I put out a tweet last week that really seemed to hit a nerve in the kicking recruiting universe ↓
In a sport that holds selflessness, humility and “working in silence” as sacred pillars, the concept of self-promotion feels foreign, frightening and, well, icky.
The old school football coaches will scoff at Twitter and say “Well, if you’re good enough they’ll find you!”
But, the new age Twitter recruiting gurus are conversely just as icky, “‼️‼️‼️ARE YOU A DOG⁉️❓⚠️ IF SO POST THAT FILM🚨🚨🚨 GET OFFERED🤫😤”
What I sense is that there is no reasonable middle ground guidance on balancing football’s traditional values of humility with recruiting’s mandate of self-promotion.
Here are a few ways to think about this dilemma:
You’re Not Bugging Coaches - You’re actually making their lives easier by bringing a qualified, talented, and great player to their attention - you. If you truly feel like you can help a team win more games and score more points, you have a duty to let them know.
Coaches Are Big Boys - You’re not going to be blocked or told off for DM’ing them. They are used to getting 100s of DMs a day. It’s their job. They will usually say nothing, no or yes. In any case, you win.
Intention Counts More Than Technique - You don’t need the perfect DM. Just keep it short and sweet:
"I'm not sure if I might be a guy for you or not, but here's my best play of the year and you might like to see more, I'd love to connect. Thanks so much for your time."
Quantity IS Quality (At First) - Most recruits are under DM’ing by a factor of about 10. To create some luck, you need to take more shots on goal, even if that means sending 10-20 DMs a day. It just take 1-2 coaches to reply to you to get the ball rolling.
Don’t Be Afraid To Nudge - When you can do this without cringing, you have reached Jedi Master Level Status as a recruit. You will need to remind coaches you messaged them every now and then:
“Coach just bumping this to the top of your inbox”
That’s all.
If they don’t get back to you after that then it is probably time to put them on the back burner.
What Is Self-Promotion Ultimately For?
Ultimately, self-promotion in recruiting is just to get you to the starting line with a coach - to get them on the phone, to get them to click play on HUDL, to get them to bring you out to a junior day visit - it’s not an end in and off itself.
There are a few players every year who become more addicted to being recruited than playing football. But, the point of self-promotion is to help you get onto a college field. That’s it.
That’s all for now, thanks!
Brendan
P.S. When you’re ready, I’m selling a new, self-paced course, How To Kick In College, which will go live on May 31st, 2024 that tells you exactly how to kick in college from start to finish - topics include:
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