College football head coaches will go the extra mile to recruit high school players and their families, particularly their mothers.

Parents are very influential in their son’s decision-making process of where he will play college football. With respect to recruiting, what mom wants, mom usually gets. Some mothers have the final say-so, while others have a say, but it doesn’t affect their son’s decision (see Landon Collins).

While on the flight to the NFL draft, Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema used his time wisely and wrote Mother’s Day cards to prospective players’ mothers.

Will it pay off? He’ll find out in February. But he won’t hesitate to recruit players’ girlfriends either.