Walking on to College Football

So here's a question that's been on my mind - how exactly does one walk on to a college football team? Do you need to be scouted or can you just turn up at tryouts? Would love to hear from someone who knows more about this.

Walking on to a college football team generally happens in two ways:

1. You could be a "preferred walk-on" which means the coaching staff has identified you as a player they want on their team but unfortunately, they don't have a scholarship to offer. They invite you to join the team without a scholarship in hopes that one will become available in the future. In this case, there's an element of being scouted involved as the coaches would need to know about you and see potential in you.

2. Alternatively, you could be a "walk-on" without the "preferred" tag. In this case, you're not necessarily invited by the coaching staff but you show up for tryouts on your own initiative. This is more common at smaller colleges with less competitive football programs. The large, competitive programs generally don't have open tryouts because their rosters are full with scholarship players and preferred walk-ons.

In either case, it's important to understand that walking on to a football team requires a high level of athletic ability and a great deal of commitment. College football, even at smaller schools, can be quite demanding.

Before you try to walk onto a team, it would be a good idea to reach out to the coaching staff to express your interest and ask about any upcoming tryouts. They might also have specific physical and skill benchmarks they want you to meet. This will give you an idea of what to expect and allow you to prep effectively.

Remember to also focus on your academics. As a walk-on, you won't have the academic supports that scholarship athletes might have. But like all college athletes, you'll have to maintain a certain GPA to play. This is where managing your time well is important as you'll need to balance academics and athletics.