Strong Fundamentals & Trust Drive Winning Programs

When evaluating recruits, having a 4.3-second 40-yard dash, a 38-inch vertical, or ability to make eye-popping plays matters. But, these featured attributes don’t matter much if the player won’t take direction, puts himself before the program, or doesn’t earn the trust of his coaches.

The same is true of the software you use to recruit football players. Just having a few cool features doesn’t matter if:

• You can’t get help on the phone, or you’re treated like a tech support ticket instead of a valued partner.
• You’re being forced into cookie-cutter software that doesn’t work for your coaches.
• You don’t trust that your support requests will be resolved quickly, and you lack confidence in the product.
• You don’t know if the price you paid is standardized or if your price depended on a salesperson’s perception of how much you can afford.
• Your recruiting efforts are hampered because your product is outdated and inflexible.

These are very real concerns coaches have when signing off on a platform to manage various aspects of a football program, including recruiting, compliance, logistics and more.

Front Rush (AFCA Booth #806) has built a software ecosystem designed and developed to overcome these obstacles. Their staff takes the time to meet your needs, getting to know their coaching clients and working with them regularly. Many of the folks on staff come from football and sports backgrounds, even recently working within compliance and recruiting departments.

On top of all that, Front Rush is backed by its parent company Reigning Champs, the leading path-to-college solutions provider in the U.S., with more than 41,000 active college coaches in over 72,000 teams across 34 sports. With more than 5.8 million student-athletes in their network, Front Rush is positioned to command a central position in software solutions for many years to come.

Your Day-To-Day Is Our Day-To-Day

For seven years, Justin Wright was assistant director for player personnel for the University of Texas football program.

He maintained databases of prospective athletes, coordinated game-day recruiting activities, assisted in graphic design for recruiting itineraries, coordinated all event logistics for all official and unofficial visits to campus by prospective athletes, and served as a 24-hour, on-call service representative for Texas coaches year-round. This, along with providing complex travel consultation to all 10 full-time football coaching staff members, was just a fraction of his duties at Texas. This is all to say, Wright knows the right way to get things done.

These days, he spends his time on the other side of the software designed to help coaches make the most of their days. He now fills his day helping Front Rush customers with whatever they need.

“What makes me excited is getting a call from a coach or a compliance department and solving a problem,” says Wright. “I was in that position, and I know how difficult it can be. I know what they’re going through and the struggles they are having. I know what they’re doing based on the time of year. If I can knock five or six things off their to-do list by listening to their needs and meeting them, that’s what makes me happy.

“Our No. 1 goal is developing relationships with the folks who use our software. This isn’t a call center here. You’re going to end up talking to the same people all the time. We’re out on the road too, so even when we meet face-to-face, the funny thing is, the next time you call in, you may get that same person on the phone.”

Wright says the experience the Front Rush staff brings to the table is what sets them apart, because much of that experience is baked right into the software.

“Our software sets us apart from everyone else, for sure,” says Wright. “But that’s because we have so many people here who’ve been on the other side of that phone, who understand the challenges our customers face. In a way, we’re all part of that software.”

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Stefan Schmidt was director of player personnel at Auburn University for the past two years (he has been an AFCA member for the last seven years), but now he works with Front Rush doing on-campus training, making sure recent software deployments are functioning properly and basically ensuring his clients are happy. He has also worked in the personnel department for the University of Texas and the University of Miami.

He knows the value of partnering with a software developer that’s going to be around for the long haul.

“When I’m out there getting to know my clients, it’s huge that they can trust we’re going to be here when they need us, three years, five years, 10 years from now,” says Schmidt. “We have the back-end support with Reigning Champs. It’s huge because it means programs can use us for recruiting and compliance but also for tracking scholarships, continuing eligibility, NCAA rules, evaluations, recruit activity logging and more. Programs can count on us to be as elite as they desire to be. That’s a solid partnership we can all be proud of.”

For more information, visit www.FrontRush.com or call 215‐489‐2100, and make sure to visit Front Rush in AFCA Booth #806.