with Bill "Bank" Greene
The BPRT is back with a long overdue installment of The Straight Six. However, the long break can be overlooked as we come back in style with a great effort from Scout.com's very own Bill "Bank" Greene. As most BP members know, The Bank is longtime friend of The Planet and we are fired up about cornering him for just a few minutes to rip out a great effort in The Straight Six.
BPRT: How did you get started in this business? What is the best part...what is the toughest part?
Bank: I got started in this business through a long-time friendship with Duane Long, who now has own recruiting blog. Duane and I had an extensive e-mail list of many members, talking OSU football prior to the advent of all the recruiting web sites. I also tried to help Duane with his magazine, Ohio's Future Stars. When Bucknuts hired Duane as a correspondent, he also encouraged them to bring me on as a part-time contributor. I was with Bucknuts for a few years before Scout.com approached me about working for them, which is where I am currently employed on a full-time basis. With apologies to Lou Gehrig, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Looking back 10 years, there is no way I saw myself in this position and I know how fortunate I am to be where I am today.
Best part? That is easy: it's all the great people I've been lucky enough to meet, including players, parents, coaches and fans. I've met people that I consider very important in my life today, and I owe a lot to having this particular career. I have relationships today with NFL players that I first met when they were 16-years old, and that's been fun to see these kids grow into men. I used to be a Pittsburgh Steeler fan, but now I'm more a fan of the individual players I've met through this job.
Toughest part? Ranking players from 1-100, which is a staple of the business, but almost impossible to do. I hate the five-star ranking system. I would prefer a 10-point system. Currently, the highest three-star and the lowest four-star might be nearly identical players, but with the current star system they get ranked as very different players. In a 10-point system, the lowest four-star and the highest three-star would be ranked more accurately. Currently, the cutoff from 5 to 4, or 4 to 3, or 3 to 2, is way too drastic.
Also, having to rank great kids in their proper slot is tough, because sometimes separating friendship from performance and potential causes hard feelings with parents. I try to be as objective as possible. I didn't invite my own son, who I love more than my own life, to a Scout combine because I didn't feel he was good enough to deserve it. If I can crack my own son, I sure as heck have no problem cracking someone else's son, and that can cause problems and why I try to avoid getting too close to parents.
BPRT: When evaluating recruits, what are some of the key attributes for which you look? Do you prefer combines, live look or game film?
Bank: Evaluating potential recruits is very, very hard, and let's be clear on that. The NFL spends millions on scouting, and the batting average for first round picks is around .500. I try to take the evaluation process as seriously as it can be taken, because I owe that to the fans to try to be as accurate, knowledgeable, fair and honest as is humanly possible. My track record has been very good, but that could change by sundown tomorrow because this is very hard. When I have a college coach call me about a player that don't know a lot about, and then I see them offer that kid, it provides a lot of satisfaction. And when you miss, which I certainly do that, you go back and try to see where you went wrong, and learn from it. Sometimes, mistakes are just honest misses and part of the business. My greatest errors have come from not seeing the prospect in person, and relying on film. That would be my greatest weakness. I need to see these players live, and that has been proven out by my history. That's why I try to see every top-100 prospect in Ohio live at some point, either in games, practice, camps or combines. There is a reason schools like Ohio State and Florida rarely offer a player they haven't seen in person, and I feel the same way.
BPRT: Who has been your most memorable prospect? Without naming names, tell us about a nightmare prospect.
Bank: There have been so many memorable recruits that it would require writing a book, which may happen some day. I really like "finding" the kids nobody knows about, writing about them to get them noticed, and seeing the recruitment blow up totally.
D.J. Woods comes to mind as a kid I loved as a prospect, but who had Eastern Michigan as his only offer. I thought he was a BCS kid, and wrote him up that way on Scout. We gave him the nickname "Man on Fire" once the offers started rolling in, and his recruitment was really fun to watch play out. I am in no way stating that I got D.J. Woods any offers at all, because he earned every one on his own. But, writing about him that way might have gotten him the looks he was not getting at the time.
Vlad Emilien was the same type of kid, out there with one small offer, but I felt he was a high BCS kid. In the end, he had offers from Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and many others. Not many people knew about him, and he was an after-thought in Florida recruiting, but I thought he deserved more and wrote him up that way. Again, he earned all his offers through his play, but getting his name out there helped, as his coach, parents and even the player himself have stated often.
Charting the Ryan Shazier recruiting saga on Scout.com was also great fun, especially trying to put the pieces of that puzzle together. Nobody thought Ohio State had a shot at all, but it all worked out in the end, and it was a fun two-week ride detailing the recruitment day by day.
There truly haven't been any nightmare scenarios for me since I've been in the business. I have two in college, so I'm pretty sensitive to people in that age group. I've never had any prospect treat me in a way I would feel bad about, so no recruiting nightmare stories from me.
BPRT: Recruiting is now faster with social networking, media attention and quicker commitments. As technology and the internet grow, what changes do you see coming in recruiting?
Bank: Changes in recruiting? Not real sure about that, but everything is so advanced right now, that I think we will soon see prospects, parents and coaches putting up highlights on-line within hours after a game being played. And kids posting their own interviews on Twitter and Facebook, but maybe I shouldn't be saying that for fear of cutting my own throat (laughing).
I do see an early Signing Period coming to college football, and I see official visits being allowed throughout the summer, to try to monitor the dirtiest portion of college football. The summer unofficials are a huge part of the problem in college football recruiting today.
BPRT: What advice would you give to fans when it comes to recruiting, star systems, predictions, etc?
Bank: There isn't much advice I would give fans at all, other than to let us know at Scout what we can do to make you feel like you are getting your maximum value for the money you spend with us. I'm always available to answer any questions, and more than willing to listen to what fans want. I guess my answer would be more in line of what advice would fans give ME, so I can be better at what I do.
I started out as a message board poster, not a media member, so I'm very sensitive to providing as much value as we can to the paying customers. I try to answer every question, look at all constructive criticism as a way to get better, and I'm more than willing to change the way something is being done if there is a better way to do it. The fans pay my salary and I do feel a sense of responsibility to be better at what we are doing on a daily basis. The day I don't feel that way is the day I need to be replaced.
Regarding recruiting and predictions, understand how hard this stuff is to predict. Obviously, we are blessed at Scout to have the services of Nevadabuck on a daily basis, which takes the pressure off us making predictions (laughing). He's the best and nobody comes close, and NO, I don't know how he does it. I know how emotional fans get over this stuff, and totally understand the passion people put into it. And thank God they do, because things would be pretty boring without their passion.
BPRT: If your son was a major recruit, what advice would you give him about the process and getting "on the radar"?
Bank: First off, give 100% at everything you do, because you NEVER know who might be watching. In weight lifting, sprints, practice, camps, combines, games, everything. One bad moment, or being lazy and immature at a bad time, could cost you.
The camps and combines are huge, but only if you take it as a job interview, not a vacation. Every game is a job interview, as is every practice. Luke Roberts holds an Ohio State offer today because he approached their camp as the Super Bowl. Do that on a daily basis. Never loaf, or take a day off. Give 100% every day, and use every day as an opportunity to get better.
The BPRT would like to give a special thanks to The Bank for taking the time and obviously putting forth a great effort for this round of The Straight Six
Last edited:
