Recruiting 101
Common Myths About Recruiting
- "If you are good enough, they will find you."
- "Only the schools that send you letters are interested in you"
- "If a school hasn't heard of me, they won't even watch my game video if I send it to them"
- "If one school in a conference does not want me to play for them, the other schools in the conference probably will not either."
- "My coach handles all of the recruiting stuff for me, I don't need to worry about it."
- "You shouldn't send your video to a school unless you know you would like to go there, and you should probably only send your video to a couple of schools."
- "Sending out game films is a time-consuming and tedious process that is not fun at all"
- "Most of these 'scouting services' that I have heard about are scams"
"If you are good enough, they will find you."
This is an age-old adage that is often heard throughout the recruiting process and is both out-dated and incorrect. These words are often spoken by an older coach who wishes to dismiss any thoughts by the student-athlete or parent that they should market themselves to institutions by sending out their information. The fact is that this statement is true if you are one of the top 100 players in the country, have already received a great deal of accolades by your sophomore year, and most likely already have several scholarship offers in hand. This is simply not true for most student-athletes outside of the top 100. The only way they will know about you for sure is if you send them your game film and profile.
"Only the schools that send you letters are interested in you"
The schools that send you letters initially got your name from one of several scouting services which survey high school coaches and give out your information to colleges based upon the information that your high school coach submitted, if he chose to take part in it. Just because you have never received a letter from a school doesn't mean they are necessarily not interested, it may just mean that you slipped through the cracks. The only way you will truly know if they have any interest or not is if you submit your game film and profile to them so they can evaluate you as a prospect.
"If a school hasn't heard of me, they won't even watch my game video if I send it to them"
It really depends on the school. Many college programs have told me that they make sure somebody takes a look at ALL incoming video to make sure a hidden gem does not accidentally slip through their fingers. Still other college coaches have admitted that a lot of times DVDs get lost or never get watched if they have never heard of the player or his/her high school. The only way you know for sure whether or not they have reviewed your profile information and video for sure is to use a service like Go Big Recruiting.com that provides you with both an email and a check mark on your account after it has been reviewed.
"If one school in a conference does not want me to play for them, the other schools in the conference probably will not either."
Although it is true that conferences typically attempt to recruit the same caliber student-athletes, they do not always agree about the abilities of individual players. When I was a senior in high school, James Madison University offered my best friend and teammate a full-scholarship to play sports for them, and did not offer me a thing. Within a couple weeks of that time, the College of William & Mary offered me a full-scholarship to play for them, and did not offer my best friend a thing. Two schools in the same conference that play against each other every year saw different things when looking at our game video, and perhaps came to different conclusions based on our ability and the needs they had for their recruiting class that year. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and you never know how a particular school will feel about you unless you send them your game film and profile. You never know which school is going to be the one to offer you scholarship money or the opportunity to attend their university and play football there.
"My coach handles all of the recruiting stuff for me, I don't need to worry about it."
Some coaches are very good at helping their players get the opportunity to play sports in college and have a great feel for the recruiting process and how it works. However, there are a lot of coaches who don't feel like this is a large part of their job description and don't do as much as others in terms of contacting college coaches and sending out game films. Whether or not your high school coach excels in this area or not, you must realize that this is YOUR life and that you and your parents have to do everything in your power to make your dreams a reality. You must make sure that you are sending your game film and profile to every school that you are interested in.
"You shouldn't send your video to a school unless you know you would like to go there, and you should probably only send your video to a couple of schools."
In order to give yourself as many options as possible when it comes time to pick a college, you need to send your game film and profile to ANY school in which you may have an interest in attending. This way you can slowly narrow your list of potential choices after you gauge which schools have an interest in you. Remember, if you do not send your game film or profile to a school, there is very little chance that they will offer you the opportunity to play for their university.
"Sending out game films is a time-consuming and tedious process that is not fun at all"
The old way of sending game films in which you copied tapes or burned DVD's, found the correct address of the given university, filled out and stuffed an envelope with your tape or DVD, then sent it out via the mail or Fed EX/UPS is time-consuming, tedious, and outdated. The new way of sending your game film and profile to colleges is fun, fast and easy. All you have to do is sign up for an account at gobigrecruiting.com, fill out your profile, upload your video (or send it to Go Big), and then select which schools you want to submit your profile and video to. We guarantee that the university will receive your game film and you will get an email back confirming that they have your film. Gobigrecruiting.com is the new and improved way of submitting your information to colleges and it is a fully-automated online version of the old way.
"Most of these 'scouting services' that I have heard about are scams"
This is somewhat true, most of the scouting services that claim they are going to send your information to colleges so that they know about you charge an inordinate amount of money for what amounts to a mass mailing or mass emailing to an assortment of colleges that may not be the right fit for you. In talking with college coaches, they often throw these letters right in the trash if they are not accompanied by actual full-length game film video. They also tend to delete the emails if not accompanied by video of the prospect in action. With gobigrecruiting.com, YOU decide which schools to send your video and profile to and the college coach is able to watch your game film while all of your information is right there in front of him. The college coaches want high school prospects to submit their game film in this way so that there is no longer a disconnect between the athlete's information and video. It also enables them to have less tapes and DVD's that they need to store and organize. GoBigRecruiting.com is a win-win for everyone involved.
About Ross
Ross Tucker recently retired from football after 7 years with five teams in the NFL. The Two-Time Academic All-American at Princeton University's presence in the media includes writing for Sports Illustrated.com, hosting shows for Sirius NFL Radio, and being a frequent analyst for FOX, SportsUSA Radio, VERSUS, and the YES Network. Ask Ross questions about recruiting here.