Bigbenchcane
Recruit
- Joined
- May 6, 2017
- Messages
- 305
This is my real-world perspective. I hope some of you take the time to read it.
I know a lot of us take these college decisions hard when they don’t go the CANES’ way, but the truth is we have no idea what these kids are dealing with behind the scenes.
Some kids have great support systems. Others are dealing with parents, divorced parents with different views, family members, or agents trying to control every decision they make.
Last summer my son was heading into his senior year and he had to make one of the hardest decisions of his life. He left a terrible situation with his mom and moved in with me, my wife, and my three girls.
He’s a good football player (OL) and started getting looks from NAIA, JUCO, DIII, and DII schools.
I’ll never forget how excited he was when he got his first football offer. He came home pumped to tell us. Then all that excitement disappeared after he talked to my ex. No congratulations, no support. Just:
“That school is too far away.”
“You won’t make it.”
“You aren’t good enough.”
After hearing that enough after every offer, he started doubting himself and almost gave up completely. There is no doubt in my mind, if he stilled lived with my ex, he would have probably ended up just attending our local junior college and not playing football due to the pressure and negativity from my ex.
My wife and I kept pushing him and supporting him. Eventually, he got a DII offer we all felt great about, and he signed his scholarship papers on National Signing Day. My ex still gave him crap about it being too far away from home (8 hours).
So before people bash these kids for the decisions they make, remember: we probably don’t know even 10% of what they’re carrying in life. I could not imagine adding NIL into the equation as well.
Through it all, 2025 ended up being one of the best years our family has ever had. His football team played into December and lost in the regional finals to the eventual state champions.
And on top of that, my son got to experience something I waited years to see again — a **** good Miami Hurricanes football team. We even got to watch the CANES beat the Buckeyes live together.
GO CANES!
I know a lot of us take these college decisions hard when they don’t go the CANES’ way, but the truth is we have no idea what these kids are dealing with behind the scenes.
Some kids have great support systems. Others are dealing with parents, divorced parents with different views, family members, or agents trying to control every decision they make.
Last summer my son was heading into his senior year and he had to make one of the hardest decisions of his life. He left a terrible situation with his mom and moved in with me, my wife, and my three girls.
He’s a good football player (OL) and started getting looks from NAIA, JUCO, DIII, and DII schools.
I’ll never forget how excited he was when he got his first football offer. He came home pumped to tell us. Then all that excitement disappeared after he talked to my ex. No congratulations, no support. Just:
“That school is too far away.”
“You won’t make it.”
“You aren’t good enough.”
After hearing that enough after every offer, he started doubting himself and almost gave up completely. There is no doubt in my mind, if he stilled lived with my ex, he would have probably ended up just attending our local junior college and not playing football due to the pressure and negativity from my ex.
My wife and I kept pushing him and supporting him. Eventually, he got a DII offer we all felt great about, and he signed his scholarship papers on National Signing Day. My ex still gave him crap about it being too far away from home (8 hours).
So before people bash these kids for the decisions they make, remember: we probably don’t know even 10% of what they’re carrying in life. I could not imagine adding NIL into the equation as well.
Through it all, 2025 ended up being one of the best years our family has ever had. His football team played into December and lost in the regional finals to the eventual state champions.
And on top of that, my son got to experience something I waited years to see again — a **** good Miami Hurricanes football team. We even got to watch the CANES beat the Buckeyes live together.
GO CANES!
