Recruited at 21: Our Founder's Own College Football Story | Coach West Recruiting | Ep. 5

Welcome to the third episode of the Coach West Recruiting podcast. Coach Dave West sits down with his brother, Coach Brandon West, to talk about how Coach West Recruiting actually started — and it started with Brandon. Brandon grew up in Hawthorne, Nevada (graduating class of 19), played 8-man football, and had zero college interest coming out of high school. Four years later, at 21 years old, working a job he didn't love, he decided to give college football a shot. With a GPA that made the decision easy for coaches and a highlight tape Brandon himself calls "the worst game film ever made," he ended up with five or six offers and played a season of NAIA football at Dakota Wesleyan. In this episode: How a bad highlight tape still got Brandon noticed — because the effort and the grades were there Why coaches want to see a 3.0 GPA and up, and why that decision gets made freshman year, not junior year The reality of the transfer portal: why JUCO, NAIA, D2, and D3 offers are often the smarter way in right now What a day actually looks like inside a college program — the lifting, the film study, the grind Why small-town, small-school athletes get overlooked, and how that changes once your name is out there Devane Eisenman's story: 5'5", 125 lbs, 8-man football, now on the dean's list after transferring up a level Why Coach West Recruiting exists, and how it's different from recruiting services that charge families thousands of dollars Timestamps: 0:00 Why we're starting this podcast 0:47 Brandon's background and his year of NAIA football 2:39 How Coach West Recruiting started — with Brandon as client #1 5:59 "The worst game film ever made" 9:04 Small school, big myth: "no one's going to recruit me" 9:36 Why coaches want a 3.0 GPA and above 13:14 How Brandon's recruiting picked up once his name got out there 15:08 JUCO, D2, D3, NAIA — why these are smart entry points right now 17:07 5-6 offers out of a town most coaches had never heard of 20:15 Small school, national recognition 26:10 A reality check: walking on at a D1 program 33:00 A day in the life of a college athlete 41:03 What separates prepared recruits from everyone else 43:24 Devane Eisenman's story 51:00 The Coach West difference 56:05 Meet the team 1:04:18 What's next for the podcast Follow along and send us your recruiting questions: Instagram: @cwrassist Web: coachwestrecruitingassist.com #CollegeRecruiting #StudentAthlete #RecruitingPodcast #CollegeFootball #JUCO #NAIA #CoachWestRecruiting