I found the following material on another website, and I think it is certainly pertinent to this discussion. Credit goes to a man named Andy Hilton, from recruit757. I haven't seen it posted on Preps yet, but I could be wrong.
Want to know the most important part of this piece? The last 3 lines.
by Andy Hilton, recruit757
recruit757 will not take a formal stance on transferring. There are plenty of times where an athlete decides to transfer from one high school to another. Sometimes, the parents move. Sometimes, the parents drive the decision. In other cases, the student-athlete begs to move and it’s not always for good reason. I’m not here to offer a judgment on any teenager’s situation. That’s not what we’re about. I will throw this out there, and it originated from a professional contact of mine, Cory Bailey at Coastal Carolina. Cory is the recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach for the Chanticleers, a program that just moved into the Sun Belt and moved up to Division I FBS. Before his tenure at Coastal Carolina, Coach Bailey was the head coach at Assumption College. Cory tweeted on May 8 about transfer students and it has gotten a lot of attention.
Random Rant..Transferring to get recruited based on the school you're at = crazy. Dominate where you are… we will find you! Show loyalty.
— Cory Bailey (@CoachCoryBailey) May 8, 2017
In six weeks, it’s gotten about 2,000 likes and over 1,000 retweets. Maybe most of the likes have come from high school coaches who have lost transferring players. I know that I liked the tweet when I first saw it. Oddly enough, Coastal Carolina just received a verbal commitment about a week ago from a local player who’s transferring for the second time in his high school career. The commit is heading to Bishop Sullivan after playing for two years at Portsmouth Christian, and for a season at Greenbrier Christian prior to that. Coastal Carolina found him, recruited him, and got a commitment from him before he has played a down of football for his newest team. But again, this isn’t about a specific player. I can guarantee you this. If you’re talented, I will find you. If you’re talented, college coaches will find you. Part of my job is helping college coaches connect to you and to your high school coach. While some high school football programs are better than others and some high school coaches are more skilled at different aspects of football, there is practically always a place for a high school varsity starter to play college football.
There’s something to be said for making the commitment to stay in the same high school football program for your entire high school career. It demonstrates character and commitment. It shows a college coach that you can stick to your decisions. It also allows you to experience high school and high school sports with the friends that you grow up with. I will state this very clearly. As much as I love high school football, it is still an after-school, extra-curricular activity. Winning a state championship will not complete your life, nor will it make you a better person. If you think that winning a title in high school is going to make you a legend, think again. Most people can’t tell you who won a high school championship two years ago, let alone five, ten or twenty years ago. Playing college football is less like an extra-curricular activity and more like a job. High school is a time to enjoy playing football. By the time you reach college, you better be playing because you love it, or you may not play for much longer.
With all that being said, there are good reasons to transfer. Players may sometimes want to play for a different coach, or for a person they see as a more talented coach. They may want to play against better competition. In that case, you certainly want to make sure that there’s room for you in the new program you are headed to. There’s only one ball and there are only 11 spots on the field at a time. You better be good enough to beat out the other guys who are already in the program and competing for the playing time that you think you’re going to get.
As with any big decisions in life, there are pros and there are cons. Transferring works out for a lot of kids, but it’s not without risks. Take a good long look at the potential impact of your decision before you decide to make a move. Parents should be involved as more than a rubber stamp of approval. Look at all of the implications before you leap.
The grass is always greener where?
Not on the other side.
The grass is always greener where you water it.