North Shore saw its former offensive coordinator and current head football coach sanctioned by the UIL this week as the result of the OC's blatant attempt to recruit players via social media.
North Shore High School offensive coordinator Andrew Cameron was forced to resign after a blatant recruiting effort that ultimately resulted in sanctions against him and head coach Willie Gaston.
Cameron, who was given a three-year suspension by the University Interscholastic League Executive Committee on Wednesday, admitted to reaching out to at least two players from other high schools in the area via direct messages on the social media platform X.
He was trying to talk them into leaving their school to play at North Shore. Gaston apparently knew nothing of his assistant coach’s actions, but he was suspended for two games next season because the violations occurred under his watch.
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The general reaction from coaches around town isn’t shock or outrage. It is more like, “Well, duh.”
That’s unfortunate.
As unacceptable as recruiting is at this level, it is such a way of life that many coaches feel there is little they can do about it. Unless they catch someone red-handed — as happened with Cameron sliding into kids’ DM's — all they can do is lament the situation.
This type of cheating is pervasive. Coaches I talked to say middle school football players are taking to social media to announce their choice of high school in the same way high school recruits reveal the colleges they have chosen.
This is what we’ve come to?
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A parent should be able to send their child to whatever school they qualify for or are zoned to — for whatever reason. But moving for “athletic purposes” is against the rules because you don’t want coaches going around recruiting the best players, ruining the neighborhood-versus-neighborhood, school-versus-school, town-versus-town element that defines high school sports.
The sad truth is that to put together the type of dominant football runs schools like Katy, North Shore, Duncanville, DeSoto and a few others have in recent years requires crossing school zone lines.
According to most coaches, these schools are habitual line steppers.
“It is not realistic for you to have that many Division I athletes in your attendance zone year after year,” a Houston area high school football coach told me Thursday. “Numbers-wise, if you’re only getting the kids you’re supposed to have, you can’t always be as good as these schools are.
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“I’m not saying they’re not good coaches. Clearly, they are. But if I could handpick some of the best players in the area to add to my team every year, we’d be good every year, too.
“How do you always have a bunch of Division I athletes? Man, come on. What is it about Woodforest Drive?”
There is a major gulf between the current powerhouses and old-school programs that thrived using only athletes in a town or neighborhood.
There has always been player movement, but it was most often the result of a family dynamic, not dynamic football.
And yes, there has always been blatant cheating as well. In the 21st century, the methods and frequency have changed.
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“Everybody is doing it” isn’t an excuse or a justification. It’s practically a fact.
The growth of 7-on-7 competitions has affected football much like AAU and summer leagues have shaped basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, etc.
As opposed to teaming up with neighbors for fun, kids and parents search for what they deem is the best fit for serious competition with tens of thousands of dollars committed to it.
So of course, coaches are looking for people who are looking.
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While the offseason circuit has no rules, the UIL lists recruiting as a Category A violation for its member schools. Despite that, another local coach said schools all but sanction such misbehavior.
How do you tell coaches you expect them to recruit without telling them you expect them to recruit?
“Head coaches are being hired and asked to ‘grow the program,’ ” he said. “You can’t grow a program without attracting players.
“You need to get the best of those who are zoned to you, the best of those who have choices and can pick between you and another school in your district, and then add a few who choose you out of the blue.”
The pressure can lead one to make cold calls through direct messages online.
Galena Park ISD’s investigation into the matter found that only three of North Shore’s 80 players were transfers from other schools and recruiting wasn’t a factor in any of those moves.
Few believe that to be the case, because the high school sports world has changed.
Coaches are showing up at pee wee football games and community events wearing their school colors, just as college basketball coaches make the summer AAU circuit in pure advertising mode.
There are rankings of the top sixth-grade football players in the country. Seriously.
There are online rankings for first-grade basketball players. According to one website, a kid from Houston, who stands all of 4-foot-4, is a four-star recruit and rated the No. 2 player in the country.
He “is a super quick PG with an elite handle, and not only can he break his defender down and get into the paint, he’s a 3-point threat if left open. (He) also has a good feel for the game, and plays with good pace and poise.”
I remind you, he is 4-foot-4 and in the first grade.
Will coaches start recruiting at Chuck E. Cheese next?
It will get worse before it gets better.
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