This past weekend represented the end of football season in Long Beach, with the final two teams standing, St. John Bosco and Artesia, both falling in their respective championship games.
Coincidentally, Monday represented the renewal of recruiting season across the country.
Monday was the start of the open recruiting window ahead of the early football signing period. College coaches are allowed to visit high school campuses, or even go to the homes of recruits for some personal time with the prospect and his family.
It also means it's time for high school coaches to get to work on pitching their seniors to college teams around the country.
Local schools like Millikan have already been hard at work on that endeavor, because though recruitments heat up in the late fall, the reality is it's a year-round process, especially when it comes to making sure students are academically eligible for the next level.
Millikan has made a concerted effort to stay on top of its players to make sure they make the grades they need to be considered by colleges. The results paid off last year, as all 17 of Millikan's seniors in the class of 2018 had the requisite grades. Seven of those Rams are playing either Division I, II, III or NAIA ball right now, while the other 10 went the junior college route.
The goal this year is for Millikan to do the same for all 23 of its seniors. Coaches help the players either by sprucing up their highlight films and resumes, or by reaching out to college coaches who might be interested in a particular player.
Some Rams are already committed to schools, like receiver Malik Bradford to California. Others, like Zach Martin and Qu'Juan Campbell, have already gotten some attention because of how they performed as juniors or from going to camps and making a name for themselves.
But Utupo is working the phones for other players who might not have gotten any attention yet.
Football season's over, but there's still a lot of work for coaches to do for their seniors.