Behind the Scenes of College Recruiting
March 30th, 2009 - byA great deal of the information that we provide in our weekly newsletters revolves around steps that families can take to improve their recruiting situation. While all of this information is extremely valuable, in order for families to fully understand the inner workings of the process, it is imperative to learn the other side of recruiting; the steps college coaches take to discover prospects.
With that in mind, I have asked NCSA Football Recruiting Coordinator Randy Taylor, to take families behind the scenes of how college coaches navigate the recruiting process beginning with the identification stage.
Let me first introduce Randy and you will realize quickly why he is an ideal candidate to walk you through the process from the perspective of the college coaches. Taylor graduated from the University of Illinois where he was a 3 year 
letterman and All-Conference Honors recipient. Following his collegiate career, he went on to join the football staff for the Fighting Illini. After that successful stint, which included a Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl appearance, he became the recruiting coordinator at UNLV.
Taylor also served at UCLA, where, after landing several nationally ranked classes (a #1 ranked class included), he was named the nation’s top recruiting coordinator by ESPN.com and high school football recruiting analyst, Tom Lemming. He most recently served as the Director of Football Operations for the University of Minnesota.
Without further ado…Coach Taylor!
First of all, I would like to point out that while my background clearly has a strong emphasis on football, there are many ideas and principles that student-athletes from all sports can learn from the information I will be sharing with you all over the next two weeks.
The first step that all the staffs I was apart of would take in order to begin the recruiting process would be to divide the colleges local and state high schools among the assistant coaches. Then pick the portions of the country that the assistants 
have ties to as out of state areas, for example, a coach may have recruited an area when he was on another staff or he coached in an area or played in a certain area and those areas would be assigned to him. It would be the area coach’s duty to know every top prospect in their area and develop relationships with the student-athletes and high school coaches. These relationships and networks are crucial to the success of that assistant coach and their recruiting efforts. The area coach uses this knowledge to keep a list of prospects organized for their areas.
At the heart of every college football coaching staff is a Recruiting Coordinator. While the title may vary from one staff to the next (sometimes they will be called the Director of Football Operations or Director of Player Personnel), the Recruiting Coordinator essentially serves as the air traffic controller for all the recruiting efforts. The Recruiting Coordinator will assist the area coach by sending out “coaches cards” (typically a post card / electronic card requesting the names, etc of the school’s top players) to every high school coach in their area to get the names of their best players ranging from up coming seniors to freshmen. The Recruiting Coordinator also researches a list of the all-conference and all-state listings, internet lists, and scouting service lists and makes sure they are received by the proper area coach or position coach.
Every communication and piece of correspondence including phone calls, tape requests, etc. go through the recruiting assistant/secretary who distributes those to the appropriate area coach at the direction of the Recruiting Coordinator. As you can tell, the Recruiting Coordinator is one of the more aptly named people in the recruiting process because they do in fact coordinate the entire team effort to ensure organization and cohesion.
Randy’s advice: It is important for every student athlete, regardless of sport, to find out which member of the 
coaching staff is in charge of recruiting their region because that person is making the majority of the initial identifications and evaluations. In addition, make sure to know the Recruiting Coordinator for each staff!
Once the country has been divided and the areas have been established by the coaches, the prospects outside of the assigned areas are then separated by position. For example, if the defensive backs coach was responsible for the Northwest region of the country, after he has finished his duties geographically, he is responsible for identifying the top national prospects at his position outside of the assigned areas. This requires a coordinated effort by all the assistant coaches who have sectioned the country off regionally and a great deal of communication to make sure the position coach has access to all prospects.
Finally, after all the names of prospects have been identified and collected by the appropriate coach, it is time to make more thorough evaluations. A significant part of this step involves watching film. Unfortunately, this is much harder than it sounds for the area coach since many student-athletes do not have film prepared, and a large number of high schools do a poor job either filming, archiving, or distributing their players’ film.
In addition to watching the film, the area coach will research the student-athlete’s academic status by reviewing a transcript which, much like film, is often times difficult to retrieve from high schools. As a final step in this more thorough analysis, the area coach will interview the high school coach, teachers, counselors and principles regarding the prospect’s character. If a prospect passes all of these tests, the area coach will recommend that the Recruiting Coordinator add the recruit to a computer database used to initially organize and house a master inventory before placing the student-athletes name on the “the list,” the official recruiting board list
Randy’s advice: Make sure your academic and athletic resume has as much of the information listed above as 
possible. The more accessible you make your video (highlight and game video), transcript, and personal contact information, the more diligent the area coach can be with his evaluation and the better chance you have at him recommending your name be added to the prospect database!
Once the electronic database has been filled by the prospects identified and evaluated by the area coaches, they will request that the Recruiting Coordinator put the names of the elite prospects on the official Recruiting Board (“the list”) in the war room. The Recruiting Board is a sacred part of the process for a coaching staff and is often times kept in a highly secured room with locked cabinets housing “the list” and limited access to outsiders.
Next week, I will discuss what happens once a prospect’s name makes its way on “the list” and what takes place behind the scenes in the war room.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:18 am
Specifically, how is the Basketball College recruiting process different from the Football recruiting. While it provided for interesting reading… unless we know the specifics, it doesn’t provide us with the information for the specific sport e.g. basketball.
March 31st, 2009 at 12:10 pm
How do we decide which football camps to attend? He is getting personal invitations to many of the one-day camps. But we can’t attend them all. Does it hurt his chance with that school if he does not attend the one-day camp?
March 31st, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I wantet to find out if we can add game film to the skills video for baseball. I understand they like skills, but also want to clarify how game action cna show an athlete’s determination and game poise that a skills video won’t. This could be speed and tenacity on the bases, having command and vision of the field and ability to handle opposing runners, etc. Please, comment on game film for baseball, as well as soccer.
Also, with soccer, is it possible to use the same package of Recruit-Match II for 2 sports, as baseball and soccer?
March 31st, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Randy – great insights. Regardless of sport, it’s clear that a student-athlete must provide a minimum of video, transcripts or report cards, and character references. Not doing so hurts a prospects chances. It’s also interesting to see that college coaches don’t use Rivals or Scout.com to put their “list” together.
March 31st, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Richard – I suggest you address your questions to member services. They are great at providing those answers. Just call them on the toll-free number you have or email them at memberservices@ncsasports.org.
March 31st, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Dan-
Attend the camps of the schools he’s most interested in but only if he’s 100% ready to perform at his best. Remember that coaches use the camps as much to eliminate players as they do offer or in limited cases add a prospect.
It won’t hurt a young man not to attend but give a good reason for not making it. Coaches will think you’re not interested in them if you just don’t show. Be honest.
March 31st, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Jim-
Because of the smaller numbers in basketball there is less of an area or number of prospects to evaluate. A basketball staff also has the camp season and AAU events to see most kids. Football can’t attend any camp or combine not on a high school campus and run by the high school.
March 31st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Specifically, how is Men’s Swimming recruiting process different from the Football recruiting? It was a good read…but I would like to hear about specifics for swimming. Thanks.
March 31st, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Randy – Thanks for the information. My son had one coach request some film. Unfortunately, we have very little video from the past season. He responded to the request and informed the coach that as film comes available next season, it would be sent to him. Do you think it hurt his opportunity with the coach? He is a Sophomore and started on the JV team last year.
March 31st, 2009 at 4:33 pm
when a student-athlete wants to find a school his self should he go online to find the recruiting coordinator or just ask for the area scout?
April 1st, 2009 at 7:23 am
Kay-
Start by going to the school’s website to see if the RC is listed. If not call the school’s sport office and ask for the name of the recruiting coordinator, the recruiting assistant/secretary and the area coach. It’s better to have all the names and contact information because people in all walks of life are more considerate and efficient than others.
April 1st, 2009 at 7:26 am
Monte-
As they say, it is what it is. Since he is a sophomore it is more understandable that he doesn’t have varsity film. Just be dilligent to get them film ASAP.
April 1st, 2009 at 11:17 am
Anthony – The main difference in Men’s Swimming and football is that swimming coaches have extremely small recruiting budgets. As proactive as a football player needs to be, a swimmer has to be 10 times more proactive to generate the numbers that will give him a chance to swim in college. But all college recruiting, regardless of the sport, boils down to building relationships with college coaches. To do that, a college coach needs to know the student-athlete’s name, have his transcript, see him perform (video), and have a number of character references. The more college coaches who know that at the right schools, the better for the student-athlete.
April 1st, 2009 at 11:35 am
Anthony-
To answer your questions about swim recruiting remember that sports have different time tables with regards to signing times/ contacts, evaluations, etc. Football has just the one signing period in February until April 1st.
Swimming has 2 signing periods – an early period that is in the fall (November for a week), and a late period (starts in April up until August 1st).
Most other sports you will see early verbal commitments from juniors and even sophomores – this is very rare in swimming.
Swim Coaches seem to begin later in the recruiting process.
“I normally do not start contacting prospects until after July 1st of the summer proceeding the prospects senior year in high school. The only exception to that practice is if there is a high school junior that is a very strong prospect and that individual is showing and very strong interest in us by continually keeping us updated on their progress in the pool and in the classroom.” – Division 1 coach at top 50 swim program.
(Keep in mind coaches are unique and different in their ways of recruiting as well as communications. – there are always exceptions to the general rules).
Some of the reasons that signing seems to take place later: the college swim coaches want to make sure the guys are still committed to the sport and not burning out by their senior year, also to see what times they are posting during their senior year.
April 7th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
In lacrosse, it is highly desirable to send your son or daughter to a recruiting camp, preferably on the East Coast. I sent my son to the top 205 camp at Maryland where he was placed randomly on a team and played 8-10 minigames over 3 days. His 2 coaches were D1 assistant coaches. Many coaches were in attendance.
I also made him an athletic resume which highlighted his name and contact info, statistics, size and weight, position, speed in the 40 yard dash, GPA, academic interests and his coaches name email address and telephone number.
I also targeted head coaches via email with his academic resume. He got many offers for official visits, based upon his skills at the camp and resume. Its funny, the head coach of the team he signed with, basically ignored his emailed resume, but obtained it anyway through his assistant coaches who participated in the camp.
April 7th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Can you address this topic as it relates to men’s tennis?
April 7th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I too am interested about tennis. Does my son need to be playing in USTA tournatments to be recruited for tennis?
April 7th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
What about for woman’s ice hockey and field hockey. I live in Canada, what can I do to help my chances of coaches seeing me and who should I contact and stuff?
Thanks.
April 8th, 2009 at 4:36 am
My question is how does this work for those kids who parents are overseas?
If we are breaking down by areas, who covers those kids. don’t you think its would be fair to at least have a service set up to help those kids. There are some talented athletes who are overseas because there parents are defending the nation and they do not get the same opportunities as those kids stateside.
April 8th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Fred-
In this case it’s important for you to make your son or daughter known to colleges. Get help from a third party like NCSA. Go to ncsasports.org to request an evaluation.
In some sports they go overseases. In football the US and Canada is as far as they go. In fact, Hawaii and Alaska are only recruited on a limited basis by a small number of schools.
April 9th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I’m A junior about to be a senior and obviously its time to get serious about the college recruiting process. I’m wanting to go to college to play soccer and have signed up for summer camps at the colleges i want to attend so far. My dad has also been taping a lot of my travel games as well as high school games so that is taken care of so far; I’m keeping my grades up too…. i feel like there is still something I’m not doing???? Any advice on how i can get my name out there to the college coaches besides attending their camps?
April 10th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Thanks John G … Your comments were helpful ….
April 12th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Hi Randy, my son Sam is a sophomore and started about 40 percent of last year at QB, 60 percent at kicker and 100 percent at safety. Sam was 2nd team all league DB and second team all county at DB. Sam will be starting at QB and Corner this year and kicking. Sam would like to play for D1AA or better if possible but if not Ivy league. Min Ivy as the last choices but its all good. Sam has a highlight film on line with NCSA and a scouting report. NCSA has sent out Sam’s report to quite a few schools including some of the mini Ivy’s, I have also contacted all the Ivy league and some have responded back. When a coach asks for a game film of junior year is he really only looking at the juniors, did you as a recruiter look at sophomores with Sam’s varsity experience, films, transcripts, or did you just file info and follow up later? how hard do We need to chase these coaches. Also with multiple positions which coaches. Sam will play and position in college and knows a lot of QB’s play DB and WR. Sam could also be a great kicker with a little extra work. please advise ,thanks Bob
April 13th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Bob-
Looking at sophomores comes in time unless the coach has the need or inclination to watch earlier. For the most part the college coaches use referrals from high school coaches, their own observation, if organized or from sources like NCSA and myself. I watch tape on every prospect to get the information out to colleges to assist them for the next two years classes. The speed of the process is so fast now that some sophomores are already being considered for scholarship offers.
Coaches will look at soph tape prior to a prospect they know about coming to their camp or for an unofficial visit. The next time will be prior to campus evaluations in the fall (the prospect is now a junior), so when they go out to wrap up the senior class they are preparing for the next year. Also, if a coach sees a player at a game in person they will peek at the kid sooner.
College coaches will be able to project a player to what they think will be their best position. For example, I look at defensive lineman and tight ends to play offensive line unless I know the high school coach uses a strict two platoon system.
Make sure to get the word out about Sam kicking so a coach will know to look at him for that position too. The most recent kicker for USC was a very good fullback and linebacker prospect in junior college but made it aware that he could kick as well. Now he’ll be kicking in the NFL.
Good luck!
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Thanks Randy your response is very helpful
Bob
June 5th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Hi. My son is in the 10th grade and started on JV. He has a highlight of his JV season. I wanted to know if it is worth sending it out to 5 or 6 coaches now, or would you wait until his 11th grade Varsity season to make his highlight? He played Defensive Tackle. His Varsity coach is switching him to Linebacker and Fullback this year. He is 6′ and 232 Lbs. His highlight is on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq592b-cBgg. Thanks and can’t wait to get you opinion.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Hi John –
No college coach wants to see JV footage, so wait for the varsity video. Also, I strongly suggest that you don’t just send the video to college coaches if your son is not on their recruiting list and your son hasn’t had a one-on-one conversation with that coach. That’s a waste of time and resources. If you want your son to be on those college coaches recruiting lists, you can begin here: http://recruit-match.ncsasports.org/fasttrack/lead/preSAEFEntryV1.jsp?lnkSrc=SAEF-Blog Good luck!
December 31st, 2009 at 10:23 am
We have been treated fairly and with respect with the following schools who have unfortunately turned Evan down, Vanderbilt, Arizona, Nebraska, Boise the best interview was with E. Michigan [coach Wheatley & Snow these two took a lot of time explaning why Evan was not acceptable at the MAC level, it was very helpfull and we have since arranged one firm fly in and possibly two or three more.
The one school that treated us very badly without any respect was Idaho, a graduate assisant passing himself off as a coach e-mailed us a rosey puff e-mail asking for our complete package, when he recieved it he set on it for two weeks then angerly in a rage told us without any tact that Evan would never play in the WAC’ I humbled myself thanking him for his professional’ however if any prospect asks me for advise I will tell them to ignore Idaho as a waste of time.
January 1st, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Is there a response to Kaitlynn Pung’s questions. Likewise I am interested in in the soccer process.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Michele and Kaitlynn – Going to college soccer camps will not get you recruited. If you want to be recruited, follow the 5 things you need to do and the 5 things you must know found here: http://www.ncsasports.org/the-recruiting-process Good luck!