Sports at Lunch, Tom Craft and Kirk Morrison
San Diego State coach Tom Craft offered a glimpse of his recruiting strategy that has landed top classes for the Aztecs the last two years when he spoke Wednesday at the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports at Lunch Speaker Series.
Following the evaluation period, when the Aztecs decide which players they plan to offer scholarships, he outlined three basic steps. Among San Diego County recruits, Craft said he expects his assistants to visit every high school in their assigned recruiting area.
“We want to be out to see all the local coaches at every high school,” Craft said. “I don’t want them just at the six schools with prospects and not the other eight because they don’t have prospects. They might have a sophomore who is going to show up two years down the line.”
Then he expects his coaches to develop a relationship with the recruit and his family. The staff wants to know the family well enough to understand who will influence the player’s decision. Maybe it’s the mom more so than the dad. Maybe it’s a grandfather. Or maybe it’s the high school coach.
Craft expects all this leg work to have taken place before he makes the home visit with the hope of sewing up an oral commitment.
“I can tell when the coach hasn’t developed the relationship when I go in the home,” Craft said. “If I go in there and they ask a lot of questions, then I know the coach hasn’t done his job. I require the coach to go in the home for a visit before I do.”
He explained with only one home visit permitted for the head coach by NCAA rules, he doesn’t want precious time taken up with routine questions that could have been covered earlier by the assistant. If the assistant hasn’t done his homework, he’ll hear about it from Craft.
“I let him know when you bring me in the home, that’s my opportunity with the parents,” Craft said.
Craft’s lunch at the Hall of Champions came after practice in the morning, a change from past seasons. The Aztecs have a bye week before traveling to play Michigan on Sept. 18.
Crafty announced to the lunch crowd that wide receiver Wesley Williams suffered a hip injury and is lost for three to four weeks. He added he hopes quarterback Kevin O’Connell (shoulder) and wide receiver Brett Swain (shoulder) will be able to resume practice Monday.
He also talked about some moves in the offensive line. He plans to move Mike Kravetz to guard and Will Robinson to tackle.
“We’re trying to find the right combination,” Craft said. “We’re trying to find the right combination in the offensive and defensive lines right now.”
Aztecs middle linebacker Kirk Morrison, an All-American last year who passed up the NFL draft to return SDSU for his senior year, also spoke at the Hall of Champions. He said the competition in practice is developing the talent Craft is recruiting.
“There is more competition on the team,” Morrison said. “You look at every position and it’s like a game every day. We’ve got young guys who want to play who are behind seniors. I have guys pushing me every day. We feel like no one is a starter. I feel like I have to earn my position and prove my worth to the defense. The difference is Coach Craft has us competing every day.”
