Ask Coach Taylor – Why Would a High School Coach Hold Back Letters?
March 17th, 2010 - byCoach Taylor – Why would a high school coach hold letters sent from college coaches without letting the recruit they were intended for know?
Holding college mail is really an old school idea which unfortunately some coaches still practice. The reasons I’ve heard are:
- The player will get a big head and think they have it made and may not work as hard.
- The letters will distract the player
- The high school coach may want to be in charge of the process and doesn’t want to be bothered until the end of the season.
- The high school coach doesn’t want the college coach to have direct contact with the player and impacting the young man in a way that could hurt his performance or undermine the high school coach.
- The high school coach may believe that until the player has completed their sophomore year, there isn’t any guarantee that the young man is truly a prospect.
Regardless of the reason the high school coach is most likely hurting the young athlete by interfering with the process. It is important to develop a good relationship with your high school coach and communicate to prevent this from happening. Also, as we always tell families – it is not your high school coach’s job to get you recruited! Recruits and their family are ultimately responsible for the process.
Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org
You can also get your questions answered directly by contacting an NCSA Recruiting Coordinator at 866-579-6272.
