Should I call college coaches at any point in the athletic recruiting process?

Outside of a scholarship offer, I have said that one of the most telltale signs for interest from a college program is a call from their coaching staff. This shows that they are interested enough in your ability to take time out of their day to call you and sell their program.
But one thing that I have rarely talked about is if you should take the time to call a college coach. According to NCAA rules, college coaches are limited in their calls to prospective athletes. But prospective athletes can call college coaches as much as they want. So should athletes call college coaches? In what circumstances should this happen?
As always, I must preface this article by saying that you calling a college coach does not mean they are interested in you at all. It means they will be courteous and speak with you, regardless of where they sit on their recruiting board. But also remember that they cannot call you back (at least some of the time).
The reason that I feel I must say that is I recently talked to a football recruit and asked if any college coaches had called him during the spring evaluation period. He said he spoke with a variety of coaches. His wording was strange so I asked him if he had called them. He said yes, which means he is showing the college much more interest than the college is showing him.
If you are a football recruit, you should never call a college coach during April and May of your junior year. The reason is because if you call a coach, are they now not going to call you during this time frame? And if so, how do you judge their legit interest in you as a potential recruit? The coach may say he was going to call you but was that really going to happen? Again, expect the coach to be polite and tell you the importance of getting to their summer camp.
The two times you really should call a college is when your high school relays the message from the college coach for you to call him (which often happens) and when they email you to call them. These are both times in which you should take the time to speak with the college coach. It doesn’t matter the time of year but should be done in both situations. You may be calling but the college coach made it clear that they wanted to speak with you.
So outside of that, should you call a college coach? They will frequently tell you to keep them updated so it is your call on that. If you feel you have a good relationship with the coach or want to build that relationship, then go ahead and call. It is not going to hurt to give them a quick call, ask them a few questions, and let them know what is going on with you.
There is no right or wrong answer here. Questions can be answered by the coach but they are not going to suddenly offer you a scholarship just because you called them. If you have the time and know what you are trying to get out of the conversation, go ahead and do it. What is it going to hurt?

 

 

 

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I’m a senior with football recruiting interest but no scholarship offers. What do I do?

Just as a quick note before I start on this article.  When I do articles like this, and I have done them at various times during the year, I am not just cut and pasting the previous article.  I am updating the situation for potential football recruits throughout the country.  For example, one written in May would talk about getting calls and setting up camps.  Because it is now mid July, what is talked about in this football recruiting article will be much different.  There may be some similar themes but that is because I want to make sure recruits are following the path that I think will help them in their battle for a scholarship.

So for those seniors to be, if you had heeded the advice of this site, you may have already had a chance to get to a number of one day camps.  The difference in the one day vs. a three day camp is saving your parents a lot of money.  And if you are rich enough to not worry about money, then what difference is it if you receive a scholarship or not?

Because the college coaches cannot legally call you until September, what you need to be doing as a recruit is picking up the phone and calling the schools that you camped at.  Yes, these coaches are busy with preparation for the upcoming season but what you are looking for is a true evaluation.  Also using social media is a great way to touch base if you have messaged or DMed with them previously.

Please note that I expect the coaches to sugar coat things a little bit.  For example, I don’t think they are going to tell you that you are terrible and need to quit playing football.  If they really like you, why haven’t they offered you a scholarship?  So take what they say with a grain of salt.

You don’t need to flat out ask them about a scholarship offer but the two things that you want to request is an evaluation of your abilities and what areas you can improve on in the future.  The evaluation could give you a better feel for the level that you can play.  It might not be at that school but there are plenty of schools out there.  And for areas of improvement, remember that this coach is earning a full time living coaching football.  I would hope he knows what he is doing.

After you have received your evaluations back from the coaches, now is a good time to really reflect on where you are at as a potential recruit.  There are still a few camps left during the July months but normally not all that many.  So what you should look at with your family is what the coaches said, how much serious mail/social media contact you have been receiving, and the coaches that have been calling you.

If you are happy with the attention that you are getting and feel good about what the coaches have said to you, now is a good time to look more into these schools. Your highlight video should be online and easily accessible.  This can be done via hudl or youtube but the key is making it easily searchable on google and the links readily available when sending out to coaches.

You can also start looking into setting up visits to the schools that you have not seen.  While State University may be the dream, you can also look into the Division I-AA and II schools that have been showing you interest.  The fact that you are trying to visit their campus shows you are interested.  Keep in mind that the campus during the summer vs. during the school year may be a lot different.  Do these visits only if you hope to decide soon.  Otherwise going to a game during the fall could give you a better feel of the atmosphere and what the school is like when students are on campus.

If you have looked at the recruiting interest you have received and feel you were shooting for too high of a level, now is a good time to open things up and start looking at more schools.  I really hope that you followed the advice of keeping all of your options open and filling out all of the questionnaires.  If you did that, it will help you at this time.

What I think you should do is take a look back at the Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer.  If you have already gone through these steps before, the place you should look into now once again is step number two.  You want to be able to find schools that match you.  This time, broaden your horizons and look at different schools.  Consider programs at all levels and just do what you can to look at different options.

If you haven’t gone through the Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer, the place that I would recommend starting is step number one.  Building this athletic recruiting profile helps because it is similar to a job resume.  You want the college coaches to know that you are interested in their school and this profile shows that you have some ability in your sport.

After you have built that, go into step two and three.  These will help you find the schools that you are looking for and then market yourself to the coaches.  Regarding a highlight video, if you can find one done well and cheap, get it done.  If not, it may be worth it to wait until after the first few games of the senior season.

The football recruiting process is definitely a journey that is not easy.  Keep that in mind before getting discouraged with scholarships and offers from college coaches.

 

 

 

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Is a Mortgage an Investment or a Savings Plan?

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4 Signs You’re Ready For Homeownership

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What college coach should I send my recruiting profile to?

For those that have read The Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer, it is obvious how important is for an athlete to market themselves.  As I have said over and over again, unless you are a top 100 talent in the country, you will likely need to do some work to really put yourself in front of college coaches.  And once they are aware of you, that is when you can get the ball rolling.

If you do go through the first two steps of that article, then you will move onto marketing yourself (Or your child) to the college coaches.  But many wonder which coach should I be sending that information to?  Because there is no clear cut question, I am going to take a look at the both football recruiting and basketball recruiting when trying to answer this question.

At the Division I level, many times there are secretaries that filter the emails for the coaching staff.  When finding the staff directory, many colleges have all of their emails listed as that of the secretary.  When looking at the email, it is pretty obvious to tell if that is the email of the coach or that of someone else.  If it a secretary, your first move should be to request contact information for the actual coach.

The first thing that I am going to mention is that you should not send recruiting profile to the head coach at the school.  It doesn’t matter what the circumstance is.  The head coach is extremely busy with so many other things that they likely do not have the time to look into your recruiting profile.  You are wasting your time trying to track down the email and the time of the coach by actually sending it him.  This applies to both football and basketball.

For both sports, the first thing you should do is go to the page that lists the coaches.  If you have time, look at each profile and see if there is something that you have in common with the coach.  For example, if the coach played in your conference or your area many years ago, that may be the guy you want to send it to.

If there are not common bonds between you and the coaching staff, here is where the sports will differ.  The first place coach you should look into for football is the recruiting coordinator.  At the Division I and II levels, most coaching staffs have an official recruiting coordinator.  Their job title is exactly what they do.  This coach coordinates the recruiting process with visits, offers, evaluation, calls, and just about everything that you can imagine.

That is the first coach you should look into.  For basketball, my advice would be to find a coach that is is lower on depth chart.  While some first assistants are head recruiters, the majority of time the coaches that are spending the most time recruiting are the younger ones.  They are usually the second or third assistant and their main focus is recruiting.  If you can look at the bios, figure out which one is an official assistant coach and looks the youngest.

Switching gears back to football, the assistant coaches that recruit usually have areas throughout the country.  For example, a school like Nebraska may have a coach that recruits in-state, another that goes to California, another who recruits Texas, and other coaches do the work in between.  If you are aware of the coach that recruits in your area, then he should be the one that is receiving your profile.  If you are unsure, what you should do is email the secretary and kindly ask which coach recruits in your area.

One major thing that a coaching staff will not appreciate is sending a profile to every coach on staff.  Just because you have their email addresses does not mean you need to send every coach a copy.  Sending the information to more than one coach is more than sufficient.  You are trying to get your name out there, not annoy them.

My guess is that college coaches will respond back if they have received the information and processed it.  They should at least say thank you and give you camp information.  Once that is done, then hopefully they will start recruiting you.  If the coaches do not send any information back, you need to be patient.

I would give the coaches up to two weeks to email back.  You have to realize how busy that they are and they could also be out of town for vacation or recruiting.  Anything can get in the way from email that patience is key here.  After two weeks, you can either email the coach again or find another coach who may be more receptive.  I personally would lean towards finding another coach but that would be your call.

Again, check out The Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer for more!

 

 

 

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Marketing scholarship offers during the athletic recruiting process

We recently had a comment from a parent who sits in a very desirable situation.  Even though his son is just entering his junior year of high school, he already holds two early scholarship offers.  What that means is his son has already gotten off to a great start in the recruiting process.  But with the offers in hand, now is a great time to capitalize on them.

I have always mentioned that making your offers public is important during the recruiting process.  Some feel differently, but I strongly feel that if schools see other programs recruiting you, they are going to take a closer look at you because of that interest.  Never lie about the amount of interest that you actually have but part of marketing yourself is letting other colleges and media outlets know that the scholarship offers are on the table.

While I don’t know all that much about the situation with the offers, the hope is that on September 1st these scholarships will become offers on paper instead of just a verbal offer.  I have heard many stories about coaches offering verbal scholarships and never coming through.  But for the sake of this article, lets say that the hard copies of the offers will be coming early next month.

If there have been other schools outside of the two recruiting this athlete, make sure to let the coaches know that there are two offers on the table.  As a parent, you can send an email update to the coach who you have had the most contact with.  Tell them about how the preseason practices/early games are going for your son, their updated height/weight, and about the recruiting interest.  The more coaches that know, the better for you.

The offers may also help you open more doors to schools that an athlete has grown up dreaming to play for.  In the third step of The Five Steps to a Scholarship Offer, I stress to market your child or yourself to college coaches.  When you pick new schools to contact and send your recruiting profile to, make sure to include that these two have offered early scholarship offers.  Make sure to include the date as well because you really have to be an excellent recruit to get offers so early in the recruiting process.

Once those are done, the third and final step is contact media outlets.  If it was me, the first place I would go is to check Rivals.com and see if the schools that have offered have a website on their network.  If it is updated frequently and people actually seem to care about it, then email the publisher and introduce yourself with mention of the offer.  If the site is poorly run (Most of the major BCS schools have the best sites), then email the recruiting experts at Rivals in your area (Click here for a full list of contact information).  Also, make sure to check out the high school site in your state and judge if it is worth contacting them about the information.  With these prep sites, only a few are done well so think hard if it is worth it.

After you have tried Rivals.com, do the exact same steps with 247Sports.  Look for sites at the schools that have offered and then try contacting their recruiting experts (Click here for the full list of contact information).  Last but not least, try the high school site in your state as well.  After that, the third place I would contact is ESPN.  I have tried searching for their contact information but it is definitely tricky.  Click here for what I found.

The last place I would contact would be your local newspaper.  Find out who the prep writer is for your area (Most should already know this) and email them about the offers.  While it does not mean they are going to drop everything and do an article, it is good to let them know for future articles.

The reason that you tell college coaches about this is that offers breed more offers.  I really believe that.  Contacting Rivals, Scout, and ESPN is the next step to get the word out about the offers.  College coaches love checking out those sites so they will likely see it and move on from there.

Again, having scholarships before your junior year is a great thing.  It says a lot about the athlete and their ability on the field and you are in a very good position at this point.

 

 

 

 

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Saved by the Max: Vegan Options? Jesse Approved!

Time out! We interrupt this normal food blog to bring you a bit of fun, silliness and neon lights galore. Bayside Tigers, grab your pom poms and secure your scrunchies. Turn up 'Friends Forever' on the radio, grab your books and get yourself a look. Ok, time in! It's kinda strange how many things from my childhood are coming back around. Full House has a successful reboot. Jurassic Park is still going. And now, you can even dine at the Saved by the Bell hang out spot: The Max. Today I share the vegan options I found at Bayside, and plentiful silly photo ops during my visit to the Saved by the Max Pop-Up Restaurant in West Hollywood. Paging the 90's. Report to Belding's Office immediately! Read more »

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