by Mandy Green, Busy Coach
If you’ve ever said, “I don’t have enough time to recruit, develop my players, or grow my program,” this article is for you.
As a college coach, you juggle practice, travel, game prep, recruiting, staff meetings, admin work, fundraising, and athlete development. It feels like there’s never enough time to get everything done.
But here’s the truth: Every coach has the same 168 hours in a week.
From national championship-winning coaches to those in their first season, everyone gets the same amount of time. The difference between successful and struggling coaches is how they use it.
Where Does Your Time Go?
Let’s break down a ‘typical’ week for a coach:
- Coaching (practice, games, film study): 40 hours
- Admin Work (compliance, meetings, paperwork): 10+ hours
- Recruiting (calls, emails, visits, evaluations): 15-20 hours
- Sleep: 56 hours (assuming 8 hours a night)
- Travel & Commute: 10-15 hours
- Meals & Personal Time: 14-20 hours
That’s about 140-150 hours accounted for.
That means there are still 18-28 hours left.
So why does it feel like there’s never enough time?
It’s because, for most coaches, the issue isn’t lack of time—it’s lack of priorities.
High-Performing Coaches Prioritize High-Leverage Activities
As Tim Ferriss said:
“Lack of time is actually lack of priorities.”
The most successful coaches focus their time on high-leverage activities—tasks that create the biggest impact with the least effort.
Examples of high-leverage activities for coaches:
- Recruiting Automation
- Instead of manually writing every email, create email templates that can be personalized in seconds.
- Use a CRM (like ARI or Front Rush) to track recruits efficiently instead of keeping disorganized notes.
- Leveraging Content for Recruiting
- Instead of answering the same recruit questions over and over, record a short video and send it to every prospect.
- Post on social media consistently to attract recruits so you don’t have to chase them down.
- Delegating to Your Staff
- Assign assistant coaches specific recruiting tasks (evaluations, campus visits, social media outreach) instead of doing it all yourself.
- Use an internal FAQ document so everyone on staff knows how to handle common recruit questions.
- Pre-Scheduling Your Week
- Block out time for non-negotiable recruiting tasks so they don’t get pushed aside.
- Use batching—make all your recruiting calls in a two-hour window instead of spreading them throughout the day.
The Challenge: Reclaim Your Time
As Stephen R. Covey said:
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
So here’s my challenge to you:
- Audit your week. Track how you actually spend your time for the next 7 days.
- Find your time wasters. Where are you losing hours on low-value tasks?
- Reclaim just one hour a day. Whether it’s cutting down social media scrolling, delegating, or setting up an automation—one hour a day is 7 hours a week.
That’s the difference between staying stuck or taking your program to the next level.
Want help making your recruiting system more efficient and time-effective? Check out our 365-Day Recruiting Content Calendar and Social Media Posting System—so you can stay ahead without working 24/7.
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Start leveraging your time, and your program will thank you.