This feature article was written by blogger Hassan for Canespace...

The term “pipeline school” has a lot of importance when it comes to college football recruiting and the success of any college football program.

When you coach in a recruiting hotbed such as South Florida there are several of these pipeline schools. University of Miami head coach Al Golden has said recently in interviews that the reason why he came to Miami and considers it a “destination job” is because being at UM is just as it is in the real estate market: location, location, location.

Golden knows that winning at Miami has little to do with South Beach and everything to do with the talent that dwells within these pipeline schools.

High school sports are evolving in many different ways. We have multiple teams playing nationally televised games on ESPN. Kids are transferring from one high school to another looking for an opportunity to shine and get a look from big time colleges who flock to these schools. Many of these schools have contracts with Nike and other sponsors and the coaches at these schools often times have college and/or NFL experience on their resumes.

The fact that high schools in South Florida produce a significant amount of major college football talent is indisputable. For example, in 2012 the three counties that comprise Southeast Florida produced an amazing 136 D-1 football players.

Broward County led the way with 56, Dade followed closely behind with 54 and Palm Beach County had 26 players sign National Letters Of Intent with major college football programs across the Country.

Now let’s expand our horizon and take a look at ten of the main schools in Central and South Florida that have put out quality talent year after year and produced an incredible 58 D-1 football players during the 2012 recruiting cycle:

Armwood: 10

Plant: 8

Miramar and Miami Norland: 7

Miami Central, Palm Beach Dwyer and University School: 6

St. Thomas Aquinas and Miami Northwestern: 5

Lakeland: 3

These high schools arguably could be called “pipeline” schools; some have worked well with “The U” and some not so much. Coach Golden is working hard to shore up some strained relationships at a few of these schools that should pay dividends for years to come.

The average college football team takes 18-22 scholarship players each year. When you consider that 58 Major Division 1 prospects came from these ten schools alone then you know as a coach that you have to really do your homework at these schools once you have done the math.

By simply getting the top 25% of the talent from these ten “Pipeline” schools that is 14 players a ear. This is what it meant by “putting a fence around the State of Miami”. If Golden can keep the top players home from I-4 south then he will have it made at Miami.

In fact, these schools have accounted for the majority of high school championships this past decade. The players from these schools tend to be better coached and play top competition in practice and in games.

If your college football team is made up of 70% of the top players of the top high schools in the top football region in the Country then your CFB team will logically be at the top as well.

In 2011 Miami Central had an astounding 17 players sign major college football scholarships. For comparison’s sake this one high school put out more talent than the entire six-state, Northeast region of the United States.

The bottom line is that building and maintaining a good relationship with these big time high school “pipeline” programs can literally make or break any big time college football program. That is why watching Hurricane head coach Al Golden break into the Tampa area and also do well in Palm Beach County during the last recruiting cycle was so important.

Watching the increased attendance and talent at UM’s Junior Days, opening the Spring practices to high school coaches from across Florida and hosting the incredibly popular Al Golden football camps are all really huge steps in broadening the recruiting base and attracting big time talent to Coral Gables.



Clearly, Golden’s strategy is in stark contrast to the previous coaching regime’s method of simply relying on only a few local high schools like Miami Northwestern to supply most of Miami’s players.

Every college coach knows that recruiting is the life-blood of any college football program. Rest assured that UM head coach Al Golden also knows that keeping the pipeline open at the high schools in Central and South Florida where the talent consistently is produced is the key to restoring the Miami Hurricane football program back to national prominence.