Staying in Contact with College Coaches

Once you start your recruiting journey, finding the right school will come down to building relationships. However, relationships always require a great deal of work. You will need to speak with coaches consistently in order to compare one situation to another and determine which truly is the best fit for you going forward. If you put yourself out there and engage coaches by asking the right questions, you will be able to determine which is the right one for you.

What to say and how often should you contact a coach?

There are no parameters for time a recruit can spend reaching out to a college coach. But you should have a strategy before you do so. Every outreach to a coach should be purposeful and professional. Once you have had a formal introduction with the coach, you will need to create a steady flow of communication that continues to move towards you getting an offer. So instead of looking for reasons to speak, there should be a legitimate one each time. Coaches talk to recruits about their training, their seasons, answer questions and concerns, along with the occasional message that shows personality like a happy holidays message or even a birthday shoutout. Ultimately you are not trying to build a relationship with a friend but establish trust with a coach, on the way to selecting them as someone to lead you in your college career.

Your communication should always have a purpose, and it should be consistent. If there is ever a lapse in communication that lasts a period of weeks or months, then it will likely send the coach the impression you are not as interested as you once were.

Coach Rob’s Note: Remember the NCAA does have a recruiting calendar so you should reach out with an understanding of what type of communication is appropriate from the coach to respond back to you.

Underclassmen will likely not speak with coaches weekly. If you are being recruited early, you will have to reach out to coaches since they cannot technically call or message you. But as a junior or senior you should expect to speak with a coach as little as once a month, or as much as on a weekly basis.

• You created a new highlight film

• You or your team recently had a big win/performance

• You have new academic information to share from standardized testing or your GPA.

• You are attending a camp where the coach will be present

• You want information about sending the coach evaluation information either athletically or academically

• You are looking to know what competitions the coach will be scouting

• You are telling the coach you are formerly applying to the college

• You are expressing congratulations for the college team’s performances or accomplishments

• You are setting up a visit to the campus

• You received a new athletic honor or award

• You are considering a scholarship offer from another school

• You are updating the coach on your training

• You want to know what things the coach wants to see from you going forward

• You are thanking the coach for time spent with you in person

• You are sharing coach reference information

• You want to ask the coach questions about their team and the college

• You are sharing NCAA eligibility information with the coach

Coach Rob’s Note: It is a best practice to try to set up the next time you will reach out to a coach whenever you are speaking with them. Coaches are busy people and manage a lot of recruits. So, setting up the time in advance is ideal to ensure they are expecting you.

How frequently should I message the college coach

The short answer is that you should always respond promptly when a coach reaches out to you. You ideally do not want a day to pass where a coach is waiting for a response from you. Ghosting is a thing, but it is immature. If you are no longer interested in a school, it is much better you tell the coach than drag things out.

The longer answer is that you should engage with a coach and establish a comfortable rapport. That means with all the reasons listed above for you to speak with a coach, you as an upperclassman should be contacting them once every 1 to 3 weeks. This is about enough to develop a real relationship while giving enough space for there to be reasons to talk again.

Coach Rob’s Note: Don’t go under-recruited! I put in the hard work for you to know exactly which colleges already want to recruit you, which ones will view you as a top recruit, and how to get their attention. Book a meeting with me, Coach Rob, and see how easy it can be to get the offers you deserve!

How can you stay in contact with a college coach?

The following are all the potential ways you can contact a college coach. Remember that some ways work better for a particular coach than others.

• Email Contact: This is the most professional way to contact a coach and is best for sending larger amounts of information.

• Phone calls: This is ideal for building a relationship but may not be practical all the time. Once you have had an initial phone call it is best to continue talking at least once a month on the phone to keep the lines of communication flowing effectively.

• Text Messaging: Coaches do text recruits, but this is an informal form of communication. It is best not to try to have text messaging conversations since a lot can get lost in translation and use it as a shorter and more convenient form of communication than email.

• Social media/direct messaging: College coaches often use social media to assess your character. So, anything you post they will likely see, even if they don’t engage with it. Consider every post you make as a message that is available for them. Messaging on these platforms does happen but it is best to avoid long dm conversations and reserve those for more secure contact mediums.

Coach Rob’s Note: Parents have a role to ply but they should not lead communication with a coach. Students should lead in the process because too much parent involvement can make the recruit seem unmotivated.

E-mail is always the most professional way to contact a coach. If you would like to learn more about the best ways to email a college coach, including email templates, click here to learn more.

Coach Rob is a recruiting expert and the Founder of SCA Recruiting. He is also the author of the book Winning the Ship: How to Win the College Athlete Recruitment Game. Available now on Amazon.