This past weekend's NFL draft ended months of speculation, blogs, news stories, etc. The anticipation of the Draft for NFL hopefuls can be equated to College Recruiting and National Signing Day.

However, at each level, the roles that the two parties play are opposite to each other. In College Recruiting, the top athletes get to hold the College teams in suspense as they finalize their decisions. In the NFL, the top athletes wait in suspense to see which team will draft them.

Regardless, in the NFL there is a lot of due diligence that goes into deciding which player to draft. We are talking about millions of dollars and pride.

I believe that student-athletes and their parents should prepare accordingly before they "draft" their college/university. Although we are not talking about millions of dollars. We are talking about $100k+. Pride is always a factor at any level...

NFL teams look at players to see if they will fit their scheme well, both on offense and defense. How will they fit in the locker room? Will they be a good representative of the organization?

Student-athletes should look at colleges to see if they fit their academic/athletic scheme. Do they offer the desired academic programs? Is it a good athletic program where they will get significant playing time? How will they fit in the locker room? Will the degree from that college be a good representation of that student-athlete?

When I played for the Tampa Bay Bucs, I remembered Coach Tony Dungy saying (thankfully), "That this team will not be made up of the best skilled players at each position, but the best players at each position that provide team chemistry." All the talent in the world can not replace team chemistry. That is equivalent to the saying, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

That being said. Chemistry (not the class) should be a major factor for student-athletes when making their college decision .