A Story About Winning

What EKU Recruits Are Told: You Will Be In The I-AA Playoffs And Have A Chance To Win A National Championship

When Roy Kidd and his assistants hit the recruiting road this fall, they'll be telling potential players a story about winning

Said Kidd: " I try to sit down with every kid we want to sign , and I tell them and their parents , 'If you come to Eastern, you're going to have a chance to play for a conference championship and you're going to be in the national playoffs, and you're going to have a chance to win a national championship.'

"There's so many places where a kid isn't going to have those chances, " Kidd said . "If he comes here , we're going to make sure that he has a chance to be a winner ." There are other messages given to potential recruits - you will go to class, you will attend study halls and you won't use drugs.

"We do all we can to make sure our players graduate," Kidd said "We provide tutors to help them, we insist that they go to study table, and we don't put up with class cutting ."

As for drugs, Kidd sets aside money earned from his summer football camp - money which otherwise would go to him - to pay for regular drug testing for all Eastern players; this is in addition to testing conducted by the NCAA .

" If you test positive once, it's between you and the trainer," Kidd said "If you test positive again , I' m going to be told and I' m going to tell your parents. And the kid is going to enter counseling and straighten up before he can rejoin the team

"Drugs are a big problem in society, but they aren't going to be a big problem on our football team I want our kids off drugs And when they are with their peers and have an opportunity to stray, I want them to know that I'm going to be testing them "

In some ways, Kidd has tried to change with the times But he still runs a t ight ship. Where players once had curfew every night, it has now been relaxed to three nights a week during the season. Where long hair was once banned year round , it is now banned only during the season

"I used to be a lot stricter on how they dress, " Kidd said of his players, " but I still don't let them have long hair during the season I still want them to make a nice appearance representing the University."

When recruiting, Kidd looks for " kids who can run and who like to hit. You can ' t play football today if you can't run, and you don't belong on the field if you don ' t like to hit. "

He also looks for "the k id who is an inch or two shorter, half a step slower , 20 to 30 pounds lighter than the b ig schools want. Then, we have to work with them and teach them how to play. That's our job, to teach kids how to play the game "

Despite the disadvantages presented by recruiting against bigger schools, Kidd said EKU coaches do "have some advantages in recruiting. We've always recruited good kids, and they become the best salesmen for our program Potential recruits come here and can see how much our kids enjoy playing the game and how much they enjoy playing together Another advantage is our tradition "

One more advantage is that recruits learn they will be treated with respect. Eastern coaches don't hit players, and they don ' t treat them like second-class citizens.

"I try to treat my players, my coaching staff, the people I work with, the way I would like to be treated, " said Kidd " I'm not going to abuse our kids physically, and I don't expect any of my coaches to do that. I tell them, 'You treat those young men like you ' d like to be treated'.

" My basic philosophy in life as well as football is treat people the way you'd like to be treated."