Coaches Confidential: PlayStations and cash? How prevalent is recruiting/undue influence in IHSAA football?

Indianapolis Star

a day ago

Before the start of the 2025 high school football season, we granted anonymity to Central Indiana coaches to answer a few questions for our 'Coaches Confidential' series.
Our second question: How prevalent is recruiting/undue influence in high school football? Will it become more rampant with new transfer rule?
'It happens for sure however not the way most people think. It tends to be the players recruiting other players or a dad recruiting for the school … and yes it will become more mainstream.'
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'Very, and yes. I've heard of schools that are having conversations with players before they are enrolled in the school. Coaches are promising starting positions on offense and defense.'
Coaches Confidential: New transfer rule has 'opened Pandora's box'
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'It's probably done online and in various offseason training and 'travel football' groups that spend more time together than with their actual high school teammates. With so many schools that now have 'open enrollment' it's not even a question on where someone lives, the new question is can that student get to a school out of the district where they reside. The biggest thing is the amount of publicity that surrounds potential impact players (or groups of players) who have been transferring from one school to another with all types of playing speculation, yet nobody even knows if they will have 2025 season eligibility.'
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'I personally think it is bad. A lot of under the table conversations happening with players on our team.'
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'I believe the two players who have transferred from our school were due to recruiting/undue influence. Once again this is nothing new. At my previous school all of my top players had messages from coaches at surrounding schools.'
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'It's sick. Players being paid and offered PlayStations and cash in exchange for their commitment to attend schools. Administrations that sit back and watch with no accountability. The IHSAA is single-handedly ruining our sports hiding behind 'school choice' to avoid a battle with state legislatures. A lot of good coaches are going to move on from high school.'
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'It has always been present. I assume it will increase with the new rule.'
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'It's been there for a while. We all know it. It's why rules like the 'Past Link' were put in place. My guess is it will continue to be a problem, and the new rule unfortunately gives those that have been doing it more of a leg to stand on.'
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'With the new rule in place, I expect we'll see even more challenges in the offseason — 7v7 teams, personal trainers, and outside influencers all pushing kids toward supposed 'greener pastures.''
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'Recruiting has always been a part of high school football especially in metro area like Indianapolis where there are multiple options for students to attend schools. Recruiting your own players at the youth and middle school levels is more important now more than ever. It will obviously become more rampant all you have to do is look at the college landscape where 'tampering' is rampant but very hard to prove.'
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"Rampant. It always has been but now that it gives kids easy access to transfer free there are less hurdles to jump through on a family's end to make it happen. I will say though that success is still the best recruiter and in this day and age kids recruit each other via social media, but there are without questions coaches taking advantage of behind closed-door connections to get kids.'
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"There are probably some right now, hard to completely tell. Seems like there will be more with the new rule. It seems like it will create a gray area for undue influences. We will also need guidance on what is considered undue influence.'
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"It's already prevalent and I do think it will get more normalized with the new rule. Kids and families will have to do their own research and not just fall for promises of playing time, touches, etc. In a couple of years, it will stabilize as families will see the results of empty promises.'
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'No one transfers to our school so not much thought has been put in.'
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'Recruiting and undue influence is growing in football due to new rules. It will become far worse as free agency continues to grow.'
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'I'll keep my opinion to myself, but I've got lots of stories if you ever want to hear them.'
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'It is out there. Unfortunately, there will be some coaches and schools that want to capitalize on the new rule. We have already seen a few instances of that.'
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'Unfortunately, yes.'
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'Undue influence is still against the rules, even with the new transfer rule. Coaches can't just walk up to kids and say, 'Hey Come to ????'
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'I moved up here from Florida where it is rampant. I really haven't felt it here, but I think I would in different parts of Indianapolis and the state.'
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'I'm sure there will be way more recruiting because of the new rule.'
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'Unfortunately, I think it is becoming more and more common. And it is not always coaches. Parents are probably the biggest recruiters. I have overheard parents countless times giving a sales pitch to a parent of another school.'
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'Again, I think it happens in pockets. With us being on the outside of the Indy area we do not get a ton of that happening here. The transfer rule could certainly have an effect.'
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We have not seen much of it here but that is always the worry when there are major changes to transfer rules. Football is a sport that does not really have AAU or travel teams that go on where players from different teams play together.'
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'Yes, battling that now.'
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'As we have seen in the past, high school football seems to follow the influence of the college sports arena. We can only predict based upon what we see happening at the college level.'
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'You always hear rumors with certain schools but there's never definitive proof. Unfortunately, I do think it will become more rampant but hopefully that means it will get enforced.'
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'I'm not sure how prevalent it is. All of my focus is on our 2025 team.'
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'It is very common and will become even more so now. It's very discouraging especially for those committed to doing things the right way.'
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'It has always been prevalent, but I'm not sure it will become more rampant, but just easier to get away with.'
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'This issue isn't limited to high school athletes anymore; it's trickled all the way down into youth leagues and middle schools, unfortunately.'
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'It's a troubling shift, and one that moves us further away from what education-based athletics is truly about.'
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'Very prevalent. Needs more oversight.'
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'Recruiting and undue influence in high school football have always existed to some degree, though it's difficult to measure exactly how widespread the issue is. That said, the concern is real — especially in competitive areas where programs are trying to gain an edge.'
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'With the new transfer rule, there's certainly a risk that these practices could become more common or more visible. When student-athletes can change schools more freely, it creates more opportunities for programs to push the boundaries of what's allowed. While the intent behind the rule may be to give families more flexibility, it can also open the door to unethical behavior if not properly monitored and enforced.'
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"It will just hurt most kids as parents will try to plan their children's futures and get told things they want to hear, and that is a bad combination. The best programs already get the most move-ins and have many kids on their rosters, not from that school and now it will be even easier to move. Now we have to worry every day if a kid is going to leave if we coach them hard, don't start them, have an average team or whatever parents can come up with. Not a fan at all.'
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'I think most schools who recruit use club sports and parents to recruit. Some schools have no filter, but most want our kids to stay together.'
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'There is a big problem already.'
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"Again, horrible rule and idea. It's already bad due to social media and now it's legal and getting worse.'
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'It' always been amazing to me how we have been accused of recruiting when 98% of our kids are from the deanery schools and it is extremely difficult to transfer into our school. I hear stories all the time of coaches trying to recruit kids and you see kids popping up at other schools all the time. Ultimately it will put us at a disadvantage as we cannot take any athletic transfers. The only way to be assured entry is if they are from a north deanery feeder school or other Catholic grade school. I have told at least three families every year not to bother with applying as they would have no shot getting in.'
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'It is much more rampant at the middle school levels when coaches try to entice players to their high school which is not technically illegal. It is becoming much more prevalent in the world of 7-on-7 teams and coaches with those programs using that as a platform to influence players from other schools that they coach during 7-on-7 to transfer to their school under the idea that it is a better opportunity for them athletically.'
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'I went from a 6A program to a 3A program. Not going to be much of an issue down here. A lot of the undue influence happens in the youth leagues due the family or acquaintance relationships. Success often breeds contempt. If you are consistently good people will try to steal things from your scheme, philosophy, coaches and last players.'
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'I would say it was already going on but more prevalent at the 6A level.'
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'I think you'll see it significantly in the Indianapolis area schools.'
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'At the program level, I don't think it's that prevalent overall. From parents and people 'outside' but connected to the program. I'm not sure. I think that part has always been there. Probably will increase now. So much of it starts within the travel ball culture.'
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'It happens more than people know. Most will abide by the rules, but there are always those that will seek to gain an advantage any way they can.'
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'I hope not. The journey and building relationships with your players are the reward. If a coach is building a team through a transfer portal type deal, they will never have the joy of building a program. High school football is all about the four-year experience and providing many life lessons off the football field working as a team.'
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'I think it will be very important to monitor that with the new rule.'
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"It's pretty prevalent and will continue to become more rampant. Already seeing it.'
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'It's very high now and will increase. Will probably see even more coaches building alliances, strong relationships, transactional relationships with youth league coaches.'
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'Yes. No way it cannot. Not sure it can be kept a positive feature to high school sports.'
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'Will increase.'
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'Very. And yes.'
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'I think it could become more rampant, yes. It will be driven more by parents and student-athletes more than ever before with the new transfer rule.'
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'I'm sure it's out there. Will have to wait and see how the transfer rule affects recruiting/undue influence over the next couple seasons.'
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'I think there will be an element of undue influence/recruiting now that the one-time transfer option is available. The next few years will be interesting to see where it goes.'
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'I think it has been rampant for years and no one wants to call it out. It will be worse now if it isn't already.'