The top high school football recruits for the 2015 class started receiving official scholarship offers on Friday, Aug. 1.
These offers weren’t surprising, of course, as they were extended verbally by coaching staffs over the past several months. But NCAA rules dictate that schools can’t officially offer a scholarship until Aug. 1, so Friday was the day when written offers were sent in the mail.
Though the surprise factor was vacant for most of these recruits, there’s still something rewarding about holding the documentation of an official offer in your hands. It’s a feeling that very few people in the country get to experience.
In fact, most people probably don’t even know what an offer looks like. Is it just a sheet of paper folded three times and stuffed in a business envelope? Does it have calligraphy like a wedding invitation? Does it come in the form of a hallmark card, with a text such as: We think you’re cool, Come play for our school? Does it come in a little box that has a butterfly float out of it as you peel off the lid?
Luckily for us, many of these whippersnappers gave us a glimpse of the good life when they posted pictures of their offers on their social media accounts.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham reveals what the packaging of a scholarship offer looks like for the Utes:
We’re excited to expand the @utah_football family. #scholarship offer letters are on their way! #goutes pic.twitter.com/EsztPN2znh
— Kyle Whittingham (@UtahCoachWhitt) August 1, 2014
Syracuse linebacker commit Shy Cullen shows off his offer from the Orange:
Got my scholarship in the mail today pic.twitter.com/uuNh4G4vxp
— Shy Cullen (@shycullen24) August 4, 2014
Louisville recruit Nick Dawson shows off what an offer from Bobby Petrino looks like:
I’m blessed to receive Official Scholarship Offers today to play football at Louisville, Cincinnatti & Marshall pic.twitter.com/gDnKEQeub1
—7SplashHunni (@iam_nick7) August 5, 2014
Najee Clayton, a wide receiver from New Jersey, shows us the business part of an offer packlet from Virginia:
Just received my official scholarship offer from The University Of Virginia! #Cavs !Blessed! pic.twitter.com/6tXtc788ic
— Najee Clayton (@Jee_Sosa9) August 4, 2014
Coveted defensive tackle prospect Tim Settle posted the letter that came from Virginia Tech:
Second official scholarship pic.twitter.com/6grUo2HaQv
— Tim Settle (@tim_settle) August 2, 2014
For comparison, here is one from Texas:
“@charless_94: Finally got it Official Scholarship Offer Blessed beyond words #HookEm pic.twitter.com/hWuuxj8srM“
— texasdobbs (@texasdobbs) August 4, 2014
So what does an offer look like? Well, nothing special, really. It comes with some school promotional material and sometimes includes pictures or graphics. But what it really boils down to is a coach writing a letter to a player, telling him that the school is extending a scholarship offer and listing the requirements that need to be met to accept that offer.
Maybe receiving a boring old letter isn’t the flashiest part of recruiting, but it must still be pretty cool.