combines, and tournaments are more beneficial for athletes playing one position over another. Here at Athnet we have developed a position by position star rating system to help you better identify which type of camp(s), combine, or tournament you should be adding to your schedule. Our rating system has taken into consideration both recruiting benefits and skill development to help ultimately create a better college football player and recruit.

College and University Camps


Colleges’ and universities’ camps should top every college football prospect’s list due to recruiting advantages offered through attending. Most schools host day or sleepover camps during the summer, encouraging young athletes and potential college recruits to get skilled instruction by college coaches and visits on their campuses. College and university camps are not intended for new skill development due to lack of repetitions and an overwhelming player to coach ratio. Most of the skills learned at these camps will be short term.

What these camps lack in skill development, they make up in recruiting benefits. This camp experience allows student-athletes first-hand knowledge of the coaching staff’s style and attitude, the campus & facilities, and the surrounding atmosphere that the particular college or university is able to offer a potential recruit. These camps also offer similar advantages to the hosting coaching staff; they are able to interact, sometimes one-on-one, with the student-athletes. Coaches are able to first-hand evaluate an athlete’s athletic capabilities, attitude towards football & other athletes, and leadership abilities.

Please note, solely attending a college or university camp does not guarantee “discovery” of you as a student-athlete. Instead, you should be diligent in your efforts to contact hosting coaching staffs before you attend their camp and ask to be evaluated.
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Sponsored Camps

“Private camps such as ours are best for developing skills and technique improvement”
- Richard “Dick” Dullaghan
Hall of Fame Coach and Co-Founder of Bishop & Dullaghan Football Camps

Sponsored camps are put on by specific companies not having direct ties to any specific college or college coaching staff. These camps are great for skill training but lack the big school on campus experiences and recruiting advantages that college or university camps might offer. A 2005 NCAA rule change disallowed Division 1 college coaches participation in sponsored camps as paid or volunteer personnel. This rule change decreased the overall merit of these camps significantly for athletes looking for Division 1 exposure.

Sponsored camps are hosted by company employees who are often former coaches and players. Occasionally these camps are also hosted by current D2, D3, NAIA and high school coaches or volunteers from the community. Unlike college or university camps, these camps are suitable for new skill development. Many camps cap enrollment to keep the player to coach ratio fair giving attending student-athletes the right amount of attention and repetitions.

While some larger camps may be free, many times these camps come with entrance fees or are by invitation only. For some, these gates of entry are difficult to overcome causing a slightly lower star ranking. Notable company camps include Nike Football Training Camp, Bishop and Dullaghan’s, Under Armour Training Camp, Kohl’s Kicking Camp, and IMG’s football camps.
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Celebrity Camps

Often current or former coaches and athletes decide to “give back”, hosting their own camp. These camps give the host an opportunity to create positive public relations for a community. They do not necessarily help any specific potential college football recruit learn skills and gain connections to get to the next level. Many times these camps are held in areas where underprivileged youth can attend, free of charge. Celebrity camps are popular in attendance due to student-athletes wanting a chance to meet and “learn” from the celebrated individual(s).
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Team Camps


Team camps can be viewed and attended a few different ways.

  1. An entire team or large number of the team attends a College or University Camp where they compete as individual position players but participate in limited team exercises as well.
  2. An entire team or unit (offense or defense) of a team travel to a camp together. These camps are usually reserved for teams adopting new offensive or defensive schemes which a college coaching staff or group of coaches is helping to implement.
  3. Select members of the offense and defense (skills units) travel to 7-on-7 Tournaments and camps.

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Position Camps

Often coinciding with Sponsored Camps, these camps are usually divided into direct positions (Quarterbacks or kickers) or groupings of positions (Offensive/Defensive line & Linebackers, or Skills athletes). Bishop and Dullaghan’s hosts both lineman and skills camps around the country while Kohl’s and Pro Kicker are popular kicking camps. Sometimes position specific camps are invite only. ESPN sponsors one of the most “Elite”; the illustrious Elite 11 camp invites the nation’s best quarterback talent each year to be tutored by some of the game’s past great players and coaches.
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Combines


Football Combines are non-contact “testing” camps. Combines are hosted by private companies and due to NCAA rules, have no ties to college coaching staffs. Under Armour, Nike SPARQ, and Schuman’s National Underclassman hold multiple combines around the country each year among others. Combine participants can expect to have their body completely measured, run the 40-yard dash, 10-yard dash, 5-10-5 shuttle (20 yard shuttle) & 3-cone drill, have their vertical jump & broad jump measured, max out on bench press repetitions at 185lbs, and participate in the sit and reach, grip test, & kneeling medicine ball toss. Given the nature of a combine, athletes act as individual participants. Often those hosting or participating in a combine will refer to the event as a showcase. The recruiting advantages and skills development are limited at these camps but the information gained from attending can be valuable to your resume and recruitment. Many combines release the results of its top performers to coaches around the country.
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Tournaments

7-on-7 tournaments, once a practice drill, places 7 offensive players (quarterback, running backs, wide receivers, & tight ends) versus 7 defensive players (linebackers and defensive backs) in passing and limited run attack situations. Many teams use these tournaments as a loop hole to the practice laws put in place by their state’s football governing body. Prior to a 2012 rule change 7-on-7 tournaments offered a unique recruiting advantage for tournament hosting universities; currently college coaches are neither able to host or attend any 7-on-7 tournaments.
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