How Important is a Third Party in the Recruiting Process?
May 26th, 2010 - by“Coach Taylor – How important is it for an athlete to participate in a third party/rating service combine? I have been told that many Universities use the rating services as a launching pad for their recruiting efforts. The more media coverage of an athlete can receive, the better the chance that the right University may pick them up as a prospect. Could you explain the advantages and disadvantages of participating in combines? ”
- Alex
Alex – Although your question seems to be specific to football, my answer below can apply to many sports even though I provide it with a football background.
College coaches spend thousands of dollars and many hours of research on 3rd party information looking for prospects.
The 40 times, vertical jumps and shuttles along with height and weight are important numbers for coaches. They give a coach an idea if the prospect has the raw tools to play at their level. If the numbers aren’t what they’re looking for the prospect would never make it onto the list of recruits. Once a prospect puts up a number it can eliminate them as easily as add them to a coaches list.
When I was recruiting coordinator at UCLA, for example, I’d go through the combine results looking for numbers to jump out at me. If I saw the right 40 time, shuttle or vertical I’d make sure the recruiting coach got this info and have the recruiting assistant send out a questionnaire.
If I recognized a name I’d add this info into the player’s file. If the numbers weren’t what we were looking for I’d make sure the coach knew there was a concern.
The other 3rd party source in the process is the evaluator, much like NCSA.
Note – Combines are traditionally a testing event where camps include football specific drills by position.
It’s important to know that coaches are skeptical of all information unless they know and trust the service giving it to them. It takes time and relationships to build this trust and working with qualified athletes and verified information is critical to establishing that partnership.
One more thing, college coaches don’t put much stock into media reports, articles and game stats. It’s nice but doesn’t tell a coach much about the player’s ability to play at the next level.
I hope I answered your question. If you need more let me know.
Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org
You can also get your questions answered directly by call the NCSA Recruiting Hotline at 866-579-6272.
