It would be a great service to see a designation beside each kickers name posted on the commit/signed page indicating who is a WO/PWO/part scholarship/Full ride. I believe that this would fully open many Parents eyes in the kicking community. I estimate that the PWO designation would greatly out number the full ride. I fully believe after what I have seen is that the schools with the $$$ will go after only the top 10-15 EARLY in the spring then after the fall season is nearing the end the rest that have some $$$ start to look. Also I believe that going to summer camps is crucial to get on the radars if you are NOT top 20 material. I also can not believe how many BIG schools do the PWO route to the L/P/LS community.......
Tester
Nov 15, 2019
Discussion
First of all, in my opinion/experience, if they don’t give you a full scholarship it means that they don’t believe in you. They give other positions scholarships and the guys end up sitting and not playing. Why don’t they tell all the QB’s to prove themselves and then maybe they will give some money next year, not happening. Somehow it is OK to crap on the specialists. That is just my opinion. Back to the meat of this topic, when to say NO to a scholarship. Before I get to the answer let it be known that not all kids have the same financial situation or geographical situation which play into decisions families make. If Pop’s has $$$ then a lot of what I have to say may not apply. Ok, with the new transfer rules, if you get ANY amount of $$$$ (read $1.00) scholarship from a school you can not play for another team in the same division (ex D1 to D1) without sitting out a year. So if the new coach says that you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread and gives you 0$ scholarship [PWO] , you can leave and immediately play for another team next fall (once you find out that you ain’t his guy next fall). If the coach gave your family ANY amount of $$$, your screwed and HAVE to STAY and PAY. If you feel you were lied to or 100% know that you are not getting a full ride scholarship (be realistic, if you not good no one will give you a full ride in D1), put yourself into the portal ASAP after the season is over. D2 schools do give full rides. In the world of specialists, you are treated like dirt (scholarship wise) so keep your options OPEN. Don’t put yourself into a position to miss playing a year because a coach verbally said “you’re my guy, next year”. Means nothing without the $$$ paperwork. NOTHING. There are exceptions to this and some coaches keep their word but they are far and few. The higher the division, D1 especially, the more you need to protect yourself. Just to repeat myself, not every specialist has the same circumstances and/or goals so if the above doesn’t fit your unique situation, do what fits your requirements. Good Luck
I am ABSOLUTELY trying to do this. If I can confirm PWO, then I am listing that. Also, at this point, if you see the 'signed' verbage after the player's name, then I have verified the player signed an official NLI or financial aid scholarship agreement. I am not putting 'signed' after the names of the PWO players, many of whom still do signing day activities at their schools, complete with official-looking documents from a school that simply say PWO on them.
Whenever I add a name, I do my best to discover what the 'offer' is or what the 'commitment' means. To be honest, the parents and the players are a small part of the issue. You may see a kid put out on his Twitter feed that he now has an 'offer' without specifying what type of offer it is (scholly, PWO). This is not too hard to track down otherwise with the big FBS schools (as they will usually have a media outlet that reports on the offer), but it can be maddeningly difficult to figure out for the lower division schools.
Are you saying that if there is a NLI there is always a scholarship attached?
That's correct. An NLI is for a scholarship player only, although, of course, beyond FBS level, that dollar amount can vary wildly.
Hey, didn't a kicker sign a NLI letter to Penn state and was a PWO with NO $$$$$, Reno too
Whatever that kicker at Penn State signed, it wasn't an NLI (they had multiple PWOs this year). Quite often, schools will create their own "Preferred Walk-On Agreements" for the PWOs to sign to make things look and feel official. Fact is, a walk-on is not bound to anything and can still change his mind all the way until school starts. You will sometimes see PWOs commit in Feburary and then not enroll in August/September because they've rethought things or decided to go JUCO to pursue a scholarship again through that route.
Here is the language from the National Letter of Intent website about walk-ons and NLIs:
An institution is strictly prohibited from allowing you to sign an NLI if you are a non-scholarship walk-on. In order for an NLI to be considered valid, it must be accompanied by an athletics financial aid award letter, which lists the terms and conditions of the award, including the amount of the financial aid. The athletics financial aid offer must be signed by both the prospective student-athlete and his or her parent or legal guardian. Simply put, there must be an athletics scholarship for an NLI to be valid.