College football recruiting is like every thing else, you get good at what you do a lot of.
Unfortunately, you may not take or have the time to learn, practice and apply it all when you are in the moment. This article will help you learn and utilize the best football recruiting methods.
We will compare the similarities of the job search process to the football recruiting process. The giver (coach / employer) wants the best for the least amount of money whereas the recipient (athlete / worker) want the most money and best opportunity for their future they can get.
Understandably for best results, the athlete must be proactive to have a chance or even more colleges to choose from (like the movie Blind Side). The athlete must initially reach outand start building relationships with many college coaches.
As you read on, you will see how eScout4u differs from others and how we help deliver you to more coaches, recruiters and staff than any other recruiting service out there.
This is a lengthy article but the time spent reading, understanding and using this as a guide could mean the difference of getting a scholarship or not. This is not some sugar coated article about "hope you get a scholarship", so do not just gloss over it, is to important to your future.
We’ll use an athlete scenario we see quite often and refer to the athlete as Joe American. This may resemble your situation or a path you plan to take.
Joe American had some good athletic (including All State) and academic accomplishments (3.2 GPA) that had gone unnoticed by college coaches despite his efforts. Joe’s family took the initiative and Googled multiple colleges, and found the email addresses of the coaching staff. He then crafted a resume of sorts with his information and sent it to the coaches. Using either method, by email (without videos) or by mail (with a highlight CD).
Joe, like many athletes and parents eScout4u has talked to, they might have received letters from 2 to 5 coaches expressing a slight interest or standard camp invitations. Some even had a coach’s visit and even an invite to visit the school. Seems that Joe did everything he is supposed to do, right? Or did he?
The part of our job that we hate is when we talk to countless people with good athletic talent in a panic calling us close to signing date that never get a scholarship.
The biggest mistake by far is athletes and parents were under the impression they were going to get a scholarship thus reigning in or stopped their recruiting efforts. Results were devastating to the athlete. All the talent, work, hopes and dreams crushed. We can hear the desperation in the voices of the parents and athletes.
Let’s see how you can avoid being a horror story.
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If you were looking for a job, would you (pick one);
1. Put your resume on CareerBuilder or Monster? / Athletes would create free profiles on recruiting websites.
2. Wait for someone to recommend you for a job. / Wait for your high school coach to call college coaches they might know.
3. Apply on line at the company website?/ Apply online at a college coach's website.
4. Wait around for employers find you and to request a resume? / Wait to be discovered by a college coach or recruiter.
5. Drive to each employer and fill out an application and leave your resume? / Drive to colleges uninvited to talk to a coaches. (Yes this has happened)
6. Go to a job fair? / Athlete attends camps or plays club sports.
7. Do it yourself, create and send your resume to as many as possible . / Parents make a package with video highlights and mail or email link to a coach..
Which one would you pick? Put it in your mind and let's take a reality look at each choice.
1. Put your resume on CareerBuilder or Monster? / Athletes would create free profiles on recruiting websites including ours.? Joe also put his information on different recruiting sites for free. We even offer as a possible solution but a reactive method is never as good as a being proactive (see #4).
Problems! The coach don’t cruise the internet often or never so the football coach may not know that a site exists.
Coaches are forced to have to login to sites, these recruiting services act as a middle man, the site won’t display your contact information until they login (claiming it will protect you when all along it keeps the service/site in control making it harder to contact you) and so on. See if you can find contact information on the web.
Bigger yet is know the service/site knows what position a coach needs and can send an entire list of athletes for that position and you would never know it. Wouldn’t you be better off standing on your own instead of being in the middle of a list of hundreds of athletes? Do you think is this is the best way to go?
2. Wait for someone to recommend you for a job. / Wait for your high school or club coach to call college coaches they might know.
Wait is like making a wish, how many have came true for you? The reality is that most of your coaches don't really know that many coaches. Don't believe me, ask them for a list and contact them yourself and tell them you were referred by your coach. Coaches are not recruiters, the have a job, family and coach as well and with all your other team members how much time do you really think they have left over?
3. Apply on line at the company website?/ Apply online at a college coach's website.
Don’t know of any college that lets you submit your video highlights, stats and information online. Problem! Even if they did, how long do you think that would take you to do 50 or 100 schools? What if you missed the school that was needing someone exactly like you?
4. Wait around for employers find you and to request a resume? / Wait to be discovered by a college coach or recruiter.
If you believe the myth “Coaches will find me” and you’re not a top 50 rated athlete in the nation then you are in serious need of help and need to contact us ASAP. Community colleges may find you, but what will you miss by not trying for a D1, D2 or NAIA college and the money and education they bring?
5. Drive to each employer and fill out an application and leave your resume? / Drive to colleges uninvited to talk to a coaches.. (Yes this has happened)!
Going back to our scenario, Joe did just that and took unofficial visits to colleges. Of course a coach would not be rude to anyone or try to belittle your hopes. But here is the reality. Again the countless horror stories of families spending on gas, motels, food sometimes not even to get to talk to the head coach. Many told us they drove hundreds of miles and the coach wasn’t even there.
What a waste of resources. Think! Spend your money wisely on something that is proven, dollar for dollar, to get you in front of more coaches. You can’t beat how much exposure eScout4u can get you.
6. Go to a job fair? / Athlete attends camps or plays club sports.
Been to all kinds of camps and combines and club sports games. Talked to so many other parent that have done the same. Just ask each event what their main purpose is. Teaching, testing or building athleticism and they do a great job of doing just that.
Problem! When it comes to being recruited for a scholarship it is a whole different story. It is not their main focus. If you pay money for an event they should be able to tell you the contact information of the coaches or recruiters attending. Most won't answer you because the coaches in attendance are not decision makers, in fact most are assistant coaches. You will find out there are not many if any at all who will be their to do recruiting. If they are they only come to see one player and devote all their time watching them. Coaches and recruiters are busy people and don't have time to lollygag around to scout for new players.
7. Do it yourself, create and send your resume to as many as possible. / Parents make a package with video highlights and mail or email a link to a coach.
Joe’s family thought their DIY method would be effective but didn't have the time and effort to send to every coach and probably didn't contact the one coach that was the perfect fit. This DIY method lacks enough exposure to create any leveraging position for more money plus had no follow-up plan in place. In our experience Joe’s method usually fails miserably more than it succeeds.
Why? What if Joe by chance only sent his resume to those coaches who already had someone better for Joe’s position? Point. how can anyone know what every coach in the US is looking for at any given time since position needs can change daily?
The interview, Joe even took official visits (he was invited by the coach) and even invited to spring game and got to stand on the side line with the team. Joe didn’t receive a scholarship form any of them.
Why? Again, just like a job, just because you go on an interview doesn’t mean you will get the job.
The results, Joe only needed one coach that needed him yet Joe couldn’t find that coach. Wouldn’t Joe’s odds increase dramatically if every coach (in his sport) in the US could have got his highlight video, stats and information? Why try reaching only 20, 30, 50, 100 coaches when we can deliver you to hundreds or thousands of coaches?
To summarize, there are a lot of options, including eScout4u, distribution can make or break your dreams. Sure some methods cost more than others but make sure to keep in mind when you evaluate distribution options that this is a life changing experience for you. Joe’s life was changed instead of that college dream Joe had to do what most face, a $10 an hour job or the military. Where do you want to be?
The sad part, like we said before, is the worst part of our job, Joe’s parents came so close to picking one of our eScout4u plans and didn’t. Like others before then, close to signing day, they called in a panic. All of Joe’s time and effort he put into his sport and talent went unnoticed because he wasn’t in the front of the right coach at the right time.
To end with a good story, we will call him Bill. Bill's story was very similar to Joe’s including visits. As a final effort in the middle of summer after signing day (yes you read that right) he picked one of our plans, sent his Web Page Profile™ we built for him. Within hours was inundated with text messages and emails which included 6 scholarships offers. Our thoughts, what would have been Bill’s possibilities if he would have signed up earlier and sent his Web Page Profile™ in the time frame we suggest.
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You realize that coaches will award scholarships early to those athletes they really want and are afraid to wait because they may sign with another college.
If you were looking for a job, what would be best?
- Wait till after most athletes with your same talent have already heard from college coaches, already been on visits, or even got the scholarship?
- Get ahead by starting early and being prepared?
We're not going to mention the countless horror stories but they are real and you need to take note of it. So, do not follow #1 above. Why? It seems so evident and crystal clear if you are serious about your future education and to play at the next level.
Follow #2, starting early and being prepared. The process starts academically at minimum in your freshman year and athletically at different time depending on the athleticism of each individual. Know this, your recruiting process can impact the next 40 years of your life.
Why wouldn’t you want to start as early as you can and gain a competitive advantage over others?
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As an athlete how many coaches should you contact likewise if you were looking for a job, how many potential employers would you contact? If you’re serious, your answer would be, “every coach”? Realize that to even get one you may need to get in front of hundreds or thousands to find that one that may be interested in you.
It is important to understand it is a numbers game on both sides, you and the college. You want a job you like and skilled at that pays the most and have good benefits. A coach wants the best talent for the least amount of money necessary to get it done.
Also, like most athletes we will assume you have put in countless hours sharpening skills in the sport as well as in the classroom. Again, like most parents you have spent a considerable amount of time, effort and money helping your athlete live his dream. Driving your son or daughter to and from practice, attending events, … and we know this list could go on forever.
Point! Do you have a plan to move forward and produce results? If Columbus would have turned back no one would have blamed him, but no one would have remembered him either. Back to Joe American, even if Joe only qualified athletically and academically for one forth of the schools offering football, he still only applied to a small amount of opportunities.
Point! Just like the job search process and just like the way college coaches pursue recruits, it’s a numbers game. Play it. In order to create enough interest and provide enough opportunities to generate leverage for a recruit, they should initially involve 100-200 college programs in their search. Again, if you really want to play in college, why would you limit yourself to a fraction of the opportunities available?
As you know by now, a job is not a luxury it is a must. A scholarship is the only ticket out for a lot of athletes to get their college education. An education that will change the rest of their life!
The number of coaches, recruiters and staff vary widely based upon sport and NCAA division(s or NAIA. Create a free account at eScout4u and we will tell you how many coaches, recruiters and staff we can get you in front of.
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If a coach responded to you, would you follow up?
What if you didn't hear from those you sent your athlete resume "Web Page Profile™ to"? Shouldn't you follow up to make sure they got your highlight videos or to check their interest in you? Something most don’t even think about.
In any search process, follow up is a must to move you closer to a visit and on to that scholarship offer you desire. Back to Joe American again, who can guess if they did any follow-up or not. Most people wouldn’t admit they didn’t realize follow-up is important or messed up by not responding, even if you asked.
Points! If you don’t follow-up you will lose immediately without a second chance proving you don’t care enough to make their team.
80+% of the recruiting process involve building relationships with college coaches. Just like coaches, you must have others in line in case one doesn’t come though.
Horror story again, do you know majority of athletes and parents believe that simply “getting out to local colleges” is all there is to the recruiting process?
Good news! eScout4u provides our athletes with a library of follow-up letters they can use and send directly to the coach while making it personal. Plus we realize how important it is as this stage we will instruct and guide you through it. This could be just what is needed for you to get in because others fail to respond. A win is a win even if by just one point.
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