Now, I’m starting to get why college coaches wouldn’t mind shutting down a lot of the combines, camps and junior days. There is always something, somewhere and a need to be there.. Even now.

For example, this weekend Rivals.com has a junior day at Akron. They’ll continue throughout the country. The idea seems somewhat appealing in what they describe they are offering.

It’s become clear that parents, coaches and recruits often go into the recruiting process uneducated. Many people are merely focused on how tall and how fast a player is, but they don’t care about the recruits themselves.

At Rivals.com, we have a different goal. Sure, we care about how talented a prospect is and rank players accordingly on our web sites, but we also feel that it’s important to assist the recruits when it comes to understanding the recruiting process.

Instead of just finding out how fast or tall you are, Rivals.com hosts a series of Junior Day events across the country that help recruits and their family members get important questions about the recruiting process answered from coaches, speakers, parents of former recruits and players that have just completed the recruiting process.

The countervailing, cynical view is that this is just another chance for the recruiting site to make contact with top prospects around the country to better glean inside info and recruiting information in the coming year.

Then there are the Nike Football Training Camps (with Rivals.com) that take place at college campuses — all of which just happen to be Nike Schools. Of course there is one at State College.

One of the most decorated players in Western Pa. following the 2005 season was productive two-way player Dom DeCicco out of Jefferson Hills Thomas Jefferson. The 6-3, 198 pound safety/wide receiver was a second team all-state pick after a big year in which he helped his team to an 11-2 mark with five interceptions on the defensive side of the ball to go along with 28 catches for 600 yards and 15 total touchdowns. DeCicco, a great athlete with bests of 4.6 in the 40 and a 35-inch vertical jump, had 11 TD catches a year ago, and also returned two punts, one kickoff and one fumble for scores. Currently he lists his favorite colleges as Penn State, Tennessee, Pitt, Ohio State, Iowa and West Virgina, and he’ll attend the May 6th NIKE Camp in State College.

I’m not trying to just pick on Rivals.com, it’s just that their information was easier to locate. Scout.com hasn’t put their dates out there yet (or I couldn’t find it) — and they had at least 8 last year. Well, they do have the kicking camp announced. And we know about the one at Pitt. That doesn’t even begin to include all of the other combines, clinics and events each state has.