Sometimes Jacob Peeler's fiancé has to tell him to put his phone away so they can actually have a face-to-face conversation. But she knows that's the life of a college football coach in today's world where recruiting is an all encompassing task. Between cell phones and social media, recruiting has become a constant on-going process.
Peeler, Cal's inside receivers coach, loves every aspect of recruiting, and he had a major influence with many of the signees that Cal announced today on National Signing Day.
Collegiate recruiting has been an interest of Peeler going back to when he was growing up in Mississippi when he would watch a weekly local television show that featured where all the local high school players were going to sign. He became even more fascinated with the process when he went through the recruiting process as a player. He uses that knowledge gained back then when meeting with recruits and their parents now.
“The most important thing you can express to these kids and their parents is that you are looking out for their best interests,” Peeler said. “It's important that they know you legitimately care about them. You become so close with them and their families. If you don't enjoy recruiting, you better go and do something else.”
An important lesson that Peeler learned from his time being recruited is the importance of being honest and upfront about everything. He realized as a player that things didn't go exactly how they were presented to him when he was a recruit. He vowed that if he was ever in the position as a recruiter that he would be nothing but completely honest with a high school player and his family.
Head coach Sonny Dykes has noticed how passionate Peeler is as a coach and a recruiter, and it had a lot to do with him being promoted to a full-time assistant coach last year.
“Jacob did a remarkable job here as a graduate assistant with recruiting,” Dykes said. “That was when we had a real opportunity to see him work, how he developed relationships with recruits and his ability to communicate with them. He's a young guy and he's using all of the tools that young people use now to communicate. He really does a great job building relationships with recruits and their parents. He understands recruiting and how important it is towards building a college football program. That was a big reason why we hired him as a full-time assistant coach. He does a great job coaching, but recruiting is equally as important. He's continued to get better and better. He's recruited a lot of different players, guys on offense, defense, guys from the South, guys in California and has proven to be good at recruiting all of them.”
Stressing the value of academics at Cal is obviously a huge selling point when Peeler goes on recruiting trips, but he said it's not just a matter of using that as a tool to get them to come to Cal. The process doesn't stop just because they signed a letter of intent. Peeler and the rest of the coaches take a lot of pride in seeing their student-athletes graduate and get a degree. It makes all the work by the coaches worth it when they see the players they recruited learn to manage their busy schedules, excel on the football field and in the classroom, and then go on to do something great with their lives, football related or not.
Just as athletics and academics are time consuming from start to finish for the players, so is recruiting for the coaches. Peeler said the Cal coaches are already working on evaluations of players not only for the 2017 class, but also for 2018 and 2019. Collegiate coaches are evaluated on their recruiting abilities just as much as their coaching abilities.
“You're always evaluating, you never stop,” Peeler said. “You're watching highlight reels and game films all year round, and that's all on top of game planning through the regular season when you're trying to win games. On certain days, even during the regular season, you need to take the time to evaluate high school players because if you're not, somebody else is. You are evaluated, as a coach, just as much by your wins and losses on the field as your recruiting abilities.”
Peeler has learned recruiting is all about building relationships. He knows that while the recruiting process is a lot of fun for high school players at first when they're getting lots of phone calls and letters in the mail, those players soon realize that it becomes a very stressful experience when it comes time to make one of the biggest decisions in their lives. Peeler and the rest of the Cal coaches know they need to be mindful and respectful of how much that takes a toll on a teenager.
Recruiting isn't just about finding good football players who can get good grades at Cal. Peeler commends Dykes on how he has created a culture within the Cal football program, and they want players who fit in that specific culture. He said they're looking for good people who are unselfish. People who know the value of the team is more important than the individual.
“We bring in guys who are invested in the team, not the individual,” Peeler said. “That's what I look for as I do my research and call high school coaches. Us coaches, we want to bring in kids who we can make better but they can also make us better at our jobs and better people overall. Coach Dykes brings in special kids who are good people.
“Our locker room is unique. You're bumping shoulders with guys who are going to change the world.”
As he prepares to begin his fourth season at Cal and his second as a full-time assistant coach in 2016, Peeler feels as if he hasn't worked a day in his life because he loves everything that involves coaching and recruiting, and continuing to take the Cal football program to new heights.
He's excited about this year's signing class and he can't wait to see what they can do on the field.
“This class has a chance to be the best class we've brought in since we've been here,” Peeler said. “I believe that in a couple years we'll look back and say this class did a really good job. We've always been good at evaluating talent early. We know what we're looking for with specific positions. I feel like we hit some home runs. Now we have to make sure we get the best out of these guys.”
