Welcome to our Wednesday Workshop Series where we deep dive into various recruiting topics and forces shaping your recruitment.
Where Are We In The Recruiting Calendar?
Right now is what’s known as a “Contact Period”. Coaches are able to visit your high school directly, in person.
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This is the heart and soul of recruiting - going there, shaking hands, schmoozing and so on.
How Do These Visits Typically Work?
They are very ad hoc. It’s next to impossible for a college coach to keep a tight recruiting schedule - meetings go over, last minute conversations, traffic, getting lost, or something comes up back at the office. So, typically, if you have a head coach who is into recruiting for their players you will probably get a hurried text message saying “UCONN here in cafeteria next 20 minutes, go now.”
What Are Coaches Looking For?
They’re looking to win, bottom line.
If they believe you can help them win, they’re excited to talk to you. They’re in full blown sales mode. Everyone is happy. Everyone is talking. It’s generally very positive.
They’ll want to gauge your professionalism, how you dress, how you carry yourself when they speak to you, or are around your friends in school.
And, if a coach is really invested in you, they’ll talk to everyone about you from your coach to the lunch lady.
What’s The Best You Can Hope For During This Visit?
Almost no one, except the top 10% of recruits will walk away from these things with some kind of an offer. What college coaches will usually tell you is something along the lines of…
Hey we like you a lot, we’d love to have you come out to our Junior Day and check out a spring practice next month.
(Ironically at the spring practice/junior day they’ll probably just tell you the same thing but change it to We like you a lot but we want to see you in summer camp!)
What Do You Do Next After A Visit At Your School?
Make sure you:
Get Their Number: Walk away with the coach’s contact information, preferably their direction cell phone. So many recruits let a great interaction go to waste by not simply asking for the coach’s contact information. It could be as simple as “Hey Coach, would love to stay in touch, is there a number that’s better for connecting at?”
Send A Thank You: Be sure to send a follow up thank you email, or DM or text. It doesn’t have to be grandiose. Simplest is best: “Coach, thanks so much for taking the time to meet with me today. I particularly loved learning about x specific thing about school/program. Looking forward to staying in touch!”
Send A Nudge: If they don’t reply to you right away, fear not. Most coaches are just doing too much. Use the magical phrase: “Just bumping this to the top of your inbox, know you’re busy. Thanks so much!”
Use the 7-10 Rule: You want to send a coach some kind of communication that’s positive every 7-10 business days. “Hey coach, hit a new PR today on squat today would love your advice if anything I could do to improve” is one easy way to do it. Film your workouts, and use one good clip a week or so to send off to a coach. Always find an excuse to stay top of mind without being a pain.
What Do You Do If Your High School Coach Is Terrible At Recruiting?
Unfortunately, not every player has a great coach helping to facilitate their recruitment. Almost entire swaths of the Northeast aren’t even on FBS programs’ recruiting maps because there is no personal connection between any HS staffs and them.
You’ll need to do a lot of leg work yourself, but you might consider doing some combination of the following:
Find out which coach is your area recruiter.
Reach out directly to that coach via email or Twitter.
You can use this script: “Coach, I know I may come from a school you don’t typically recruit, but I noticed you might be my area recruiter and potentially in the area during this Contact Period, potentially at other bigger area programs. If at all possible, even just for a few minutes, I’d love to find a way to connect in person if you’re down here. Thanks so much.”
Is It The End Of The World If You Miss A Coach During These Visits?
No. It’s unfortunate, but no. These coaches will still be open to you as a recruit, you just might need to do some more leg work on your own to make the initial introction instead of having your high school coach do it. There are hundreds of players a year who do not have a coach visit them at school and they still manage to find a college team next year.
That’s all for now, thanks👋
Brendan
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