Expectations of your coach in recruiting

This is a tough area to talk about because it really depends on the situation and the school.  Some coaches are very young and recruiting is not something they have dealt with in the past.  Others are experienced and have sent many players to the college level and know exactly what they are doing.  My guess is that most coaches end up somewhere in between. 

The first thing you should expect out of your coach is honesty.  If you are an athlete who gets in trouble often away from the field or the court, expect the your coach to be honest.  If he is not and sugarcoats it, the college coach will eventually get word (They talk to just about everyone possible to learn more about the athlete) of this and discount much that the coach says.  So as I have said before, stay out of trouble and get good grades. 

The second area that your coach should be able to help you is in getting your name out.  If your high school coach has been in that position for an extended length of time, there is a good chance that he has had some contact either in person or over the phone with the big college programs throughout your state.  Your coach may also have connections with other friends in the business that can help you get your name out.  Let me say that while this is desired, it does not happen with every coach.  Some have more contacts and others don’t, it just depends on how much they network themselves in speaking with college coaches.  Another area to mention is that your coach, in probably 99% of the cases, does not have the time to help you identify certain schools that would be good fits.  This is something that your family needs to talk about and do together. 

The third area is something that the coach can really help you with.  That is getting quality video tape from your games to include when putting together a highlight video.  Like a lot of other things, this really depends on the school and their resources in how quality the video is.  The school may only be able to afford a video recorder from the 1980s that puts the video on VHS.  Others may have high definition video equipment that allows the coaches to have a great picture on the video.  Really, it depends on the resources at the school.  If the tape quality is bad and you are aware of it, make sure your parents are taping games but the first place to go is your coach. 

The fourth area that your coach should help you with is taking your game to the next level.  If you make him aware that you want to play college athletics at the scholarship level, you have to prove to him that you are willing to put in the extra time to excel.  As an athlete, you need to be asking him or her about what areas that you need to work on all the time as well as trying to finding new drills and exercises that can help you in those areas.  By developing that relationship with the coach, it will help put him even more in your corner if you need someone to go to bat for you.  Obviously be sincere in this but it can really help show what type of person you are to the coach. 

And the fifth and final area when expecting things out of your coach is to know that while you are a great player for him and have done a lot for him, he has other more important priorities that take precedence over your recruiting.  That is why I think it is so important for the family to do a lot of recruiting.  You know what level your kid would like to play sports at in college so you can target those schools.  The coach has a lot going in his life with his own family, teaching (In most cases), and trying to help his team develop.  While he you like you to get a scholarship in college, it is not what he has been dreaming for over the last ten years. 

One final suggestion that I promise will help the relationship with the family and the coach.  DO NOT BE THAT PARENT who consistently pesters him or her about getting their child more shots or touches, depending on the sport.  If you go overboard as a parent or are not realistic about your abilities, the coach will be hard pressed to really help.  Make sure to figure out what level the coach thinks you as a player can play at.  If the coach says Division III and you feel you are a Division I-AA football player, who need to take a hard look at yourself and your ability before moving forward.  That self realization will not be easy.