Understand Scholarship Offers And How To Negotiate
For most athletes, the goal of the football recruiting process is to get a scholarship offer. NCAA D1 football is deemed a headcount sport, which means that every scholarship given must be a full ride. Anyone on the team who isnt on scholarship, must be a walk-on, or non-scholarship athlete. For every other division level, including NAIA, coaches can break up their scholarship money however they want, usually giving the most to the top athletes or specific positions. Learn more about the different types of offers in our College Recruiting Guide.
Most families want to know tips for negotiating a better scholarship offer. The best bargaining tool an athlete has: offers from other schools. Coaches do not want to lose recruits to other institutionsespecially rival schools. Ideally, athletes want to have serious recruiting interest from five schools to negotiate the best offer. Always negotiate based on Expected Family Contribution, or how much money your family will be paying out of pocket after everythings factored in. To learn more about scholarship negotiation, visit our college recruiting guide.
Learn How To Get Recruited For College Baseball
Baseball Factorys Exclusive;College Recruiting Program provides access to a team of experienced professionals helping to navigate your individual path through the college recruiting process.
Our experts find the information that you cant get online, including recommendations that can truly be a difference maker in finding the right college experience for every athlete. Their knowledge ranges from personality fit to position depth to the details of the admissions process.
Pay Attention To The Numbers
Make sure you visit the NCAAs page on the Probability of competing in athletics beyond high school. It has a great table showing the different sports and the numbers of players at each level.;It shows;36,011 NCAA baseball players for those 5,423 scholarships.;Of course, the players include Division III players who receive no scholarships. But the scholarships include Division I and II schools that do not always fully fund all of their baseball scholarships. So chances are that there is significantly less than 5,423 scholarships available.
Some more food for thought about baseball funding your college education. The other numbers to look at are the percentage of players moving to the next level. The NCAA lists 7.3% of high school seniors as playing at the NCAA level.
Think about it this way, during a game only one to two players from the combined 9 starters for the two teams will be playing at the next level. Once you take into account extenuating factors such as that not all players will even try to go to the next level or the quality of the teams players, the actual number may increase to 3 or 4 for that specific game.
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Will Recruiting Services Help You To Play College Baseball
So what do you have to do? The easiest approach would seem to be to hire a service to take over the process for youthis is for people who have a couple of thousand dollars to spend.
But be aware of what the service provides and what youll still have to do. Depending on the service, theyll put together a;recruiting video;from video you provide and send it to a bunch of college coaches. If youre lucky, theyll have more insight into what positions/players the college is looking for than you and target them appropriately.
The player will still have to call the coach himself.
The player will still have to provide the film.
The player will still have to take the SAT/ACT.
For a lot of families, its useful to have someone other than the parent telling the kid that you have to pick up the phone and make the call or that you need to practice for the SAT. There are plenty of people who use such services just for the college admissions process. Its worth it to them so that the parent isnt the one who has to do the nagging. But dont think that you cant do this yourself.
There are plenty of books and websites with information on how to do it yourself.
When Does Recruiting Start For Football
If youre wondering how to get recruited for football, you first need to understand when the recruiting process starts. Before we launch into the dates, its important to note that theres a difference between when athletes should start the recruiting process and when they should expect to hear from college coaches. The recruiting process technically starts as soon as the athlete has committed to playing collegiate football. Once theyve made this decision, they should start researching schools, creating their highlight video and completing the groundwork needed for a successful recruiting process. Typically, the bulk of this work should take place during the athletes freshman and sophomore year of high school.
The top athletes will start to hear from college football coaches as early as middle school. But for the majority of recruits, high-level D1 programs will start seriously recruiting football players their sophomore and junior years of high school. Often, they will fill their roster for a recruiting class by the end of the recruits junior year of high school or early in their senior year. D2, D3 and NAIA coaches will wait until recruits junior year in high school or senior year, looking to see who didnt get picked up by a D1 program.
- What are the benefits of high school football rankings?
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The Coach Is Actively Contacting You By Phone And Email
Communicating with coaches can be confusing, especially if youre unaware of the contact rules. Check out the NCAAs recruiting calendars;to determine when a coach can reach out to you. If you are an upperclassman receiving regular and personal communication from a coach, you are definitely high on their list.
MORE: Impress at every level: Its not just college coaches who evaluate you
Insider Tip: If youre an underclassman, a good way to tell if a program is interested in your early is to take stock of how many questionnaires youre receiving from them. Because coaches cant communicate directly until after 11th grade , questionnaires are a way for them to express indirect interest. However, in general, questionnaires arent especially telling about a coachs interest. They are the basic form of outreach for early recruits.
Of course, even if all six of these signs are happening during your recruiting process, that doesnt mean youre guaranteed an offer or a scholarship. These are all positive clues, but the tide can change at any time. Its crucial to cultivate relationships with multiple coaches so youre not putting all your eggs in one basket. Most importantly of all, never stop trying. As soon as you get complacent, your spot could be snatched up.
College Recruiting Advice To Parents From Parents
The college recruiting process can be fun for the whole family as long as you start early. Starting early can relieve a lot of stress for the athlete as well as for the parents. Start early, read up on the process, and set boundaries between the parents and the athlete. You can have a stress free time as long as you come up with a solid plan, and you start early. LRT Sports spoke with a parent whose son was being recruited for DI football.; Laurel Jenkins was willing to share some of her recruiting wisdom with you.;
LRT Sports:What are some questions you wish you asked the coaches when they visited your home?
When the coaches came to our home, it was a new experience, and I wasnt sure what to expect. I had many questions about the level of commitment involved and making sure it didnt interfere with my sons academics. One question I wish I wouldve asked was how many hours my son would have to commit to football during both semesters and what types of academic resources student-athletes have available to help them keep up.
LRT Sports:; LRT Sports: What did coaches NOT make clear to you, that you wish they had?
I wish the coaches had made it clear that my son would have to sacrifice some opportunities and that football would have to take priority over taking some classes.
LRT Sports:; Would you have used LRT Sports as a resource during the recruiting process? If so, how would it have helped?
LRT Sports: What did you dislike about the recruiting process?
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Youve Been Invited On An Unofficial Visit
Its not as concrete as an official visit, but if a coach suggests you come check out the school on an unofficial visit, its likely they are interested. Unofficial visits are up to the student-athletes family to finance, but what makes them popular is that they can be taken at any age and as many times as you want. The true gauge for the coachs level of interest, though, is determined by how much attention you receive during and after the visit. If the coach makes time for you to talk on the visit, and if they follow up with you shortly after, then they are definitely considering you. The key is to continue to nurture your relationship through calls and emails, as you could easily fall off their list. Here are some things to consider before an unofficial visit.
Insider Tip: Unofficial visits can also be coordinated with personal camp invites. Often coaches will invite their top recruits to camp and take them on tours of the campus.
Take Advantage Of Recruiting Technologyincluding Social Mediato Get Exposure To College Coaches
Recruiting has joined the digital age, which is great news for athletes in under-recruited areas. Athletes can create an online recruiting profile and upload their highlight film, stats, academic information and more. College coaches then search for recruits to find those who would be a good fit for their team. This helps coaches by making it easier to find recruits, and its also beneficial for athletes who normally wouldnt have exposure to college coaches.
Social media also plays a crucial role in recruiting. Athletes can DM coaches on Twitter, and, as an extra bonus, coach response times tend to be quicker through Twitter than email. Coaches also use social media to get a better sense of a recruits personality and interests. This is the perfect opportunity for recruits to showcase their athletic skills, highlight videos and sportsmanship. However, social media can backfire for recruits who post inappropriate content. Keep it clean!
MORE:;Read our guide to recruiting on social media
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The Importance Of Star Ratings In Football
Star ratings are splashed across all the major football recruiting websites: Rivals.com, ESPN, Scout.com and 247Sports.com. While each of these organizations has slightly different criteria for how they evaluate high school athletes and rank them, they generally all analyze film footage, live games, camps and combines, and overall athleticism to make their decisions.
Just as the methods for assigning star ratings differ, what they signify will be slightly different from platform-to-platform, as well. These star ratings are meant to signify how a recruit is expected to impact a D1 football team.; Heres an overview of what the star ratings generally mean:
- Five stars: These are very rare, elite prospects, who will likely be difference-makers on a D1 college team as a true freshman.
- Four stars: Outstanding prospects, these recruits are expected to make significant contributions to the success of their team as a young collegiate player.
- Three stars: Good prospects, these athletes might need a little more development before they make a significant contribution to their college team.
- Two stars: An average recruit, two-star athletes need the most time to fully develop their skills, but they still have the potential to become a major contributor later in their college career.
You’re In Recruiting Trouble When
- You Have Only a Few QuestionnairesThere are over 4,000 colleges across the nation. How many know about you? Count your questionnaires. That’s how many.
- Somebody Says “If You are Good Enough, Colleges Will Find You”This is wrong. Your profile and skills video must be accessible 24/7 to all coaches and on a reputable organization’s website. That’s where most coaches begin their search for prospects.
- You Think a Friend or Relative’s “Connections” is all You NeedAs a result, a coach might send you a letter. But it is statistically unlikely that anything more will come of it.
- Coaches Can’t Get your Stats and / or VideoThe reality is that you must have updated, accurate stats to get recruited.
- Your List of College Choices is too NarrowThe chances are not good of you fitting only a few specific coaches’ needs. For this reason, extending your options is a much better plan.
- You Assume Walking-on is a Good OptionIt’s not. Colleges love for you to walk-on because you will be paying to attend that school. You cost a coach nothing. And you start at the very bottom of the depth chart. Every year, another group of scholarship athletes jump ahead of you.
With all that in mind, please answer this question: Are you being recruited?
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When Does Recruiting Start For Baseball
According to the 2018 NCSA coachs survey, the majority of college programs begin to recruit athletes in sophomore and junior year. Division 1 is the only division that will actively recruit during the freshman year. Read about the NCAAs Division 1 rule changes that impact early recruiting.;How do I get invited to baseball camps?
Put Together A Highlight Video That Shows Off Your Best Qualities As An Athlete
An athletes highlight video is the best way to capture a coachs attention for most sports. Coaches use these highlight films to make initial evaluations of players. Your film should only be about 5-7 minutes at most. Start off with your most athletic plays and round out the film with your best game footage. Most coaches receive around 100 highlight videos a day, so yours needs to really stand out. Post your film to your online profile, YouTube and/or Hudl and send the link to college coaches. This method works better than sending a DVD.
MORE:;Quick guide for getting quality film
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Truth: College Coaches Are Not Coming To Your High School Games
Are you placing your hopes on a college coach seeing you at a high school game and pulling out a scholarship offer? Unless you are a star football player, think again.
Most college coaches dont spend much time watching high school games unless they are going to see a specific player they already know about. This is increasingly true across sports that have a competitive environment outside of the high schools. These would include showcase events, legion baseball, AAU basketball, and tennis open tournaments.
Most College Athletes Dont Receive Athletic Scholarships
And heres the first point about playing specifically college baseball, if youre spending all that money on teams, traveling, lessons to get a scholarship, it would probably be better spent on SAT prep. The reality is that Division I schools are allowed 11.7 baseball scholarships;while Division 2 get 9. One website takes that information and announces that means 5,423 scholarships in the NCAA alone!
But dont sign up for their recruiting service just yet.
Stop and think a little about the 11.7 number. How many players does an average college team carry?;Thats not 11.7 scholarships per year but for the entire team.;Some teams carry more than 11 pitchers alone.
Coaches arent handing out full scholarships, they are giving 25%, 40%, or maybe if youre really good, 50% scholarships. Unless youre a left-handed pitcher with a 90 mph fastball, baseball isnt going to provide your son with a full ride to college.
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Top 4 Ways To Get Recruited By College Football Coaches
If you are a high school football player chances are you want to continue playing football at the college football level. In the college football recruiting game there are some things that are consistent and the following four things are just that. Here are the top 4 Ways to Get Recruited by College Coaches.
1) BE TALL:
Its no secret, height wins in the recruiting game. 62 cornerbacks are getting offers like they are going out of style. If you are 66 playing defensive end and or tight end, college coaches have their eyes are on you. Theres noting like a 67 left tackle and everyone is looking for a 64 quarterback. So you are asking, why is he telling me this? I have no control over my height. While height is largely genetic, there is evidence to support the notion that sleep and rest could contribute to an increase in your height. If youre young, get your rest. It could really pay off!
2) BE FAST:
Speed kills. Youve heard it before. Some of the greatest players to play this game had the crucial element of speed. Whether its the running back that can turn a simple handoff into a 75 yard run or a wide receiver that can catch a 5 yard slant and go the distance, speed is very attractive to the college football coach. Join the track team or do some speed specific training. Athletes Acceleration can help. They have outstanding, simple methods for speed development. Click here to visit them. College coaches always want to know how fast you are.
3) LOOK STRONG:
Make Sure They Love The School Outside Of Athletics
The transformation from high school to college comes with a lot of changes and being a college-athlete on top of that can be stressful. You never know what will happen. What if your student-athlete decides they dont want to play anymore? Or, I hate to say it, but what if they are injured?
Bottom line: you want to be prepared in the case that your child decides not to continue their sport. Transferring schools can financially and academically be a setback. You can avoid this by making sure that your athlete is attending a college they absolutely love, including their classes, living situation and campus life.
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