Inside look at spring high school football in North Jersey: 'The college guys love it'

It’s part college workout, part football practice and part showcase event.

Welcome to spring high school football in New Jersey. It’s kind of football. Kind of.

For those taking part, though, it’s seriously important.

“It’s a great thing,” St. Joseph coach Augie Hoffmann said. “We have to continue to improve it and take it a step further. It’s harder now than ever to get these kids to college with the transfer portal and everything. We need to get the boys in front of colleges as many times as we can.”

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, at the behest of multiple coaches led by former St. Peter’s Prep coach Rich Hansen in 2019, came up with a way to have spring football. Sort of.

Football teams can now work out at any school that are open for college coaches to visit and evaluate players. The NJSIAA has always been very protective of the calendar − spring sports in the spring, fall sports in the fall, with no overlapping opportunities − until now.

“Years ago, coaches could come to Joe's and watch the boys lift weights,” Hoffmann said. “It did us no good.”

Spring football started Monday for New Jersey schools. Paramus Catholic held it’s first spring football workout after school Thursday. Don Bosco holds their spring workouts at 6 a.m Wednesdays before school. Bergen Catholic hasn’t set a schedule of spring football workout dates yet.

“They’re valuable for a couple of reasons. One, a lot of kids go away to [college] camps and they never get to work on things with their coaches. Here, they can work with their own coaches and get ready,” Paramus Catholic coach Greg Russo said. “The second thing is, they can do football activities here instead of going to different camps, and everyone can come here and see what they need to see here.”

Every member of a football team can participate, but the exact specifications of what they can and can’t do are plentiful. In the broadest sense, there’s no real competition allowed. No one-on-one drills between and edge rusher and offensive lineman, no 7-on-7-style looks.

“We do some agility stations and a lot of fundamentals,” Don Bosco coach Dan Sabella said. “I think it’s fantastic. I think it’s really great that we are becoming more open-minded. The college guys love it.”

“It’s kind of like what you would be doing in the summer,” Russo said. “It’s just a shorter version. You do some agility drills. You’re not putting in any plays or anything. It’s kind of what you would do when you start in June. It’s fun for a coach just to see the guys and how they move.”

Do colleges visit, even at 6 a.m.? You better believe it. The world of college recruiting never sleeps. If anything, it’s gotten bigger. Sabella has noticed more West Coast schools, now in the Big Ten, showing up like never before.

“The feedback has been excellent and it’s tremendous exposure for our student athletes, and this benefits families who don’t have the resources to get to a lot of different places, but allows kids on your campus to get evaluated,” Sabella said.

College camps cost money, and not every family can afford them. Getting the chance to practice or work out at home is a big help. Russo remembers a player getting an offer on the spot last spring after a workout.

The rules governing these workouts are a bit of a pain. It's tough to have a non-competitive football practice. Also, teams can’t do really anything unless a college coach is there to observe. The coaches try to make sure at least one college coach shows up, but sometimes the schedules get confused and jumbled.

By rule, if there’s no college coach, you’re basically just running laps and can be sanctioned by the NJISAA if you don’t comply. But what if your one college coach comes 10 minutes late or doesn’t show?

It’s tough for coaches to do football halfway, but it's better than no football at all. Hoffmann, fresh off four years as a college assistant, swears the time is still valuable.

“Here’s the thing. Having spring ball is a tremendous benefit to recruiting down south and out west," he said. "Take the junior here who was maybe an inch short and a step slow in September or October, but now has gone through a growth spurt in the offseason and is now taller, faster and heavier. Now, you can see him in his environment. It’s a tremendous help.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ football teams can practice in the spring for college coaches