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So, where do all those All Americans come from?
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- So, where do all those All Americans come from?
It's my own fault that I'm looking this up!
Well, Thursday evening was fun, wasn't it? And, now that football season is over in Piscataway, we can look at other football related matters.
A little while back, we dropped a post about Rutgers rosters from some different time periods, exploring where the RU players came from. And the question was tossed out regarding whether recruiting your home state was needed/required/should be a priority. And people offered a few thoughts in the comments:
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RUAlum1980TX: Perhaps at one time, recruiting locally mattered, but in today's age I don't think it matters nearly as much. Plus most high school students want to travel out of state for college anyway. The B1G is now a coast to coast conference, so we can and should recruit coast to coast. Some areas of the country develop different kinds of football players. As such based on the teams needs, you may want to recruit from a specific area that develops the type of players needed.
Rarelyright: Bob, I appreciate all of the hard work that you went through to compile these comparisons. However, to me, it still leaves open the question of: Should recruiting NJ players be a priority. Perhaps one way of evaluating this would be to review the major All-America First and Second Team rosters for some reasonable time frame (hey, you're the one who said you had too much time on your hands!) to see how many are from NJ or the recent recruiting areas.
I did. I said I had too much time on my hands. Well…. challenge made, challenge accepted!
There are a bunch of All America lists, including the Associated Press, the Football Writers Association of America, the American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Football Foundation, and The Sporting News. To make life a little easier, I decided to just look at consensus All America picks, and for reference I used Sports-Reference to determine the players, looking at first and second teamers only. I also focused on the last five seasons (2021-25); sorry, but after 2025, I had to let go of my entire research staff, so….
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There are any number of considerations when looking at these lists. One basic premise was the high school they graduated from; that is the data point I used. There were kids, though, who were born in one state and moved – sometimes several times – before graduating some place else. There was at least one who started school in California but then transferred to IMG Academy; I listed him as a Florida product.
Another thing that jumped out is how many players went to school, at least at first, in their home state. Trying to be as consistent as I could, there were 51 kids out of 127 (40%) who went to school "at home"; that included California kids at USC and Illinois kids at Northwestern. On the flip side, there were a few who went "away" and then returned home to finish their career….and where they became an All America. Also, in that five year spread, there were only three repeat players: Marvin Harrison, Jr. (Pennsylvania), Caleb Downs, and Travis Hunter (both Georgia).
Interesting factoid: there were three international players, two Australian and one Japanese. They were all kickers. They are not indicated on the map below.
As indicated on the map below, just four states – Texas, California, Florida, and Georgia – accounted for 44% of the players who made All America in that time span.
Let's look at it one other way. Those 127 players were selected to be All Americas from 60 different schools. Now, keep in mind, that wasn't necessarily where they started college. There were 29 of them who started at – therefore were recruited to – a different school. That included four who attended three different schools, one who started at D2, and two who began at a community college.
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So, is it a factor of where you're from or where you went to school that determines your achievements? If you're a phenomenal player and end up playing for East Podunk State and no one sees you…..hmmmm. Not too many people are watching Coffeyville Community College play football (which is where one of these guys attended). And while Incarnate Word is getting some press – thank you, Cam Ward – it's not likely you reach All America status while playing there. But, there does seem to be at least a measure of truth that some places, some states, produce more high quality/high performing players. Or maybe they're coached up more. Or….if you're good, you're good, regardless of where you're from.
So, you asked where the best players came from. Now ya know!
