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Good Recruiting Season Often
Equals Good Football Season
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| Mark Ribaudo, defensive coordinator
for the Greyhound football team, says that a good season on the
field often depends on a good recruiting season in the field. |
Eastern New Mexico University’s Greyhound football
team is undoubtedly one of the most successful teams on campus. With
a 28-14 record over the past four seasons and two Lone Star Conference
South Co-Championships, Greyhound football deserves the title “A
Great Program”.
The success of the program comes from the coaching staff and the players
they recruit.
ENMU competes with several schools for top-notch recruits, especially
with Lone Star Conference opponents West Texas A&M, Abilene Christian
University and Tarleton State, as well as NCAA-I schools.
“We go head to head with conference rivals, and we
don’t want to lose,” Coach Mark Ribaudo said. Ribaudo, defensive
coordinator, compares recruiting to a football game--it’s very
intense and you hate to lose.
“My focus is New Mexico and the West Texas area, the two areas
from where we get most of our recruits,” Ribaudo said. The reason
for the success in this area is because of the culture. “If we
recruit a New Mexico or West Texas player, it’s not going to be
much of a culture shock; they will feel more at home,” Ribaudo
said.
There are basically four types of players ENMU gets: high
school, junior college transfer, division one transfers, and walk-ons.
“I personally like to sign a player out of high school because
junior college transfers have only two years and sometimes it takes
them a year-and-a-half to get used to the culture here,” Ribaudo
said. He added that kids out of high school will usually spend four
to five years with the program, so they have more pride playing for
ENMU.
Sometimes division one players will transfer to ENMU. “Most of
the time it’s a player who is familiar with us; we recruited them
out of high school or they know someone in the program,” Ribaudo
said. He added that sometimes the coaches try to get in touch with a
player they hear of through word-of-mouth.
ENMU football also recruits walk-ons. This usually happens after signing
day. A lot of the time the walk-ons are the hardest workers because
they are fighting for playing time, according to Ribaudo.
“Recruiting is easy for me because I love ENMU; our entire staff
believes in the program,” Ribaudo said. The Greyhounds basically
sell their overall program. “We turn what some people might look
at as a negative into a positive,” Ribaudo says. For instance,
being in a small town makes it easier to focus on football and school;
the small campus and classrooms help students get to know their professors
better and make better grades, according to Ribaudo. He says that even
Portales’ notoriously windy weather is portrayed as a home-field
advantage.
While some may question what type of athletes a rural school like ENMU
can get, Ribaudo says, “Football-wise, we get the best division
two athletes and sometimes even division one athletes.” Sometimes
a potential division one athlete won’t make the grades or will
want to stay close to home, so they choose ENMU, Ribaudo says. “We’ll
go after the best in Texas and New Mexico; if New Mexico State or UNM
doesn’t want them, we do,” Ribaudo said. According to the
fifth-year coach, this year ENMU recruited the most students ever and
the best New Mexico list ever.
“When we recruit student athletes we look at character and academics;
we don’t want players that are going to flunk out or have bad attitudes,”
Ribaudo said. Coaches, teachers and former high school teammates help
out in this process. “If we’re curious about a player, we’ll
ask their teachers about them and, in a lot of cases, we’ll have
players that used to be their teammates and they’ll tell us about
the recruit,” Ribaudo said.
Recruiting is not for just a couple of months; it is a year-long process
that begins in spring. Around March and April, the ENMU coaching staff
sends letters to coaches, potential prospects, and requests video of
players. “Head coach Bud Elliott knows a lot of people in the football
world; he’s been coaching for so long, he knows everyone,”
Coach Ribaudo said. Coach Elliott’s connections have helped the
team with recruiting.
“When we are recruiting we can be out for weeks at a time,”
Ribaudo said. All through the months of December and January the coaching
staff visits homes of potential recruits. “We easily work over
12 hours a day when recruiting, with all the calls, visits, letters,
and being on the road,” Ribaudo said.
“When we sign a top recruit, it’s almost like winning a game.
It feels good personally and for the school,” Ribaudo said. When
ENMU signs a top recruit it also attracts other top recruits to the
school. “It’s satisfying when you sign a top recruit; it’s
nice to hear the other coaches from this area compliment the university,
and our staff,” Ribaudo said.
“A good season of recruiting often equals a good season on the
field,” Ribaudo concludes.
By Shane Brown
News Services
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