Scouts Football: Playing The Field, Early Summer Edition
We might be a few days away from the scientific start of summer but all the 80+ degree days makes it feel like July and August.
And that means football season. Yippee!
Day 1 of the official start of summer Scouts camp is July 1. Let’s dive into a few conversation topics before practices begin.
SPRING RECRUITING ACTIVITY
May and June are heavy camp months in college football. Colleges and high schools are on break from classes, and the recruiting calendar allows for in-person evaluation. There are quite a few rising Scout seniors (‘25 grads) that are hitting the road this spring.
The most active: Finn Goodman (DE), Arjan Jawanda (OL) and Danny Van Camp (QB).
Van Camp, the incumbent starter from 2023, is in the midst of planning an east coast tour of Ivy League colleges. Goodman and Jawanda had an active seven days, attending camps in Madison (University of Wisconsin), Evanston (Northwestern) and starting the week at the Lake Forest College Megacamp on June 9.
I caught up with Goodman at LFC. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Goodman worked out with the defensive ends at LFC, a position he says he’s starting to understand and compete with a higher level of aptitude.
“I feel like I’m getting better, actually learning the position,” Goodman said, who played mostly linebacker, some tight end and even quarterback before 2023. “I’m getting bigger and stronger and quicker and my hand movement is key.”
Having observed the entire one day LFC camp, a huge positive is the amount of one-on-one work the campers get. There were less attendees this year than previous and the participants, in turn, got more reps as a result.
I didn’t see any Division 1 coaches at LFC. It’s typically a camp for Midwestern-based D2, D3, NAIA-level programs. But for them, they get their money’s worth.
Wisconsin-Oshkosh plays in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). It’s a Division 3 school that in the 2010’s was one of the better D3 programs in the country, making the 2016 title game.
I spoke with one of the Titans coaches at LFC. Out of a roster of 120+ players, “20 to 25 percent of those are from the Chicago area,” he said.
One reason for their success in recruiting Chicago area players is sticker price.
“It costs $16,000 to go, but we’re able to get it down to $8,000,” the coach said.
Because of the low cost, quality of football and large pool of talent within a two-to-three hour drive, Oshkosh is often done recruiting each year’s class by December.
Wisconsin-Whitewater also plays in the WIAC. The Eagles have won six D3 national titles and last year, set the D3 attendance record with 20,000-plus fans at an October game. Whitewater is a little more expensive than Oshkosh, costing about 26k per year. One coach I talked to at LFC said they can knock off as much as 11k for football recruits.
Whitewater’s roster is loaded with Chicago area players, almost half. The defensive coach I talked to told me they recruit the area because the kids are “smart, tough and team-oriented.” Illinois kids like MIAC schools as its competitive football, enjoys strong student body and administrative support for athletes, accessibility to home town, and the price is right.
Run the numbers: $60k at Whitewater for four years, $32k at Oshkosh. That’s an appealing price for athletes and parents considering the cost of college education overall in 2024 and beyond (it isn’t getting any cheaper).
For the high school kids who attended the June 9 megacamp, they get a head start on that process. The opportunity to talk to college coaches face-to-face is something more rare in this era of Zoom and social media DM’s.
I asked Lake Forest High School head coach Chuck Spagnoli about this time of year and how his guys can get the most out of camp season.
“It gives (colleges) a better view of what kids can do,” Spagnoli said. “It doesn’t change game film or playing statistics but it does give them a chance to evaluate you up close and see what you can or can’t do and what your mannerisms are like and see your work ethic and competitiveness.
“My advice to any of our kids who go to a camp is that nobody wants to recruit the lazy guys. So you better not be lazy. You only have that camp to attract whomever it is who is at that camp. If you want to go to camp and not feel good or ‘I just woke up and I don’t feel well,’ that doesn’t do you well. That person can only evaluate you on that day. If you are somebody who goes to camp and goes hard and gives incredible effort, that goes a long way.”
The effort Spagnoli speaks to I saw from the Scouts guys that were there. That also includes the younger players that were there—juniors Jimmy Scheidler and Braden Hoskins as well as sophomores Jack Burger and George Holland. Any opportunity to compete, get coached hard and be in a camp environment are all positive steps forward in a young athlete’s development.
And if a senior, you may just walk out with an offer.
CATCHING UP WITH EDDIE SCHEIDLER
One of the really cool events of the spring was a junior camp put on by two former LFHS players.
Eddie (class of 2019) and Leo (class of ‘22) held the first-ever Scheidler Brothers Clinic over two weekends in late May and early June (younger brother Jimmy also pitched in as did dad Ed and mom Ann Marie).
I caught up with Eddie for a brief chat.
Q: How did the clinic go?
A: All things considered it worked out pretty well. The timing was not ideal, we started promoting it two weeks out. Multiple kids come back both weekends. Overall, all things considered, a great thing to start building. Having time with my family around Lake Forest is a special thing. To be able to get all the brothers together and do what we love and coach and have fun, see the kids have a blast. When we were playing flag at the Rec, that was one of the highlights of my week growing up and to see it come full circle and now we are the ones to bring that out, it’s a special feeling.
Q: So you just graduated from Notre Dame. What’s next?
A: I received an undergraduate degree in marketing and history with a master’s in sports analytics. I’m moving Connecticut to start working for NBC Sports as a production assistant. I’ll be helping out with their Big 10 football coverage. I’ll be helping the on-air analysts, cataloging footage, preparing story ideas, doing edits on topics they can talk about. An example would be if the color guy on a broadcast or analyst on a studio show wants to talk about the linebackers. He’d come to me and say ‘what do you have?’ I’d have to find video and put together packages, situational stuff that they can use on the air. I’ll be watching a lot of film and dissecting it and breaking it down. I’ve been doing that for four or five years at Notre Dame so it’s the closest thing to still be around the game without playing it. College football is my life and I love it and knew I wanted to stay in it and this is next big thing. I’m super excited as I love talking and I love telling stores.
Q: How about your younger brother, Leo? How is 2024 shaping up for him?
A: Leo is finally healthy. He had a hip flexor injury last year. The guy just goes 4,000 miles per minute and he realizes he has to take care of his body. He’s done a good job rehabbing and doing a great job with a shift of mindset. In the wide receiver room, pound for pound, he’s probably the strongest guy. He’s just a crazy athlete, everyone who sees him do anything knows how good he is. There’s a ton of transfers and it’ll be a challenge for him and he’ll have to elevate his game a little bit. There’s no reason he can’t be on the field for special teams. He’s now an upperclassman and has done it before. There’s been 33 walk ons graduate from Notre Dame in the last season or two so the veteran walk ons who had those spots are now gone, myself included. Leo can be leading the walk ons in that sense. He knows how to do it the right way and effort is never an issue with him.
Leo Scheidler was an all-state quarterback for the Scouts in 2021 when they finished 10-3 and made it to the Class 6A semifinals. Eddie was a two-year starter at defensive back in 2017-18, one of the best open field tacklers in recent memory. Eddie went on to Notre Dame and for two seasons, 2022 and 2023, was on the Fighting Irish roster with Leo. We wish Eddie the best with his exciting new job and looking forward to following Leo’s career the next couple of years in South Bend.
BLUE GOLD SCRIMMAGE WILL INCLUDE THE TITANS
There’s a new rule in Illinois high school football this season. Teams can now scrimmage opposing teams, in effect, creating a preseason game.
Week 0 this season: Scouts vs Titans.
Lake Forest will host Glenbrook South Aug. 24 at Varsity Field.
This development should add a little more juice to summer practices. The Titans are a good scrimmage opponent as they run a funky double wing offense, a scheme the Scouts will not face during the regular season. It’s an opportunity to do some live hitting in a controlled environment a week before the regular season beings.
Fire up the grill and let’s go! Can’t wait for the 24th.
Much more to come in the newsletter as we get closer to the start of camp.
Have a great week and Go Scouts!
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