SIGNED offers the perspective and guidance of Tim Burris, a former football player and coach who has seen the recruiting process from all sides and thoroughly understands it. He writes in clear, easy-to-read, straightforward language, readily accessible to his target audience. The book is well-organized, explaining clearly what post-high school options are available to young Canadian football players, what the advantages and disadvantages of each are, how to examine each option against the individual player’s skills, inclinations, and needs to determine what is best for them, and how to make oneself known to and become a desirable candidate for those programs. He explains the process of recruitment clearly and intelligently, with a focus on the most important facts for the person seeking to be recruited. He also offers a step-by-step guide for each year of high school, so that an incoming freshman knows just what they need to be doing their first year and every year in order to maximize their chances of finding and being recruited by the right program for them. This includes both football and academic skills to be mastered, and how to work with high school counselors to ensure that the reader gets the most out of their high school experience, as well as guidance on how and when to research and reach out to football programs, how to write letters of inquiry, and what questions to ask (and which ones not to ask) on visits.
Coach Burris emphasizes academics and character as well as more physical football skills, urging students to take advantage of tutoring help and to work to make themselves the best all-rounded person they can be. He explains carefully what recruiting coaches are looking for, how to make a useful and eye-catching highlight video, what mental and physical skills they will be particularly interested in for which positions, and how to know if a coach is seriously interested in recruiting a player or if their interest is merely nominal. In short, pretty much all the information a young football player will need to advance their career to the next level is in here, and it is clearly and tidily arranged so that the information needed in any given situation can be easily found and referred to. Regular “Coach Burris Insights” offer a quick summary of useful information, or valuable tips to consider, in short and digestible form.
A clear, concise, and well-organized book offering expert guidance, SIGNED by Coach Tim Burris should be on the reading list for any young Canadian student who wishes to continue playing football after high school.
~Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader