How to Create Opportunities as a College Student or Student Athlete.
COLLEGE Edition: 7 Great Recruiting Tips for College Students
Roughly speaking, out of 1 million High School players 251 make it to the NFL. according to Ohio State University that's approximately 0.023%. (Reminds me of my 1st year of college GPA)
Here's another cool fact
Roughly 1% of Americans serve in the military. and 1% of that 1% are in direct combat jobs, or have seen combat. I’ve accomplished both the student-athlete to pro level soccer & fought in combat in Afghanistan.
I’m not bragging, I don’t brag I’m sharing real world life experiences and mixing it with all of this college, grad school knowledge. Not many people can say, they have done both. The academia side & getting out there in the field. Not only that, but I was a leader in both circumstances. Which is why I put together these 7 super effective tips for creating opportunities and how to get noticed or recruited. Hopefully to inspire you on your journey.
I ask my clients, who is your role model and I add at the end, “and they don’t have to know you” when we go back and review some of the questions, this one comes up often. Clients tell me, I never thought about it like that. Just by adding that last piece to the code. It automatically get your brain stimulating and synapsing with new creative ideas, solutions, and perspectives..
Again, educate yourself daily so you can start improving the quality of questions you ask yourself. Just as I did by adding that last statement at the end of that question. And if you are having some trouble on where to start or where to start looking. Here is a coaching tip, always always start with the Market Data. Whatever topic or industry you are thinking about. Look up or research the data. I’m a life coach. I need to learn this industry. So I searched “male life coach facts” then I modified the search results using the search tools and got the most relevant data about my industry. Now I have more data, naturally building my confidence from the unknown to the known. For example, I didn’t know only 9-13% of males make up this industry. I set a goal to own the male life coaching industry. Building confidence. Right and setting year out goals. Lets see how much I can accomplish in one year…Now I’m projected to hit 6 figures in Q4 of 23.
So take a second to reflect on how you got to where you are. Whats the best and worst memories during your student athlete journey or overall college experiences?
7 Great Recruiting Tips
TIP #1 – SQUEAKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE. This means you must work at being recruited regularly and consistently. The more effort you make the more results you will create. This is not the movies. Depending on your sport it will only be the top 100-500 athletes in any high school / junior college sport in the entire country that receive the “privilege” of having coaches come to you. You have to be Proactive. Make a commitment to yourself to spend 30 minutes a day researching the schools, coaches, players, tactics, opponents, and the most important, what value can you add to that school or team. On or off the field.
TIP #2 - CONTACT, CONTACT, CONTACT. Contact College Coaches to let them know you are out there! 90% of all colleges are NOT NCAA Division I and have very little athletic scholarship monies. That means they also have very little if any money for finding potential recruit. Don’t expect coaches to come recruit you, for all we know they are actively recruiting you right now. Have your picture hanging in someones recruiting office. This is also where integrity kicks in on and off the field. When I was a junior in high school, I would email head coaches from so many different universities and just tell them hey, I’m so and so, shared my best sport accomplishment, something to catch their attention right away. Like for me, “I made sure each coach knew my natural kicking foot was left” it was rare and still is rare in soccer and that I just got back from playing soccer in england. Keep it simple, keep it effective. Your starting to tap into self awareness now, and thats a life skill you’ll keep for the rest of your life.
TIP #3 - RESEARCH & ANALYTICS The Real Recruiting Process is a TWO-WAY STREET of COMMUNICATION. That means you have interest in that College / Coach and that College / Coach has interest in you. If only one side has interest, it is a ONE-WAY STREET and one-way streets will only lead to wasted time and wasting energy in the end. This ties to tip 1, start a google doc with all the colleges you want to be recruited by and like an FBI profiler, start profiling that school. How long has the coach been there, what system does he favor, am I good fit for his strategies and tactics. How much money do they have left for scholarships. How many players are leaving next year. You are starting to take more ownership of the exact outcomes you want for your future and you can sprinkle this mindset to the rest of your life.
TIP #4 - MAINTAIN TO GAIN. Simple concept. Maintain contact with the college coach(s) you have interest in on a bi-monthly basis. Send them articles, a short e-mail, text message or even better, make a call. Keep YOU in the front of their mind. This will also help you to move up in the recruiting list on the coaches recruiting board. College coaches will recruit 4-5 athletes for one roster spot (the same spot) or playing position. All five athletes will have the ability to play at the school or they would not be recruited or be on the coaching staff’s recruiting board. The College Coaches will make the same speech and use the same lines to each recruit (It’s called a sales pitch or routine). Sometimes the difference between being in the back of the pack or at the top of the list is subtle, such as a little higher GPA, or making more effort to stay in touch with the coach. You have to make an effort to move to the front of the pack. Do not sit back and wait to be re-contacted by a college coach once they have indicated they have interest in you. They also want to see if you also have interest in them. I would recommend to start watching short youtube videos on the art of negotiation.
TIP #5 – “WALK ON” = WALK OFF! It does little or no good to “walk on” to a sports program if (1) they do not care, (2) they have no roster spots available. You’re forcing it. Find Colleges that are showing regular interest in you and assisting you in getting ready for school. If they are not, pack a warm coat because you will be out in the cold! Unless your a “PREFERRED WALK ON” which means you have a guaranteed roster spot ahead of time, you will walk off empty. Again, be aware of your surroundings. If you red shirt, are you next in line for the starting position or are you just going to keep the bench warm. If so, and you are ok with that. That allows you to observe, learn, and optimize your game. Tom Brady it. Super low draft pick, didn’t’ start, but observed and invested the free time he had not starting, on perfecting his game, and learning everything about the game.. What are other players doing to be on the starting line up. What are they doing on and off the field. Are they staying late after practice? Is this more than just a game to them?. Use your time wisely when learning the art of patience.
TIP #6 - SOAK IT IN ALL IN college coaches have made the statement that “If I can’t get a recruit to come to campus and pay a visit, I have very little chance of them coming to school.” SO PAY A VISIT. I’m giving you the exact recipe to increase your chances the highest possible. Besides, paying a visit to see where you are going to be calling home the next few years is a good idea! Would you buy a house without doing a walk through? So take a trip and SOAK IT IN to see if you like it or not! Here a coaching tip: By visiting campuses and you really like it, take pictures and hang them up on your vision boards, if your not familiar with vision boards click here
TIP #7 - SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING No Coach or College wants a side show for a Student Athlete. Remember two simple rules: (1) “People may notice how you look, but they will only remember how you play!”. (2) College Coaches want either NO MAINTANENCE or LOW MAINTENANCE Student Athletes. High Maintenance Athletes turn coaches into babysitters. Most veteran coaches won’t put up with it. Be clean, clean cut, and respectful. It will also make you appear more mature and intelligent and that is just plain smart! Plus its an investment for you. If you let your work ethic speak for itself on and off the field your coaches will bend over backwards for you Naturally. They’ll go out of their way or will bring your name up to coaches and scouts because of this simple tip.
Hopefully some of these tips are helpful, they helped me during my student athlete journey, my academic journey, military journey, transitioning back to civilian journey. I still have all my scouting and recruiting letters. I remember them stacking up on my desk, i couldn’t believe it, all because I made a simple introduction, phone call, visit, email, etc.. and i would get hand writtend letters from these coaches. I got an email from one of the stanford coaching staff telling me. I wish you would have emailed me sooner, we just filled our last scholarship. They already seen me play and wanted me to join their squad the downside I would have to pay tuition. But at the time I didn’t realize the various options i could have taken at that moment but i wasn’t educated enough in that area of finance, so hopefully these tips will help you in the present moment. So you can make the best decision for your life, don’t do what other people are telling you to do, do what you want to do, based on your own research and gut intuitions. Do Whatever makes you happy.
Getting recruiting is just like anything else that you want to get better at in life. Consistency. Stay consistent with your recruiting process and relationships with the colleges you want to attend.
“The harder you work, the luckier you become and thats not by coincidence.”
That universal quote has never let me down.
So congratulations for making it this far, its cool to reflect on our journeys sometimes. Especially, when your in the grinder-sacrificing instant rewards for delayed gratification. Mastering self discipline is one of the most difficult things to do in life. It takes a minimum of 10k hrs to learn a new skill any skill.
Tom Brady it. Super low draft pick, didn’t’ start, but observed and invested the free time he had not starting, on perfecting his game, and learning everything about the game.. What are other players doing to be on the starting line up. What are they doing on and off the field. Are they staying late after practice? Is this more than just a game to them?. Use your time wisely when learning the art of patience.
