THE FULL RIDE ATHLETE PODCAST Ep. 1 - DO I NEED A MANAGER TO GO TO A PREP SCHOOL?

Coach Emmanuel Kazouagnac discusses his passion for evaluating and promoting football talent, as well as his involvement in coaching and rankings in Quebec. He also talks about his company, Uncharted Talent Sports Consulting, which aims to guide student-athletes through the NCAA recruiting process. He addresses the topic of transferring to prep schools and highlights the importance of understanding the criteria and financial aid options. He emphasizes the need for parents to be knowledgeable about the process and to consider the academic and athletic development of their child. He also mentions the possibility of pursuing NCAA opportunities through Cégep, highlighting the importance of work ethic and development. Welcome to the Fulbright Podcast, where you're going to get the best tips and insights for football parents and players from the Quebec province, looking for the best exposure and development opportunities for the student-athletes. My name is Coach Emmanuel Kazouagnac. If you want to talk prep, you want to talk college ball, say jet ball, want to talk recruiting from Quebec, Canada to the US, this is the podcast for you. So stay tuned. So who am I? So I'm not just a coach. I'm a married man and father of two girls. I'm a man of faith in my family. We do believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And what is leading me to football? After being a football player when I was younger in the area of Montreal, I played for a few years as a student-athlete, tried myself a bit at youth sports with Concordia. Well, I decided to come back after 10 years in business and finance to football because I just have a passion to evaluate and promoting talent. I love the NFL draft. So whenever the season ends for most people, to me, it's a new season that begins because I love looking at draft articles, scouting reports. But I just decided that given the opportunities after I followed a scouting training with sports management worldwide, instead of moving to the States, I just decided to, you know what, if I can help the local athletes gain more exposure by identifying those who need more US attention, then that would be a goal that I would pursue. So I'm also a coach at a football team, the Luzunor, which is a junior football team in Quebec. And as I mentioned, as also probably you know me for my involvement with Canada Football Chat, as I am the person leading the rankings for the Quebec high school and Cégep levels. And also right now, another thing that I'm building is my company, Uncharted Talent Sports Consulting, which aims to direct the qualified student-athletes in terms of exposure and knowing how to go through the NCAA process. And right now, I just started through that company, my first digital course named Full Ride Academy to teach them about what is really important to pay attention to towards their goal of getting NCAA recruiting exposure. So my aim is really to grow an awareness online about the matters pertaining to football recruiting in Quebec, and also educating student-athletes as well, and especially their parents, because the thing that I've noticed is how much parents are not necessarily the most equipped in terms of knowing what to pay attention to. When their son, playing football mostly, are being recruited for different opportunities. Today, we're going to address one really good question that I was asked online by a local player. Do I need a manager to go prep? Which is a controversial yet popular topic, given the current trend of high-end Quebec student-athletes playing football transferring to different prep schools. Notably, we know the McCallies of the world, the Baylor schools, the Clearwaters, the Rabingaps, the Schultz, to name a few, where we've seen guys transferring to these prep schools and have success attracting NCAA attention for full-ride scholarships. But the first thing to address this question is to ask ourselves, what is a prep school? Well, usually it's a high school, but it's more on the private sector, probably the independent sector, where schools are going to be smaller in terms of attendance compared to regular high schools that are public. So the rules are going to be different. The tuition is going to be way higher than a regular public high school. And the academic expectations and rigors are also going to follow along, given the selective or the limited selections, I apologize, of student-athletes that can enroll or want to enroll. So you need to meet a certain criteria and profile, both academically and athletically. So the way it works to go there is you also need to make sure that if, especially if you're from Quebec, given the fact that Quebec, I don't know if you were aware of that parents and student-athletes, Quebec is the only province and state in North America that graduates its student-athletes at grade 11. The rest is grade 12. So what it means is a given player who wants to transfer as a student to a high school, graduates here as a Quebec diploma, will have to reclassify to a school that their bylaws in terms of their school's association does not prevent a student that has graduated in our system. From studying at their school while reclassified. Reason is, is that I've seen cases of student-athletes going from Quebec to some associations down south where because they did not verify that, well, they were deemed ineligible. They had to come back or in even an instance, play unfortunately because he wasn't taking care of academically the way he was supposed to. They've taken into consideration his previous academic pathway, lost one year worth of academic here because whoever took care of him as directly a coach didn't validate with the school how his transcripts from Montreal notably would transfer over to their state, which is a big, big, big mistake. So we want to avoid that folks, right? Another thing too is you want to find a school that not only there's a compatibility academically, but also do they give financial aid? What is financial aid? Let's say school, a school, their tuition is 60, 70,000 US. Raise your hand if you do have that in your bank account to send your kid and it's easy for you, right? Probably the top 1% in Montreal or in Quebec are going to have that, but that's another topic. So that's why you need financial aid is a prep school is going to take in consideration the financial situation of the family to dip into their financial aid pool that some schools can have a million, 5 million or even 10 million or more worth of financial aid available every year. In order to complement the tuition that a student athlete must cover in order to attend that school. Another thing you have to take in consideration is not every school will have the same parameters in terms of age requirement. Most schools, you need to actually make sure that your student athlete to attend there will not turn 19 before the senior season of his prep career. So, and before, usually it's before August 1st in most cases that I've came across. Some it's September 1st and some exceptions, July 1st. So you need to know that. So you need to make sure that even before thinking prep, will you have the age necessary to do at least two years of prep, both academically and athletically. In other words, if you're thinking that you're going to just transfer graduating here as a grade 11 and easily transfer as a grade 12, ask yourself this question. What is the likelihood that the American coach not knowing you just because you knock on their door and you seem to have a good I like tape and good grades will say, hey, because you're transferring to us for one year, we're going to make sure to give you max financial aid. What is, what, where would they really be winning with you only having you for one year? Are you the type of guy that you were already getting max offers, even from Quebec? Most of y'all, if any of y'all don't fit that bill. So that's why you have to be honest with yourself about this process. But it's also important to know that rule as a parent, because I've seen kids where they had the talent to go even after, let's say, their grade 10. So basically in Montreal, in Quebec, it's secondaire cat. So I'll give you an example. Let's say you have a kid who is born before July 1st in terms of date of birth. Okay. He's a great 10 going to grade 11 or second sex. Five. If he has the talent, he should leave after six, four. Especially if he does have the talent that warrants the development he would get. In order to maximize his development and NCAA exposure. Because him staying another year, although it benefits the local program, does not benefit his options. So it's really important that as a parent, you take ownership of the information. Review these parameters that I'm helping you figure out, that information. Review how good your son is and how well he fits the physical demands that usually are really in demand in the States. And if he does have those measurables and good grades, don't wait until he graduates here. At least explore the option to compare if it's worth it not to use that option for the time being. Okay. So now the question is, if PrEP is not meant for everybody, what are the differences between PrEP and Sajeps? Well, the difference would be the situation in terms of your son's development as a student athlete. The thing that I want to help student athletes figure out in Fulbright Academy is whether you are in a PrEP or in a Sajep, both fit or can fit the academic requirement pathways of the NCAA. It's just a matter of making sure that you are groomed according to me. Okay. But another thing too is to make sure that you know, based on where you are right now physically, what do you need to develop in order to meet the requirements? So even if you are in Sajep, being in Sajep does not mean that that dream goes away. It just means that you, yes, you may need to work relatively harder, but even let's put it in perspective, guys. The moment you go to a PrEP school, regardless, or the moment you go to the US, regardless, you will relatively work harder no matter what. So if your goal is that, you still need to apply the work you would have put in at a PrEP, but do it through your Sajep. Ask yourself this, what is the work ethic that you need to start, my apologies, to develop, to put in, to adopt in order to be able to match the development that you are systematically missing by not going PrEP? But that's the, and that's going to be, that's why it's important to when you evaluate also the PrEP opportunities, evaluate the Sajep opportunities as well, because guess what? Yes, PrEP could be in general a better way to gain exposure, quote unquote, but it's not everyone who gets that exposure. Don't get it twisted. That's why you see a lot of guys from Quebec who go PrEP, who end up coming back here to Sajep, or use sports, because was it really based on the fact that they were going PrEP because they knew, or it was pretty much written in the sky that, yeah, that athlete coming here will get the exposure and development that he needs in order to attract NCAA attention. Not necessarily the case. That's why you have to verify for the position you are playing, what do you need to start developing and showing to get those attention the moment a coach falls on your team. So the thing to ask yourself is, are you the type of person that if given two options, option number one, you have the sunny trip, you take a flight, there's no turbulence. It's all sunny during the flight. You get the best meal while you're on the plane. You are even in the VIP seats. But then once you land on your destination, it's rainy, there's thunder, there's tornadoes, you know, there's a flood, there's a pandemic and whatnot. That's your destination. Or you would rather a trip that is not the best, maybe a lot of turbulence, lots of adjustments, lots of stops, but you land in Hawaii. But you land in a sunny place, in a relaxed, rich, rewarding place. When you guys are saying that, when your kid is saying that they want to go prep, is it that they're saying that they want to get to the NCAA? So ask yourself this question. Now, if the goal is not prep, but it's the NCAA, shouldn't it be that it doesn't matter if it's prep, but to find the best way that gets you to the NCAA. So if SAGEP in your case is that, well, there's a few things I would recommend you to pay attention to. So let's take a look. Let's talk about it. So you need to go back to the initial question, or if you do need a manager or an agent to go prep, then I'm kind of answering it with this episode by wanting you to understand that you need to have a good support system. You need to have involved parents, or it's not an agent that you need or a manager. Here's why. When you go apply to a prep school, is it that you are a professional athlete? No, you are a student athlete. When you apply to a SAGEP, you are a student athlete. What gets you into the doors of the program that allows you to exercise your talent as a football athlete is the fact that you're a student, not a professional athlete. So you're not getting a salary for your talent. You follow me so far? So it means that to have a manager or an agent, you need to be a professional. So this is not a relationship where at this stage of your career, you are Mike Tyson and you need a Don King. Or probably a lot of you know my good relationship that I have with Shakai Mills Knight, who's at Baylor School right now in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who just got his eighth offer. One thing I always tell Shakai, or I try to educate him on, and he knows, is he and I have a NYA relationship. What is NYA? Not your agent. Because, ask yourself this question, do coaches like to talk to agents? They don't. Even in the professional ranks, an agent doesn't even talk to coaches. They talk to general managers to negotiate contracts. So this is, I am encouraging you parents, if your child said, hey, can I hire this agent? You remove that word from their vocabulary right now. It is the worst thing that you can sell your son, student at the moment right now. It is not something that you need to put any other ounce of thought in seeking. No. But can you have an off-the-field coach, or a consultant, or someone that can give you some advice on the process? Oh, absolutely. But that's called a consultant. That's called an off-the-field coach. Someone who's going to have the interest in keeping you accountable and direct you to the right information. The right steps not to burn yourself like the previous examples that I've given to you. So that's why you need to stop, if you were that type of student, I need an agent, stop that right now, please. Stop that right now. It's not worth it. And change your friends. If you have friends who are buying the app, or agent this, agent that, cut these friends. They're wasting your time with those distractions. Because they don't know squat about the process for real. So please, do not be a source of continuing to spread those fallacies. You are better than that. Especially if one day you're definitely worth being offered Division 1, or Division 2, or full-ride scholarship offers. Heck, even in youth sports. Come on. Very good. Alright. So, that's why it's important to know what your lane is as a student-athlete. And your lane as parents. In fact, you parents are the ones that have to advocate for your student-athlete child. So that's why you need to be informed of how you can be involved. And here's how. Help your child be recruited by thinking through the process. So I'll repeat myself. Help your child be recruited by helping him thinking through the process. Not emotionally. Why? I'm telling you this. This is recruiting, going to a school, is nothing personal. It's a business. So when coaches approach you, their job, J-O-B, is to find the best talent as possible to win games, championships. Not to make sure that your student-athlete is a great student. They need that athlete to play for them, of course. But their role is not to teach them. That's teachers in classes. But even the teacher is not the teacher's job to tell your student-athlete what program he should enroll based on what he wants. Or to know what he likes. So that's why it's important. Number one is to make sure that your student-athlete knows what career they want to study in university. Do you want to be a lawyer? Do you want to be a doctor? I don't know. A mechanic. Then make sure that the courses you choose at a Cégep are available to you at that given Cégep. If you need to take Sciences Humaines or, I don't know, Social Sciences, but you still need math and science courses, make sure you are able to enroll in a school that allows you to get that. Because guess what? You don't want to be a lawyer. You don't want to enroll in a school that allows you to get that. Because guess what? You don't want to find yourself in a cycle where you're so not motivated or your son is not motivated to go to their school to study, but only motivated for football. And then they come back with 60 grades, some failures, it's okay, I'm going to go to summer school. You don't want to get to that cycle. Because guess what? I was in it. I was in it. You can't enjoy your summer. You are limited and now you can train for yourself because you have what? Summer class? Make sure you enroll into a program where it's explained to you how it will help you, direct you to be admitted in the program you want. Especially if you want to go from Cégep to the NCAA. Well, you need those math and science courses. You need those English courses. You need those history courses. And you're probably going to need the SAT, ACT aptitude test. But if you don't know how through that school system, how they provide those options, those opportunities, why are you just committing to a school for their football program? And let's talk about the football program in itself. I'm calling out players who are committing quote-unquote to Cégeps based on their brand. Why am I saying that? Listen, I'm guilty of it too. When I was younger, I wanted desperately to go to Ville Montréal. I ended up at Collège in Honfouti and that was the best situation for me. But not all of y'all will have the opportunity to have someone redirect you the right path like I had. Someone who's going to be honest with you and be like, Hey, listen, I don't think that this is the right opportunity for you, but I think you do have enough talent. Hey, you should go to that place. Because I cannot guarantee that every Cégep coach is going to talk to you like that. But it's not their job to do that. It's your job to ask your parents and vice-counsel around you how you should think through the process. So, parents, another way you can help think through your student-athlete, son, is asking the coach, What's the depth chart looking like at your position for the next two to three years? Who else are you recruiting at my son's position? If that person and my son commits to your program, what is the scenario you are anticipating? You can ask those questions. Feel free to interview the coaches because guess what? If I was a Cégep coach right now, it's not just me wanting to sell you. I want you to interview me as well. Test me out. But too many of you are going to end up in a situation where you're going to have buyer's remorse. Because you bought something that you didn't verify you needed. You bought a situation you didn't verify because you didn't ask enough questions about the situation that you're going into, the projection, the development process. Because it's good for a team to win games, but guess what? When your team wins a Baldor, it's the school that wins. It doesn't mean you win. Because ask yourself this question. Look at all of the players that have gone from whether prep or Cégeps to NCAA. And ask yourself, was really one of the requirements for them to get NCAA scholarships, was really one of the requirements to actually have a state championship or a Baldor? Ask yourself that question. Ask the coaches that question. And also ask yourself that question too. How do you know that the NCAA coach knows the difference between Cégeps Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3? And for that matter, I'll add in something. The Quebec Junior Football League where I coach. You want me to tell you the honest truth based on who I've spoken to? They have no clue. In fact, there's a reason why they would rather you go play prep ball because they trust that a little bit too much better than an area they've never actually seen a live game because they'll most of the time, unless you're a freak of nature that it's so obvious on tape. Well, they're going to ask you to come to their camps to evaluate you and see how you move and take it from there. But guess what? Just imagine the difference of a coach comparing you to a player they've seen live and being able to actually see on visits consistently and you are the outsider looking in. They have to try to evaluate from afar. You better have the elements they need in order to bank that you are who they are looking for. But again, it's not necessarily that it's impossible. It's also in the how you do it. Let me read you something that I saw today from the great coach J.R. Sandlin, which I quote a lot in my Fulbright Academy course. He wrote online on Twitter today, Recruits, there is no secret to getting recruited. It all starts with film, bold letter. Secondly, the earlier you start playing, the sooner you get evaluated. Just like the NFL, college coaches love to find three-year high school starters. Now, not everyone can play early, but your film is the key to getting you recruited. You have to play in such a way that you do not belong on the field at your current level. You stand out in such a way, everyone knows that player is different. Bold letter. When your opponent's coaches take notice and scheme against you and you still display your dominance. Bold letter. Hashtag recruiting 101. So ask yourself this. Can you tell me in sincerity that most of you, if you go even Cégep D1, you're going to have not just a good tape, but a dominant tape in every situation. To the point we're going to say, oh no, D1 all the way, D2 forget it. First of all, I can tell you that there's a lot of, if you look in 2023. In my opinion, probably the top four or five D2 schools could have definitely given a lot of trouble. If not, make the playoffs D1 instead of a few D1 schools. But that's my opinion. Because I know talented guys who are in D2 right now that are absolutely balling and dominant. And would have been difference makers in those games. Just like in D3, you may not have as high end quality depth, but that doesn't mean it lacks dominant, physically gifted players. And probably in the future, I'll be able to speak to you about some of the guys that I'm noticing D2, D3 that are really dominant. To give you an example, parents, that it does not matter. Just this week, I sent a tape of a D3 Sajak guy to a FBS power four coach. And to that coach, that player fits the bill physically and athletically. But he never asked what level does he play at your Sajak level. So, if you have a coach that recruits you on the basis that D1 is the only way you're going to get exposure. Parents, I'm telling you, this is a lie. It's a self pitch. Flee that argument. Flee that coach. It's a car salesman who just wants for you to buy the car, get his commission and deal with your issues with your car. And you don't want to have those types of relationships. You want someone who's going to be able to give you good evaluation and a path of development for your student-athlete. So, it's important to know also the physical makeup that your son needs to develop. Because it is not only a dominant film business, but physically it is also an eyeball test business. If you're undersized but you don't look athletic, even if you're skilled, do not even think you're going to get looks. There's a say, good is the enemy of great. If you don't give everything they're looking for, you are easily someone who's going to get overlooked. But if let's say you're undersized, but I don't know, you ran, you're sure you're able to run a hundred meters the fastest time. You do, I don't know, you do power cleans, some of the strongest power cleans. Some of the most athletic, freakish athletic testing that you can actually build yourself to. If you put the time and have the right off the field coach, the personal trainers, right nutrition. See, it's all about what you're willing to put and what you're willing to pay attention. What says you can't make it, but you have to know that you can't just be G-O-O-D. You have to be G-R-E-A-T, great at it. Great work ethic, discipline, great Twitter handle, great way to connect. You have to network. You have to tell your kid, this is your business, not your coach's business. Your recruiting is your business, parents too, not his coach's business. If the coach helps, he's an assistant, he's a bonus, but he's not it for the recruiting. You guys can help that. And I really hope that the podcast moving forward gives you inspiration, tools, and reasons to know that, hey, recruiting is your responsibility. You have to take ownership of your recruiting. You got that? So, my goal is really to teach parents and their child how to take ownership of their recruiting and how they're responsible to pay attention to what they need in order to develop and give themselves the best chance at what their student athlete wants. But it's also to be realistic if you don't meet the criteria, because the last thing you want is to want it so much that you waste coach's time. That can offer someone else a full ride. Or if you're too harassing of coaches and you don't focus on meeting the criteria, they don't need to tell you, I'm not looking at you. They'll just act accordingly. But it's nothing personal. It's business. So, I hope this podcast helps you today to understand a few insights and have a different perspective on a few things that are really important in assessing whether or not you need an agent to go prep. Because guess what? If your goal is to go prep, it usually means you want to get to the NCAA. So, the goal is not prep. The goal is NCAA. So, the question is, as a student athlete, do you understand you are not a professional athlete to seek an agent or a manager? And do you understand that you need to put more emphasis on your development as a student, in class, tutors, but also outside of the field, which is as an athlete? And also, how you take care of your recruiting if you're currently being recruited by SAGEX or looking to transfer to a prep. You have to make those verifications. And I hope that in the next episodes, I'll also have to be able to have live examples of people that I've helped during this journey. So, stay tuned. So, thank you very much for attending this first episode of the Full Ride Podcast. Make sure you like, subscribe, and share this episode with friends. And see you next time.