welcome to the secrets of college planning i'm your host anthony uva and today we're going to get some insight into football my guest today is jake grundy he's the head football coach for the jersey flight arena football team welcome to the show thank you  let's go back into high school when did you start thinking about college was it freshman year or senior year when they're all begin oh for me was probably right around my junior year that's when the college fairs came to town and you went around to all the tables and you just got to  see the universities from all over the states and all over the country and you were just excited about an opportunity to kind of leave home and get out there on your own and so that's kind of when i did it but all the postcards and send him away in and waiting to get mail and you know as a kid you go out of mail so when stuff started and you know sooner or later their coaches called me and asked me to come up for a visit to the universe so were there other schools involved as there was you know delaware valley one around the area was one montclair state new jersey was another one that i stop by and visited all the way down to randolph macon in i believe it's from ginia and got an opportunity to see a lot of schools and you know i think my dad for driving me around on those trips i slept well he drove a hold you know we'll see how special place in my heart and i really enjoyed the time they're great so no you  to you go to wilkes barre college what's it like how does it all begin there man it's it was fun you know i came in i decided i didn't really know what direction i wanted to be sports was always the biggest part of my life so football is really what i was focused on and really enjoyed there but when i went to wilkes i was thought to myself if i didn't play football would i want to go to school at the university i attended and when i went to all the other universities wilks had a downtown life that has stuff going on and honestly i believed if i didn't play football i could be maybe a federal snowboarder had the mountain right there is only thirty minutes away they always gave you no discount passes for students and i really enjoyed it you know i just thought the night life and everything you had there you know brought something you know to my needs that i wanted to yes the university so no give us an example of a season in football at the college level so the college level man it starts in august he get up there about two weeks before everyone you move into a  and you're just exhausted and then all the sudden classes start and now you've got you know fifteen credits you take in some of these people i was a school that was you know being doctors or lawyers and all that kind of stuff and their course load was tremendous and i always gave those guys a lot of credit and time management became a huge key to be successful you know that's something that my older brother who want to leave you know he told me about me there because he says a freshman was the toughest thing he ever had to do and he said learning the time management skill was a huge success booster for you and a lot of universities have those kinds of resources that you can use and i just think a lot of times as a as a young kid you're scared to go ask for help or you don't want to be the guy that needs help when really if you take advantage of the resources those universities ha sky's the limit for you so i was able to get in a situation where you know i had already had an older brother to call so i had someone to lean on or not and have to go to those resources but you know i had an opportunity where i was able to you know basically get up in the morning with the class then in between those two three hours you were liftin or working out then from those you went to study hall then you started practice then you did studies at night and you know in between there you try to find a reason to get food and that's what really was your college life being an athlete in college so now  once you get to september the game starts the game start and then you know and that's that's fun you know people around campus know you play football you know they get excited about the games the faculty's excited they come out you know i got a guy got to play there and what excited me is you know there's three thousand four thousand people there and you know it's small college football but it was fun it was into atmosphere where you had a lot of fun to play in and kings college was right down the square and was a rival and that was the last game of the year and you just had a you know a tremendous respect for the program that my head coach bill and that the university was able to establish through the years that i was there and they continue to build now so no once once the season ends then what happens i guess a christmas time is going so christmas time and ends and then from there you know believe it or not you think to yourself while you know they're going to get a break you don't yet you're back working for the next season you literally get back and now you're lifting even even harder more you know working out even more you're trying to focus on you know the mistakes you made last season and then getting a little break in spring ball starts so when you're out there for spring ball and you're and you're back into it and you're competing with your own teammates trying to push each other to make each other better and then lo and behold you get your that are our kick into your second semester and then as you get into college you get in the swing of things but you know as much as i know you got you know macroeconomics microeconomics and all the tough classes start for an in on you and that's where you really just got to make sure you do a good job scheduling your classes don't overload yourself make sure you're doing your best to graduate on time and in four years or three and a half if you're if you're super smart and get out there in time and but you know making sure that you're setting yourself up for success i think sometimes college students of college athletes they just they take on a little too much and it kind of puts them in a hole  easier to start with a high g p a and if you mess up than it is the mess up and then climb your way all the way out of their sight so guys to to make sure your schedule yourself right to make sure that you know you're not putting too much on your plate and so once once the season ends in the spring and  then school ends what happens between school and thing and then next august when you go see them again so you know that period there is your home you know you get to get an opportunity come home your mom's excited you're back in the house out a lot of times it's summer jobs saving money for college you know i came from a blue collar family so if i made money in the summer a lot of it was for my rant that following fall semester to put down downpayment on where i want to live or and what had a class where requires you to buy a cd or some sort of electronic device or a new calculator for some of the classes so you know a lot of that is working that summer and then working out and then coming back early i was fortunate enough to have a really good strong core group of guys when i was in college that we got there my sophomore year and we stayed our junior and senior year in our house eight of us live together but it was it was cost effective we were able to get jobs around the area i was fortunate to get paid internship my senior year so that really helped me live up there in that kind of brought me into coaching football so now that brings me to relax question so internship while in college in a field that you enjoy something you enjoy and that's what i did send in an application to be an intern in the in the with the world's best friend pioneers in the football department lo and behold the head coach calls me interviews me gives me a job thinks that i'm coaching at the university doesn't even realize i was a student he's a great guy passed away but he was all about football and everything that it is to build a football team and i was just excited to be able to pick his brain and be with him every day and learn and you know once he found out as a college student came to the game that saturday to watch me play and we had a special bond ever since and what he did was hey you've been here show me the best of what will spare has to offer so we bring players in they have that opportunity to have that so i did that i went around showing the best gym the best place to live and all that kind of stuff when i was twenty two years old still in college he ended up getting throat cancer and kind of got thrown into the mix of doing everything he put it all back on my plate and so i literally would be in that office at night  still look back on to this day of two am in the morning and i would be doing playbooks or studying for an exam and it was an opportunity he gave me and i didn't want to let him down and that opportunity i look back today is it took me to where i am of the jersey flight from there we made it to two arena bowls we ended up losing them both when i was with him in the a f too but he recovered from cancer came back and we helped build that build that organization along with cars medina cole who's the one of the owners now the philadelphia soul so we're going to build that the if two at that time had disbanded that year and then if l came back i ended up going with one of our other coaches to jacksonville where i was the defense coordinator he had come up orlando he was friends with rich and he was coaching with jay gruden for the atlanta predators back in the day and as a coach of the washington redskins he brought me in down jacksonville and i did the same thing he said go to work find is the best that you can for the players and that's really was my skill set was going into these businesses explained about the passion i had for football the sport and you know what i what i get excited about is it's family fun entertainment arena football it's affordable and from there i took that internship and then i got a job at jacksonville  sharks i went to jackson university got to go back to coach college football and that's really where i found a passion for what you're talking about the secrets of college planning is helping those kids find an opportunity to come play college football ask a lot of questions help the parents with the process and then from there i went to valdosta state university a coach there and my wife very much of my and my son just had a one year old a year ago my wife is a physical therapist she was looking for opportunities maybe to try to come back home and you know she's very good at her craft and literally she sends a resume out got a phone call the next day thus bringing me back to jersey and so she's the director of a rehab facility and brought us home and then i get home and jersey flight was launched probably not even maybe a month after i got home my name was circling that i was back in new jersey i got an opportunity to interview got the position in and now i'm here in jersey building building the jersey flight number really excited about this opportunity so now let's get into the jersey flight what do you look for what are the some of the people  coming in to look at so really what it is is a real football is an opportunity for if people are familiar with it is the next kurt warner story it's guys that were in the n f l or in n f l camps that just didn't make the cut but you know when you come home  need to be able to keep sharpening your tools keep staying in shape because the n f l is a long season as you guys know if you have any kind of favorite football team people get injured and all of a sudden there's a no name guy in there he's making a big play in the game and they're saying he was just signed off the practice squad or signed off free agency but when you're in their free agency period at times you need a place to continue to play and that's what the jersey flight is we give people opportunities continue to play professional football at a high level and be able to keep sharpen your tools while bringing a winning product to new jersey in hopes that these guys get an opportunity to get that shot back in the n f l and some of them do and you know again it's about an opportunity to continue to work hard and hope that when your numbers called that it happens so no most of the guys that you get on the team they just all former n f l players  college they could be college athletes as well so they'll be a lot of local guys we have two kids on from rowan university right here in new jersey guys also from rockers that had a chance in the n f l but the guys at rowan you know they're smaller guys than my mind i got the opportunity or the looks because of you know height or anything like that so now they get them to come in here show that they can play at that professional level with that height and those little things that maybe get that knock down that the n f l will look at them because they didn't hit the measurable yet but i'll tell you what when you turn on the tape when they see the numbers that's when the measurements don't matter so that's the biggest thing is it's they have something to prove and we get those guys from the college level of the all the schools in new jersey all around the surrounding areas of p a plus guys that are coming from you know all over the states that just want an opportunity to come and play at a high level and play for a quality organization that we were put together so no give a little sense of the team how does it how does the team work when do you start  the season will kick off the about that first weekend in april schedules technically not finalized could be the last weekend in march working all the arena dates now but the seasonal kick off then in april go to august it's a sixteen game schedule will play all our games at the cure insurance arena here in trenton used to be the sun national bank center if you're not familiar with the name change yet it's a great reno seats about almost nine thousand people we're looking to pack it out with a lot of fans here from the surrounding area about really excites me it's going to be a family affordable fun so the family of four can come to this game for less than one hundred dollars and you know that's food and drink and all that kind of stuff you know as much as i love them i'm a giants fan or just an n f l fan of generosity and cheer for the eagles because i think carson once is a heck of a quarterback but you know you just can't do that it's expensive you know take a family to that game but that's what we all were a family of four will follow and where you can see kids or a group and you know not break the bank and still watch high quality products and even after the game these players are touchable and that's what i care about so after the game everyone can come on the field get autographs write up the game from the players talk to them touch them take pictures with them and that's something you don't get access to sometimes that at that higher level you know what i mean and that's what we try to do is instill family fun football in the city a trend and we're really excited about the opportunity so now give us a sense of what a whole year is for a football player that plays arena football so really his his big thing is being in shape and working normal nine to five so w work with us they'll be house locally in the area for about six months and then from there a lot of me there go back home more a lot of them fall in love with the area and they want to stay and work and they continue to work out and play and they use the connections that we're able to build here the gym facilities the practice centers and all that kind of stuff they use that you know the intangibles of being jersey flag football player and use their resources here to help the community give back and be a part of the community and that's what we look for we look for gaza hopefully stay around as much as they can but a lot of it's working training and hoping for that phone call you know for example the would be in the middle of our season n f l teams will call and say we want to you to camp gasol you know would leave and sign and go continue to work out and hope they get an opportunity and the training camp arrived and and i've had guys do it and it's said i'm not going i'm not leaving it for that opportunity he's like it's one of the once in a lifetime because but it's also one of the on the win a championship so it was interesting and you know we always look back at us and i think you should know what it was like but you know that you know some guys are just get so excited a opportunity with their teammates and that's what football is it builds character you know family atmosphere and team effort but a lot of these guys get opportunities and we just try to give that place to play so really it's from the in the mortgage to august and then the rest of the year is really just working like a sponsors we want to know who they're working with in the community how we can get out how we can help to engage community year round that's our big thing and then it turns what we do is we do open tryouts i want a guy who you know been working hard all season is that  is all you're open tryouts are all year round we do about four five year plan in our next one we just had our last one of the more sound more sound field house in morristown new jersey had about fifty guys out there signed three or four guys from that trial so every time you know i tell guys all the time when i watch a tape if i think you might be that guy saying come to the strat and show me what you got you never know what'll happen and we've signed guys from that because i want guys to know that this is an opportunity where it's only you're working hard and doing the right thing and preparing yourself you never know what's going to happen and when  opportunity knocks all you've got to do is answer but if you're not ready for it training year around and keeping yourself ready you know so now what are some of their requirements i mean you know is the forty time a certain time or else you can't go did so no it's  for everybody you know forty time is definitely what everybody knows in sports as measurable about how fast you are it's definitely important for the wide receiver d b type positions when it comes to line d line it's not as prevalent you know i tell people all time i'm the big guy on sleepers i like to find the guy that maybe of one thought was a little too small or a little too short or a little bit like you know just i see someone maybe somebody doesn't and you know that that's something where i like to give people a lot of opportunities and the good thing is as i find guys throughout the year we have opportunities in jersey where you can bring people in on waivers that have an opportunity that i think they they can play for our football team and come try out during the season and i personify or afford a workout they come in they compete against  they're better than somebody somebody else is going to get cut and they're going to replace them so everything in this when it comes to football and a professional level it's competition every day to keep your job because there is somebody that's in the shadows working hard continuing looking for that opportunity and when they get it and when the lights come on it's your job to make that opportunity so no so no a football player graduated from college isn't that big doesn't go to the n f l draft doesn't get any of that this is a this is a good avenue for them to just this is a perfect avenue for them to take it's an opportunity for them to showcase their skills that they got overlooked and if if you don't like watching those n f l thirty four thirty s when they show that guy who did get overlooked those stories are my favorite you know there's guys that always get overlooked and it happens all the time kurt warner is probably the one for arena football folks that is a legend story i mean the guy was a knight crozier stocking shelves  touchdown passes all over the field the arena league then becomes a third string quarterback for the rams and lo and behold to injuries he's got the greatest show on turf and so that's what these guys are looking for that same opportunity there's a lot of other guys in the n f l that  that just maybe people thought too small at first london fletcher came from a d three universe that he started fourteen fifteen years in the n f l those types of guys are out there that literally those at this avenue that we have for them is an opportunity to continue to get your work in and get off the field and start to stay healthy it's a long season you know you only have about twenty one guys on the roster total so a couple injuries you know you could have been a training camp and the first now tell you when you leave training camp didn't make the team stay in shape because you never know what's going to happen leave and so that's what we're hoping and we need that crowd juiced up at secure insurance arena when we open up in april so now this is only one particular arena football league there are other and there's a few other leagues you have the a f l which is  considered the upper tier of the indoor league and then you have the i fell out west you know one down in texas and then kind of our conglomerate on the east coast and then you have a that's kind of also you know intermingled in between there they're all great leagues all  opportunities a lot of times we do who is here as we look for the best local talent we can you know we want guys that played around this area that are close to home you know bring their family their friends and they want to stay close to home you know we do we get guys from out west and all over sure it's just nature of the game and recruiting and given the come play for me in jersey but the opportunities that guys have you know the league to use out west kind of is a little bit different rules but still great place for him to play great opportunities out there for  student athletes that are in the football and want to continue their their career when there's tons of them out there and how do they how do they find you so they do then go to jersey flight football dot com my e mails on their letter they'll put it out here too on this on your show and at the end of the credits they said but my e mail address is the letter j my last name grand day at jersey flight football dot com they go to the web site click it email me their take send me an email they can even say they saw me on your show and get an opportunity to come on we always post our open trial dates on our website when they're upcoming will literally say hey just keep checking the website refresh a lot of times it's all about the venues and timing and getting all my coaching staff together to put the exact date in time for the next one will be for sure around that january timeframe and then we'll have one more at that middle to february timeframe right as we kick off season and just see you know we always it always happens we always end up having one extra spot right at the end right for camp and i like to give it's like i said i'm that guy i like to find a guy that's that's been the hungriest and those guys always always seem to really put a heck of a lot of effort into it and it always excites me because you know it's all guys all the time the hungry you are a lot of times you know the veteran guys man those those  young and hungry guys they keep them juiced up and they produce even more too as well so exciting so we're coming to the end of our show ok so usually i ask my guests what advice you want to give to the families out there this sons are playing football the they want to go to football for college what advice you want to give those those people then the first thing i got to do is speak directly to the student athlete and sell them that they need to make sure that they do the research that's something that you know when i was coming out of college you know the internet was going up google first was just coming around when i was like a junior and so the opportunity now you have the research is as tremendous you find the schools that you want to go to and research get all the information for parents the same thing i'm to tell you to do your own due diligence on them and then find out the price point of what you can afford per year know what it is and look for the schools that you can afford you'll be able to cut down your list tremendously just offer that there are some great universities out there that are well priced that you can go to and there's some other universities that unless you get a you know i know my case unless you've got an academic or athletic scholarship i couldn't afford to attend those universities but that being said there are so many great universities fuld with tons of great professors and and college coaches that really can that can take you to another level in wherever you play so that to the student athletes first is do your research and then the same thing for the parents find the schools that you can afford and have that conversation w sit down with your student athlete and explain to them what the situation is i feel like sometimes you know parents you know and i know i just became a parent but you don't ever want to keep kids say no i can't provide this for you but at the end of the day it conversation needs to happen so they know what to look for not every kid is going to get a full athletic scholarship not every kid's going to look at demi scholarship but a lot of these universities you know they do need based financial aid they do kind of they call packages they put packages together based on your academics and your needs and the other thing on its own too is look at the universities they all have different types of scholarships that they offer everybody is fighting form but it doesn't hurt to give them a try to try to to try to get there to the universit and that's what i'll tell everyone out there is there are so many universities or so many great opportunities out don't limit yourself do a lot of research build that microsoft excel portfolio with all the schools how much they cost and for the student athletes give a chance keep reaching out to the