More than a year ago, Mike MINTER was amazed by the headlines about a former NFL defensive back bringing elite recruits to a school.
Minter predicted that the recruiting cycle would end in 2022. The biggest story in recruiting was when Deion Sanders flipped one of the country's top recruits, Travis Hunter, from Florida State to Jackson State.
Minter wanted to tell a different story.
Minter wanted to beat him and Deion was the No. 1FCS class the year before.
Minter was a star at the University of Nebraska and played in a Super Bowl with the Carolinas. Five years before Campbell University even offered scholarships, he wanted to use his own cache to spark some interest in the school.
Minter walked into a coaches meeting with a big idea.
He told his staff that he was going to sign the top recruiting class.
Minter was reacting to the changes. The NCAA decided to allow all football players an extra year of eligibility after the 2020 season because of the swine flu. This inevitably meant a roster crunch for schools that had to meet an 85-scholarship cap, while maybe a half-dozen or more veterans stuck around a year longer than expected.
A new NCAA rule allowed athletes to transfer once without penalty. Minter thought that the new rule would likely flood the market, since several schools prioritized older transfers over high school recruits. The net effect of both changes was that a lot of good high school players would find themselves without big-time offers.
Minter thought it was time to put tiny Campbell in tiny Buies Creek, North Carolina, on the college football map because of the change happening in college football.
Minter said that the coaches might have said that the coach had been smoking something, but they never looked at it.
The football world was surprised by the signing of the No. 2 overall recruit in the country, but it was still Sanders who landed the biggest fish at the school. Most of the success came from attracting transfers. Hunter was one of five high school recruits.
Minter hit his goal. He signed the best high school class in the country, lured nearly a dozen three- and four-star recruits, and finished with a class ranked better than several Power 5 schools, including Washington and Arizona State.
Jackson State is the best class in the country, according to the rankings by ESPN, which takes into account transfers and high school signees.
If Minter is correct about where things are headed in college football, it is possible that Campbell's class will be an outlier in the future. As the competition for scholarships at the highest levels tightens, it is entirely possible that Campbell could find a foothold in college football's new roster management landscape.
The plans of ELDRIC WELDON were similar to those of most high level recruits. He had early offers from places like Alabama, Florida and Miami, but he hadn't played a lot of football before 2020. If he put a few more highlights on tape during his senior season at Hallandale, he would have his pick of elite programs when he was ready to make his college decision.
Then came the injury.
Weldon tore his knee in a September practice. Most of his big-time offers disappeared after his season ended.
In a crowded marketplace for talent, most programs viewed Weldon as expendable. When a team could add an established veteran through the transfer market, a guy who'd already trained in a college environment, added muscle, and learned a playbook, why wouldn't they take a chance on someone like Weldon? The high school kids were not favored by the risk-reward calculation of the coaches under firm orders to win.
Since the COVID thing came, it didn't just mess it up for me, but it really messed things up for a lot of kids.
The average number of high school seniors who signed was 20.8 in 2022, according to the data. The transfer portal was in its infancy when that number was 22.4. More than 100 players who might have landed at a Power 5 school had to look elsewhere, and hundreds more went from Group of 5 offers to junior colleges and prep school.
With many programs so focused on the portal, there are more high school athletes available later in the process than ever before, according to Western Michigan coach Tim Lester.
Many players missed some or all of their junior seasons because of the extended moratorium on official visits that COVID-19 resulted in. That created a huge rush to finish the class, and players like Weldon, who were still undecided in the fall of 2021, were in a difficult spot.
In the summer, it was a rat race to get as many kids as you could.
Minter was going to sweep them up because some players were bound to fall through the cracks. Campbell saw opportunity when others saw risk.
After I got hurt, I told Patrick Miller that I was hurt. He told me that we could rehabilitate you, build you up, and get you right.
There isn't much mystery in the story of Jackson State's recruiting success. People pick up the phone when Deion is on the phone. Come to Jackson State, play for an HBCU, get tons of attention, earn NIL money, and play for one of the best to ever strap on shoulder pads. It was enough to get a five-star corner away from a Power 5 school.
The strategy at Campbell has to be different.
Campbell's recruiting director said that being the Camels helps.
The nickname is fun, but not much more than an introduction. It is about education and attention. On visits, recruits fly into Raleigh, North Carolina, about a 40-minute drive from campus, where they are shown around and reminded that life is just down the road. They go down I-40 to Buies Creek to explain that a good football player can be special here.
Campbell didn't offer scholarships until 2017: it has been playing football since 2008. Running back DeShawn Jones, who worked out with the Seattle Seahawks in 2018, is one of four players in the program who have gone on to play in the NFL. Minter wanted recruits to see Campbell as a true stepping stone to the NFL because of his humble beginnings. The process began when recruits felt like they were stars.
The narrative was the same for many of the recruits Campbell pursued. The players were expecting a lot of attention when they visited big-name schools. They fired off text messages without a response. It was a blow to the ego of the guys who played well enough to warrant more attention. Campbell was happy to give them that love.
Harris said that kids are looking for attention in the recruiting process. That shows how we are going to take care of you. What will happen when we are married if we are not opening the door for you on a date?
There is a promise of playing time. Getting on the field became a prime selling point for recruits who might have been seen as valuable depth at a bigger school.
"We can play anywhere, but maybe we go somewhere and sit a couple years behind so many guys because of COVID, guys who have been in college five, six, seven years," said Paul Hutson III, a D-lineman.
There is more to be done to close the deal. The high school gym and meeting rooms are used by most players, but Campbell's facilities are still a nice improvement over other schools. Minter's office in the corner of the Campbell Field House has photos of his playing days with the Carolina Panthers and a well-worn black couch that feels like it was designed to help sell a recruit.
Minter told his men to get them to him in the office.
Minter's guys also bring their own cache. Pat White, who starred at West Virginia, Reggie Howard, who picked off a pass from Tom Brady in the Super Bowl, and Dee Brown, who played with them, are all on Campbell's staff. If a recruit wants to play in the NFL, who better to show them how to do it than the coaches who have already done it?
Minter said there was a domino effect from there. After committing to Campbell in October of 2021, Weldon began to spread the word. A Virginia native, Weldon got in contact with a number of other Florida recruits. Three-star linebacker Deshaun Williams pitched a few friends on Campbell. Campbell could feel like a family affair.
It made it a lot easier to know that when we play, we are getting into the competitive nature of the game.
Minter's dream of stocking an elite FCS recruiting class with FBS-caliber players was complete by December, when nearly everyone was on board.
The coach helped change the game. It used to seem ridiculous to lure top-tier talent to Jackson State, but now it appears to be an entirely reasonable option. Minter is willing to go that far.
Minter refused to utter the name of the player he wanted to recruit during any of his recruiting pitches, and the class was already secured when the player flipped from Florida State to Jackson State in December.
Minter said that they didn't use it as a marketing tool because they wanted Campbell to be the top dog. At least among high school recruits, Minter got his wish and Campbell will open the 2022 season with one of the Big South's most talent-rich rosters. Minter said that this is just the beginning of the journey.
There is a chance that the transfer portal could become an enemy. The same schools that ignored them as recruits could call again if Hutson, Williams, and others play well. Campbell's staff is willing to take a risk.
Harris said that they have something to offer the kids that will keep them. Those things are great. We picked the kids who saw those things because we think the people we have will make the difference. The class has a chance to stick together and do something special.
The common thread that bound this class together was that. Some bigger schools overlooked guys like Weldon and Hutson, but they were not upset by it. Being a pioneer has something to do with it. At Campbell, he is doing something different, blazing a path that others might want to follow. He sees the spirit in the genes of many of the guys in this class. They are not at Campbell as a last resort. They are here to start something.
Minter said that the ultimate arbiter will be that. Campbell's story is more of a curiosity than a trend. If the story ends the way Minter and his staff believe it can, then maybe others will follow suit.
Minter said that you have to win now. Other people are going to say, we have to do what they did. That is how it becomes sustainable. You have to win.
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