UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For three weeks this summer, Dwayne Thomas had the unenviable job of traveling the country by bus with 35 high school-aged boys.
Thomas, the head football coach at Eastern Christian Academy in Elkton, Md., strategically planned trips to one-day football camp for his players in hopes of returning with college scholarship offers, particularly for his six rising seniors. This was a business trip for the players, one to take before their online classes start and their season of games against high school powerhouses across the country is in full swing.
“Coaches don’t recruit the way they did 20 years ago,” Thomas said.