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Steve Solloway: It's nothing like the big time, except the work – all that work

That a 17-year-old high school linebacker from Alabama chose to accept Auburn's scholarship offer this week because it had a Chick-fil-A franchise on campus drew some yucks and a lot of head-shaking in Maine.

Is this a sign of the apocalypse? Will future recruiting battles in Maine be determined by the proximity of a Pat's Pizza or Amato's to campuses? Cue the laugh track.

Maine is so removed from the dog-eat-dog world of big-time college sports, it couldn't happen here. With the exception of the University of Maine and its unique challenges, this is the land of Division III colleges, where athletic scholarships cannot be offered. Where small college coaches don't face the stress of landing the best recruiting class. Where job security doesn't hang on the difference makers, the next great incoming shooting guard or the power-hitting first baseman.

Right, Will Sanborn?

"I don't have to worry about a couple of (losing) seasons. If I get good kids who show good character, stay in class, graduate, all of that is important.

"But everyone wants to win."

Every coach, from Texas Longhorns country to urban Boston College to the pine trees of Maine campuses, feels the stress of success. Your local small college isn't immune.

Sanborn is the longtime baseball coach at St. Joseph's. Slowly but steadily he's upgraded the program. The Monks haven't yet played for the NCAA championship, but that's the goal.

Dozens of other Division III colleges in the Northeast have the same goal. Most recruit from the same pool of high school players. Pressure? There's no relief.

So much time and effort is spent on recruiting at this level, the NCAA has discussed again how to lessen the burden on smaller coaching staffs with smaller financial resources. Al Bean, the longtime athletic director at the University of Southern Maine, looks at the number of Division III coaches leaving because of burnout.

Sanborn and every other Division III coach can recruit 365 days a year. There are no periods when coaches can have no contact with recruits.

"Recruiting is like shaving," says Sanborn. "Miss a day and you look bad."

The visits to living rooms or playing fields, and the personal phone calls and emails and texts and letters never stop. "You start your day sending out five emails and end it with five phone calls," says Dave Caputi, the Bowdoin football coach.

The mantra, recruit daily or perish, plays over and over in his head. Bowdoin and its fellow NESCAC schools prohibit visits by coaches to the schools or homes of recruits. So Caputi sits at his computer, working the Internet and social media. "We've become telemarketers."

Bowdoin's recruiting net stretches from coast to coast. At night Caputi works his way across the country by phone, saving his West Coast calls to just before midnight.

About 10 years ago, winning programs had a step up on rival schools. Ed Flaherty, coach of the nationally recognized baseball team at USM, once said he had more players pitching themselves to him. They wanted a piece of that success.

Gary Fifield's remarkable run of 20-win seasons and repeat visits to the NCAA tournament with the USM women's basketball team was and still is his most effective recruiting tool. A state school, USM can't offer the so-called Ivy-covered walls of a vibrant campus.

"Athletic programs have become enrollment machines," says Sanborn. More schools dedicated more resources toward recruiting. "It's all about heads in beds for the schools."

In turn, that's turned high school athletes into savvy consumers. "The Internet is such a powerful tool for students. They can do virtual tours of campuses. They can take a virtual class. They can go to their peer groups and ask questions," says Sanborn.

How's the food? What's the social life like? How good is the sports marketing major? Can this coach can turn around last year's losing season?

Sometimes it's first-hand, accurate information that's passed along. Sometimes it's hearsay that becomes myth. That leads to a newer version of an old problem: coaches must become myth-busters.

In the end, says Caputi, these are 17- or 18 year-old kids making a decision with or without advice from parents or high school teachers and coaches.

The recruiting treadmill speeds up, and sometimes the only relief is to step off for the men and women who work with small staffs and small budgets.

The NCAA will form its task forces and committees. Caputi is hopeful to a point.

"It's so complicated. The best thing is to blow everything up and start over."

He laughs. That's not going to happen.

Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:

ssolloway@pressherald.com

Twitter: SteveSolloway