Brendan Boylan, Pass-Game Coordinator/QB Coach at Mercyhurst University

Brendan Boylan is in his second year as the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the Mercyhurst football team.

Why did you start coaching?

I was influenced by my position coach in college. I had no plans on coaching, but he guided me to see the benefits of the profession.

How has your coaching and recruiting style changed?

They both have changed a little bit since I started as a GA. Social media (mainly twitter) has exploded within the past 3 years regarding recruiting. Coaching style has been the same since I started out. You have to adapt to each player’s personality, so you can get the most out of them each day.

What advice do you have for coaches just beginning their career?

Keep on grinding and take on as much as possible. This profession requires a lot of hours and commitment. If you put in the time and then some, good things will happen to you in the profession.

More about Coach Boylan:

As a player, Brendan Boylan is listed in the Mercyhurst record books. In 2014, Boylan set the school record for total offense in a season, finishing with 3,105 yards. His 2,952 passing yards that season fell short of the school record by 31. He ranks fourth all-time in passing yards (4,320) and sixth in total yards (4,436). Boylan holds the school record for passing yards in one game (544 vs. California, Pa., in 2014). He completed 296 of 503 passes during his tenure for a 58.8 percent completion percentage. He threw 43 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while on his was to a 153.6 efficiency rating.

(Click here to read more of this great article from AFCA Insider)

(Click here to read more of this great article from the AFCA Insider)

(Click here to read more of this great article from the AFCA Insider)

If you missed it, please take a second to watch our AFCA 2020 Recap video. Thanks again to all the coaches that stopped by the booth, hung out in the suite, and made this event such a tremendous success! See you next year!

“We tailor to their needs. It’s just another opportunity to show that we care. And at the end of the day we do, so these trips are so worth it in that regard.”

Here is a behind-the-scenes look at the importance of these visits, featuring customer success representatives Alex Adkins and Stefan Schmidt.

Veronica Farmer’s compliance experience is invaluable to our customer success team, and it helps us to better advocate and educate our compliance clients.

“Compliance individuals are so passionate about what they do and it’s such a unique industry. I’m really proud that I get to be in this position and help them work more efficiently.”

Front Rush is sharing stories from coaches across all divisions and sports. Every coach’s journey begins with the first six months. 

Phillips came to Covenant after spending two years overseas working in professional baseball. Prior to coaching, Phillips was a professional player and coach with the semi-pro team Füssen Royal Bavarians in Füssen, Germany. 

Why did you start coaching? 

I felt God calling me to be a coach from a young age. I was fortunate to be around some great coaches in my youth (including my Dad and my HS football coach, Beck Brydon) who infected me with their enthusiasm for their players, the game, and inspiring the team to accomplish more than they thought they could, while also pointing them to Christ.

In the beginning, what was the most challenging part of your job? 

My first year of college coaching was tough just trying to figure out how to teach and understanding how to use my time. As a coach, there is so much pulling you in so many directions — it is so much more than just planning practice. We don’t have the luxury of having coaches for every specific function of the team that some of the SEC schools enjoy.

My biggest challenge was figuring out how to balance my time as an OF coach, working with our hitters and baserunners, being a recruiting coordinator, discipling our guys, and also excelling in my administrative role for our athletics department. Plus, leading my family and investing in them at the same time is a constant juggle. Definitely still trying to master all of these.

How has your coaching and recruiting style changed? 

As a recruiter, I used to talk a lot and try to have marathon conversations convincing everyone Covenant was the place for them. 
Now, I ask a lot of questions and try to keep my conversations short, just giving our recruits little tastes of what our program is about on a more consistent basis. I also try to vet them on the front end a lot more. 

As a coach, initially, I really worried about being liked and respected by everyone. I also struggled to find my coaching style. 

Now, I really try to focus on accountability with all our guys — even if it means being “the bad guy” for the moment because as they say, “what you permit, you promote.” So in reality, I am NOT loving my guys if I am not holding them to the standards of our culture and our savior. 

When it comes to coaching technique, I try to talk less and just create environments where they have to elevate and adapt their skills to match the goal for that specific exercise and design it so that skill will translate to the game. 

What’s the best advice you’ve gotten as a coach?

A lot to sort through here, but my favorites are: 

“Your #1 job is to love your players and model the life you want them to live.” 

“Be good where your feet are.” 

“When there is a void in communication, negativity fills the gap.” 

“Never stop learning.”

What advice do you have for coaches in the beginning of their career?

Other than the mantras I just shared:

1. Pray regularly — especially for your players. 

2. Figure out how to manage your time efficiently. 

3. Take ownership — ownership of your role and doing everything you can to help your players succeed and take ownership of the mistakes you make and the ones your players make. 

Front Rush is a proud sponsor of the annual Personnel Symposium in Nashville, and we were excited to brought along three employees with over 25 collective years of experience working in football recruiting offices to the 2019 conference.

Our team has climbed up the ranks of Power 5 recruiting offices to work with some of the best coaches in the nation, which is why we want to support young people in the industry. We’ve been there before; on the sidelines, in the locker room, and in the office ’till late at night. Decades of recruiting experience have given our team battle-tested knowledge and advice for personnel staffers. 

After graduating from Montana State and coaching high school football for a couple years, Nicol sought out a college program to work for. Nicol employed all of his contacts and landed his first collegiate opportunity. Chris Bowers, former director of player personnel at Northwestern, was the first to reach out to him.

“We have an opportunity, when can you be here?” 

“At the drop of the hat, whenever you need me,” Nicol replied. 

Nicol packed his entire life into his car and drove across the country from Orange County to Chicago. 

Depending on the time of the season, Nicol worked an average day of 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“I happily did it. I couldn’t believe someone was letting me come to their building and letting me do this stuff for them,” Nicol said. 

“Getting a job in the industry is very difficult. You’d be shocked at how many people work for free and make these huge sacrifices just to get their foot in the door.”  

This is not atypical, and it’s how many people break into football recruiting. 

“You have to grind. There’s a wave of young guys in the business right now and all they do is grind. You have to stay in, you have to grind. The more you can do the better you can be.” 

While the demand on recruiters increases, so does the burnout rate. Nicol said the average age of director roles is getting lower as more people try to break into the industry and overtax themselves. 

“It’s a young person’s game. Recruiters need to know how football players think, what they like to do, what they do in their spare time, and how to relate to them through the latest social media trends.” 

Nicol recently brought his extensive recruiting experience to Zcruit, where he remains close with people in the industry. As director of customer success, Nicol helps data-driven football offices recruit smarter through Zcruit’s analytics.

In addition to assisting elite programs, Nicol also wants to advise people trying to break into the industry. Eight years of recruiting experience has given Nicol battle-tested advice and knowledge about climbing up the football ranks.

What skills should recruiters learn to be successful in marketing to prospects? 

 1. You need to be where the prospects are: Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc. You must have a big presence and appear cool through the lens where prospects view you. Every time a prospect opens up an app, he should see your school on his feed 

 

 2. Be where the parents and decision-makers are. You need to appeal to Mom, Dad, Uncle, Brother, whoever, on whatever they use to communicate 

 

 3. Technical skills in graphic design and video post-production are in HIGH demand these days. If you can master a technical skill, you will open up a lot of opportunities for yourself 

 

4. Be able to put together a recruiting cycle-length marketing plan that includes social media, graphics, video, mail, etc. that can tailor to individual prospects

 

 5. Be a master of a mass communication platform like Whistle 

 

 6. Remain relevant in pop culture and know what the kids are liking these days. Often times, it’s a lot easier for a younger person 

How can recruiters stay organized? 

1. Make a standardized checklist for everything you need to do, whether it’s planning travel or planning a visit 

 

2. Keep all pertinent information in one location as much as possible, whether it’s on a whiteboard, excel file, Google doc, your recruiting database, etc.

 

3. Set up a calendar notification system. It will take more work on the front end to set up, but you’ll be glad you have it

 

4. Have a visual big picture calendar visible at all times for you and your staff

 

5. Have daily meetings with staff, whether it’s five minutes or an hour, to make sure everyone is on the same page

 

 6. Always be thinking months ahead with some foresight so you don’t have to be reactive to things

 

What are some of the oddest tasks you’ve been assigned as a recruiter? 

Not all of these were me personally, but I was close to all of them. Someone could write a good book someday about all the ridiculous stuff.

Decorating Christmas trees, convenience store runs for personal items, dressing up as a mascot, pushing a 400 lb kid up a steep hill in a wheelchair, borrowing a rickshaw to transport handicapped guests, wait out a snowstorm at Buffalo Wild Wings for six hours on an official visit, and give a Hollywood tour to a car full of people who are asleep.

What advice do you have for people wanting to either break into recruiting or climb up the ladder? 

Go coach first because you can always switch gears and go into recruiting. But if I start recruiting I cannot switch gears and go into coaching. That’s just the way it is.

 

You need to develop multiple skills. It’s going to be very difficult for someone who is only a scout/evaluator. A broad skill set will help you get your foot in the door and elevate. The guys who can do the scouting, recruiting and graphics/videos are called unicorns. Be a unicorn. Often times your first director job will be at a smaller school with less support so you will need to wear multiple hats.

 

Having the ability to do a lot will make you a great candidate for those jobs. Never stop learning on the job. Once you feel complacent, go to your graphics guy and tell him you want to learn Photoshop. Or, go to your operations guy and tell him you want to learn the ins and outs of the operational side. Always be proactive about reaching out, networking and expanding your contacts. Attach yourself and make yourself indispensable to a coach who has the ability to elevate.

Following Northwestern, Nicol worked as a scouting analyst at UCLA and then served as director of player personnel at Cal. Nicol performed a wide range of recruiting tasks under each of his titles, seen here:

Front Rush is sharing stories from coaches across all divisions and sports. Every coach’s journey begins with the first six months. 

Why did you start coaching?

My high school coach, Eddie Sargent, was my position coach. He was my idol, my inspiration, a father figure.  I wanted to be just like him. When I went to college, I became very close to my head coach KC Keeler. I watched him coach, teach, and mentor young men into adulthood. He influenced my teammates and I to reach for the skies and never give up. He took us to a place we couldn’t take ourselves. I knew then I wanted to have the same influence on people. This is why I decided to coach, I wanted to influence people. 

In the beginning, what was the most challenging part of your job?  

I had to learn to manage my time. I wanted to do too much. I took on extra project to please people. I eventually took less on and focused on completing task more efficiently. 

 Has your coaching and recruiting style changed since you first started?  

Yes, as you grow in the position. You learn how to engage families and student athletes better. You become more organized in the recruiting process. You start to develop a recruiting philosophy on how to sell your vision and your programs visions to families. Also, I have learned to be completely honest in the recruiting process with families. Never, negative recruit a student athlete. Focus on your program and institution. 

 What’s the best advice and worst advice you’ve gotten as a football coach?

Best advice I received is to be fair and consistent to your players. Be the same coach every day. Care about them off and on the field.

The worst advice I was given was how to discipline a player. I disagreed with the technique and share to the coach how I discipline players. If a player breaks rules, and/or needs to be disciplined, always make it a learning opportunity for that player and the players on your team.

What advice do you have for coaches in the beginning of their career? 

Work hard at your current job, do not get caught up in the race or chase. If you do a good job, opportunities will find you.

Loyalty goes a long way. Eliminate the negative chatter about your head coach, OC, or other members in your program.

Your enthusiasm is contagious. Bring it every day to work.

Be a positive influence on players.