Why did we create the Kicking World Recruiting List?
For Students: To help specialists get recognized and validated for their abilities and to streamline the college recruitment process.
For Colleges: To provide a reliable source for college football teams to discover legitimate specialists for their program.
How are students chosen for the Kicking World Recruiting List?
The minimum criteria to even be considered is that KW Recruits must have attended at least (1) Kicking World camp and/or at least (2) Private Lessons in one year. No one makes the list unless we see them in person and can personally vouch for their kicking, punting, or snapping abilities. Prospects are nominated collectively by the Kicking World staff and Coach Brent makes the final decision on who makes the list. While we see over 1,500 students a year, we only list the best of the best (typically our top 10% of specialists) meaning each student is considered better than 9 out of 10 of his peers by class and position. We also sometimes list ‘On the Cusp’ prospects who are on the verge of becoming full-fledged KW Recruits.
Why did you change the name from ‘Hot Prospect List’ to Recruiting List?
Starting at the end of the 2023 camp season we decided to switch to a consolidated recruiting list that Coach Brent will share regularly via text, email, X direct messages, and phone calls with his college contacts. The former HPL was causing too much animosity among students/parents and it isolated hundreds of great kids each year, it was also a real chore to keep up with due to the unique and detailed profiles of each student, constant edits/uploads of info, and took an immense amount of time away from our priorities of coaching and helping our students improve. We also found that most college coaches were asking for a consolidated list of all legitimate college-level recruits in one place for time-saving purposes that they could quickly print out instead of unique profiles for each student. We also were setting the bar quite high and almost too exclusive, limiting the previous list to our top 3 to 5% kids, but now opened it up to our top ~10%. So this new approach will allow us to get more students out there and not make it feel so isolated where only a few make it into our good graces. Especially for current HS seniors who make it on our List, KW recruits will get a big push from Coach Brent through his marketing / outbound recruiting communication efforts.
What are LEVELS?
We assign a specific level to each prospect that correlates to what level of a college football team we feel their skills most accurately align with. Levels are expressed by NCAA College Football divisions of D1, D2, and D3. We only list D1 and D2 level specialists on our Recruiting List. We also sometimes list select students as ‘OTC’ for On the Cusp which means they are on the verge of becoming full-fledged KW Recruits, and we’re just waiting for them to put on the finishing touches.
Why don’t you RANK Prospects?
Many camp providers do rankings and we find it extremely difficult, if not impossible to say who would be a #1 kicker vs. #2, etc. Rankings of students are incomplete because they are based on only the students that a particular camp provider has seen. So how does one company accurately say one kicker is “the #1 kicker in the country”? The star ranking system is not always an accurate representation of each student’s true ability. It seems that almost anyone can receive a 3.5 or 4-star level even without true collegiate prospect ability. This unfortunately saturates college football recruiting lists and makes it difficult for college football coaches to evaluate who the true ‘college recruits’ are. We’ve seen firsthand how the kicker star rankings many times create an inflated sense of ability and ego for both the student and parent. This puts them on a path of self-focus and their star ranking instead of maximizing their technique & fundamentals and being the best teammates they can be.
We’ve also discovered that the integrity of some of the ranking lists is not solely based on ability & performance, but in many situations, favoritism comes into play in the form of how often you train with that provider, etc. which influences your ranking negatively or positively. As well, students who only attended one camp in middle school for example, and never went to that camp again, but after committing to a major college football team somehow they magically reappear near the top of that company’s ranking list after the fact.
There are so many students across the world and no one coach sees EVERYONE. So hearing that someone is ranked ___ in the country in our opinion does not hold much weight. We instead choose to provide an assessment of the prospect’s ability and assign them a level based on their performance. However, we do list our Recruiting List in order of Class Year, then alphabetized by Last name.
What are the factors considered in choosing the Kicking World Recruiting List?
We hand-pick specialists for our list who demonstrate they have what it takes to play at the next level. Several factors we consider are as follows:
- In-Game Statistics
- Camp Performance
- Winning a Camp Competition
- Private Lesson Performance
- Track Record of Performance
- Consistency
- Foot to Ball Contact
- Ball Flight
- Accuracy
- Distance
- Hang-Time
- Attitude
- Hustle
- Having a Duplicable Process
- Mental Toughness
- How you handle Pressure
How is a prospect’s ‘LEVEL’ i.e. (D1, D2, D3) determined?
Your level is determined by your kicking, punting, or snapping metrics in conjunction with the factors discussed earlier. What we mean by ‘metrics’ is your accuracy/hang-time/distance for kickers & punters and your accuracy/times/build for snappers. A combination of your metrics from your games played, camp performances, and private lesson training are used in calculating your level. We only list D1 and D2 level specialists aka FBS, FCS, and D2 on our Recruiting List.
We also have a level of ‘OTC’ which stands for On the Cusp. OTC students are on the verge of becoming full-fledged KW Recruits but have some homework to complete first – such as a little more consistency, better ball rotation/flight, or adding hang-time on kickoffs, etc.
Some prospects do not have a ‘LEVEL’ and ‘COLLEGE’ listed, why is that?
We typically assign a Level to Junior and Senior year prospects, i.e. ‘Upper Classmen’ only. We feel that in 10th grade or less, a prospect’s true potential has not been reached yet and it would not be completely accurate to assess a level so early. However, we may sometimes assign a Level to standout sophomores & freshmen who already exhibit D1 ability! If an underclassman makes our Recruiting List, it means we expect big things from that student and they should be on your radar. We also list some students as ‘OTC’ for On the Cusp which means they are on the verge of becoming full-fledged KW Recruits, and we’re just waiting for them to put on the finishing touches. A College is listed when a student has committed to that school.
Can my assessed Level ever change?
Absolutely! Based on your performance at camps, lessons, in games as well as your track record over the long haul, your level may go up or down. Your level has nothing to do with how much money you spend on training with us. Your level is assessed throughout the year based on performance. Prospects may be added or removed to the Recruiting List at any time.
Summary
We put our heart and soul into what we do at Kicking World and do our very best at accurately assessing each prospect’s skills based on in-person performance at our camps and lessons. There will be times when a student severely under-performs or dramatically over-performs compared to their actual ability and we may not get an accurate reading of their true level, or overlook talented prospects because they had a bad day. You will be rated based on your performance.
The most accurate way to get assessed at your true level is to have a track record of performance over the long haul and show your consistency at multiple camps, private lessons, and in-game statistics.
Making our list is a very prestigious honor that you should celebrate and share with everyone you know. If you make the @KickingWorld #KickingWorld Recruiting List, we believe wholeheartedly that you have what it takes to play at the next level. You are also encouraged to share your accolade with college coaches and on your social media profiles with terms such as @KickingWorld recruit or in communication with ‘I’m on Kicking World’s recruiting list’, etc. All students who train with us whether or not they make the List are encouraged to let others know they work with us and can use terms such as @KickingWorld student or @KickingWorld trained.
