‘Edgy’ Tim: More advice for high school football recruits
Last week I answered common questions I receive from parents and high school football players hoping to garner recruiting interest from college programs.
There’s a lot more to say, so here are a few more tips.
Fill out as many football recruiting surveys as possible for all levels
One big question I get a lot is how can parents and players get information in front of college coaches? Every college football program has a website and an online recruiting survey. The college online recruiting survey I feel is a great first place to start. They can be lengthy at times but you can usually fill them out within 10-15 minutes. Getting your information in front of them or at last in a database will more often than not get you on a mailing/emailing list, and getting on those list means you are being tracked.
Communication is the key
Once you've filled out a ton of college recruiting surveys, made visits, attended camps and hopefully have coaches reaching out via mail or social media/text, what’s the next step? Communicate. You need to reach out to the coaches, and start to build a relationship. One area I feel prospects have declined over the years has been being an effective communicator. Sure, everyone now knows how to text and DM and that's great. But how are you once you've met a coach in person? More often than not, those initial meetings can be at best uneasy in some cases. You need to learn how to sell yourself, how to talk with coaches and get to know them while letting them get to know you as well. Making a strong impression whether in recruiting or in life is huge. Consider talking with and communicating with college coaches your first real job interview. Sell yourself. Sell your strengths and what you can bring to that school and football program. What sets you apart from every other kid looking to take that same scholarship? And by all means … return calls and emails. Always. Nothing upsets college coaches more than when they reach out to communicate and they never hear back from you. In more cases than not, those coaches will just move on and you’ve lost out on a possible opportunity.
Become active in selling yourself
One key aspect of today’s recruiting process is social media and marketing. Twitter, aka X, remains one of the most important social media platforms still used by college coaches. If you don't have an account yet, get one today. College coaches' preferred mode of contacting recruits is still X and players can reach out to college coaches. Tag them on various things, such as video highlights, and it’s easily the most effective way to gain more notice. Having a professional looking X profile is another key. You can find various online guides on how to set up an effective profile. Also very important, keep your X account free and clear of anything you would not want your parents or grandparents to see. Colleges can and will dig deep into a potential player's social media when doing background checks. I'm well aware of several prospects who lost scholarship offers due to various issues with social media postings and behaviors.