Possibilities were pitched to a pair of recruits sitting in the football locker room.

Among the possibilities were to be a part of history and a large family.

Football coaches and staff members bring recruits to Western throughout the year and show them the campus, stadium and facilities to woo athletes into furthering their careers in red and white.

But the recruiting process for Western football coaches is more than just a tour; it’s a year round process.

“It never stops. We look at recruiting like shaving,” coach David Elson said. “If we don’t do it at least once a day then we’re going to look bad.”

The process starts with evaluating the needs of the team both in the short term and in the future, Elson said. A high school player is typically looked at during his junior year and is followed into his senior year.

“We’re constantly evaluating what we are in need of and what we will be in need of,” Elson said.

Elson said he and his staff use a variety of resources to evaluate the talent and availability of players, including Collegiate Sports Data, rivals.com and videos of players mailed to them.

After assessing which positions will need to be filled and what players they want to go after, the persuasion of players begins by sending letters of interest and packets about the team and school.

The coaches divide Kentucky and other states into regions and a coach is responsible for the scouting in that area, Elson said. Coaches are sent on an individual basis to states that aren’t watched as heavily.

Elson said he felt the quality of players interested in Western has improved since the team’s announcement to move to Division I-A.

“No matter who you are or what you want to do, you want to compete or perform at the highest level possible and that is where we are now,” Elson said.

Mike Chism, tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator, said an important factor is seeing the player in person, talking and showing him what you are about.

He said players are encouraged by the construction on the new facilities and the overall support for the team from administrators.

But coaches have to follow NCAA guidelines when recruiting, said Pam Herriford, compliance officer and associate director of athletics.

“The NCAA tries to make it as equal as they can and level the playing field for schools without lots of money,” Herriford said.

Some of the regulations that the NCAA imposes on coaches regarding recruiting players are the number of phone calls that can be made, when a player can be seen in person and who can contact a player, she said.

Coaches are also required to take and pass a standardized recruiting test every year before they are allowed to hit the recruiting trail, she said.

Western’s coaches are held to an honor system when it comes to reporting what recruiting actions they have made, Herriford said.

Every coach has a log to keep track of phone calls and personal visits they’ve made with players, and that log is collected every week.

“We teach and hope our coaches work with integrity and are interested in doing things right,” she said.

Elson said there is nothing more important to a program than recruiting, both in obtaining the players that fit your system and complying with the system coaches are required to follow.

Reach Andrew McNamara at sports@wkuherald.com.