ClownBaby - I get what you're saying, but there is also no guarantee that you play there either, obviously, the probability is greater but still no guarantee. But I totally understand that if you are good enough to get a walk-on why not go somewhere you know you can play.
NDSox - I totally agree with what you mentioned above, and the opinion of your son's teammate is much more common than you would think. There is a reason so many kids stop playing after 1 or 2 years.
I think what people don't see is how grueling the D3 life is and all the benefits D1 gets and a D1 walk-on gets. I know many people would agree you would rather have your child go to a D3, D2...etc instead of taking a walk-on at a D1. If you come from a good high school program, going D3 is almost like taking a step back, unless you go to one of the major top 3-5 D3 schools. I've coached many kids that easily could have been deserving of D1 or D1-aa walk-ons but went to play at a lower level and quit. D3 does all the same work as a D1 or D1 walk-on player with none of the benefits.
Lower Level football compared to being a D1 walk-on,
- Most likely no meals, maybe a pregame sandwich made by the coach's wife compared to more food than you could ever eat.
- You bus to every game, sometimes these bus rides are 5-6 hours long instead of getting on a plane (Illinois takes a plane to Iowa.....a 40-minute flight) if you make the travel roster.
- Many D3 players have to get jobs during the season and especially after the season to pay for things such as food, rent, books, normal college things...as compared to a D1 walk-on that might have to, but gets all their books for free, gets almost all of their food for free.
- Swag/gear, D3 you pay for everything you get, maybe a few free t-shirts, as compared to D1 where you get thousands of dollars of gear every year.
- D1 compared to D3 school atmosphere, lots of D3s are very small schools, some of them are smaller than the high school you come from. If you come from a larger high school.
- Priority in choosing classes, D3 you don't get priority, D1 walk-on you choose classes before any other students
- D3 pay for tutors, D1 free tutors mandatory study hours with tutors
- FINALLY, I think the most important thing that gets overlooked is the number of fans. When you come from a big high school program and are used to playing in front of 1-2 thousand people and then go D3 where it looks like a Saturday morning JV game can really get them dishearted. As compared to D1 where there are 10s of thousands of fans.
TLDR; I know many kids that have gone and played D3 football and then quit and wished they would have taken that D1 walk-on instead.
