Chance of dual Sports in college

I think it's rare, but the QB at TT also plays baseball.  

I think it's rare too.  The player has to be so special that one coach, or both, is willing let him not be there 100% the time.  Think Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson.  Special.  Maybe at lower levels the player doesn't have to be all that.  D3? That would make sense, especially since there are no official baseball activities in the fall.  Or JC -- I do know a kid who is going to try to play both baseball and football this year.  He'll be a PO, which should make it a lot easier.

Thanks.  I would be curious to know from someone who did it how they went about making it happen?  Do you actually get recruited for both or just start with one and try to walk to the other?

My 2017 is the QB,punter and pitcher, catcher, 1B for Varsity. He really likes both sports and if possible would love to play both.  I think his chances are much better at a smaller school, like a DIII or possibly DII.  

I do find it interesting that Coach Harbaugh has his QB's at Michigan doing baseball drills to find out athleticism. http://www.mlive.com/wolverine...eks_athletic_ve.html

 

Here's one: http://now.dartmouth.edu/2014/...view-bo-patterson-15

I think there are a smattering of football - track guys, but not too many football - baseball.

Well I am sure.there are tons and tons of them.  Because all we ever here is how specialization is the work of the devil and ALL the college coaches and pro scouts LOVE the multi sport athlete.  So I am sure.they highly encourage their athletes to be multi sport athletes rather than 'specialize' in just merely one.  Sorry fir the sarcasm - sort of.  But it was on a tee for me and I couldn't resist.

I coached with a guy that played football and baseball his freshman year in college.  He only did it for one year because it was just to much.  Basically three fulltime jobs with no breaks. 

There are a few besides the ones mentioned above., Clemson had a QB who played both, Kyle Parker and then Jeff Samardzija from Nortre Dave, both ML players.

These players from D1 programs are counters under football, and not counted against the 11.7 in baseball and not counted as one of the 27.

 

I get your sarcasm but this is about college players doing two sports not pre HS specializing year round.

My suggestion is that if you are not happy with the responses that you receive here, which are only opinions, don't post or be a part of the community. I am not saying this with malice, only a suggestion, you add a lot here, don't be sarcastic and try to get over what happened yesterday, and focus on tomorrow.

Very very rare and usually is a very special athlete at the D1 level. Stanford had running back who played baseball a few years ago. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Gaffney

 

My son had a friend who played D3 baseball and football. He only played football for a season or maybe two I don't remember exactly. It was too much for him to do both seriously and be a starter in both

 

He was drafted as a pitcher after college and played one season and then was released and has been playing independent ball. 

Lion;

maybe it was the Big Ten baseball a few years ago. Our Michigan State World Series team had 3 QB [two later played NFL] and a hockey player. Every Big Ten team contained a football or basketball player.

 

Today, specialization is the goal of the family. Right or wrong? It is the players decision, enjoy the moment!

 

Bob

Kid from my son's school was recruited by Yale for football, hockey and golf. He's going the football/golf route as hockey overlaps with football and golf. Funny thing is he's a far better hockey player then either of the other 2 sports. 2 time all state. Set scoring records.

Yup. AKA a baseball coach's dream

 

I had a client who was being recruited to punt/kick place at a Pac-12 school but is 6'4" and sitting 88-91 with a good changeup. Baseball coach was trying to get him in the backdoor but it fell through for various reasons.

 

It can happen, but usually not for position players. It's typically specialists on both teams - kicker/punter (very rarely QB) and a relief pitcher (rarely a starting pitcher or position player). Unless you are a big, BIG time talent.

I had a college classmate in the 1980s who played football, basketball, and baseball freshman year. Hard to do that in college. After that, he decided to specialize in baseball, and after his junior year he was drafted in the 4th round.

This discussion wouldn't be complete without referring to John Elway, who played both baseball and football very, very well for Stanford, and used his status as a 2nd round baseball draft choice to force the Colts, a horrible team that had drafted him #1, to deal him to Denver.

 

And then there's the case of Danny Ainge, who played pro baseball while attending BYU and becoming arguably the best college basketball player in the country.

 

In our town there is a HS coach who played JC baseball and basketball, went on to a D2 school and played both, and then played a few years in MILB.

 

So it does happen. Just not often.

2015 Recruit in ACC is both QB and OF. Commitment decision came to where he could play both.

I "think" it happens more than people realize.Now I'm not saying 4 year players.Thats the slot where the above names athletes fit.The first year or two I "think" is more common.Most of these athletes (could be gals also) never get that elway,jackson and or thomas name recognition.Its along the same line somewhat of how many kids pitch and play another position in college baseball.Way more than people realize.

A close friend and high school teammate of my son's played both football and baseball at West Point. An engineering major, he excelled academically. Quite a combination of aptitude (mental and athletic), perseverance, time management skill, and downright toughness.

 

The day before the Army-Navy game his senior year, the "New York Times" published an article about him. He deserved every word of it.

A word to the wise player: If you're considering playing two sports in college, look for prior evidence that others have preceded you recently. Ideally, talk with a current or recent player who has done so. Try to find out how smoothly relations between the two coaching staffs went during the dual sport player's time there; along with the actual time commitment it took to be successful in the classroom and on the fields of play. 

 

The reason I suggest this is that it takes a strong commitment to making such an arrangement work between the coaching staffs of the sports involved. If either staff feels more entitled to the player's time than the other's (or, worse yet, they both feel more entitled to the player's commitment), the tug of war between the two can really take its toll on the player.

 

The fact that the NCAA requires that the full scholarship sport (football or basketball) be the one that picks up the tab for player's education often serves to fuel some of the dynamic described here.

 

Many times, it's a prospective arrangement that has everyone smiling during the recruiting process and turns a bit sour after enrollment.

I know we all know of someone who played dual sports (Bo, Jeff Samardzija,etc) but there are really very few players who do it.  

 

Consider that one sport alone at the college level is a full time job on top of school being a full time job.  In general you can figure 3 hours of practice a day for a sport.  This usually does not include weight lifting or specialty training.  As an example when I was in school I ran track.  Normal practices with stretching, warm up, cool down and practice ran about 2.5 hours.  This did not include work on my jump (high/triple/long jumper) techniques.  I was expected to workout with the jumps coach's in the mornings.  This added another hour onto my daily routine as well as my after workout time in the weight room.  I was not a big lifter but this added another 45 minutes to my workouts.  All this equates to about 4.5 hours of practice a day.  Now add in competition days.  Most teams will travel by bus so figure you lose 2 to 3 hours a day on the bus ride plus the meet time.  It was not unusual to leave our school at 6am and return around midnight.  Track has a longer meet time then a baseball or football game so lets say you are gone from the school for 8 hours on a game day.  You are looking at about 30 hours of weekly commitment for your primary sport.  Add to that the commitment you have to your school work.  Figure 1.5 hours of outside work to every hour of class work you have.  If you are in season you generally only carry 12 credits.  So you have a school commitment of 30 hours.  

 

Basically for one sport and school you have a time commitment of about 60 to 70 hours.  Now layer in the fact that when you show up for practice on the first day of your season you are expected to be in near competition shape.  Its very difficult to carve out some time in your schedule to keep yourself ready for another sport.  I have seen athletes try to do this but in the end most of them end up dropping one sport.

 

What I saw as more frequent when I was in school was an athlete using the 5th year to play another sport.  For example we had one kid who ran track and was never redshirted.  Even though his track eligibility was over he still had 1 year left he could play in another sport.  He played football in that year.  As you have 5 years to complete 4 years of your sport.  If you are lucky and are never redshirted you will complete your 4 years of competition in 4 years.  This leaves you 1 year to try to play another sport.