by Bryan Mathews, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
If you’re an assistant coach, making recruiting easier on your head coaches is one of the best skills you can develop. You want to do the thinking before they do, not have them have to think for you.
Prioritizing all of this – and more – coming out of a recruiting dead period can be the difference between recruiting success, and recruiting failure.
Finding new and better prospects. Getting involved with such prospects. Delivering the prospects in a timely and desirable fashion to the head coach.
In addition, it’s vital that you take an active role in doing the things that they may not have time to do themselves. Things like casting a wide net and forming good relationships with all prospects. Handling prospect conversations that may not be ready for the head coach yet. And, simply making the recruiting process simpler, easier, and more fun for the head coach.
The more information and relationship with a prospect that you have prior to the head coach getting involved, the better. Do so with formulated questions and a tactical approach. There’s nothing is worse than having your head coach call a prospect and them discovering a red flag that you missed!
- Where are you organizing or storing all your information and progress for each recruit?
- Where else can you find new prospects?
- What information do you need to know before presenting to the head coach?
- What is the easiest way to get that information?
- What is the best way to present it to your head coach and staff?
No matter the focus, recruits are drawn to one thing: consistency. The best assistant coaches have a plan that simplifies their program (in a good way) to prospects and has just the right balance between too much and too little communication.
And guess what – head coaches are drawn to consistency as well. Bringing them new talent to evaluate constantly, providing regular updates on prospects they really like, and being ahead of the game daily to answer their questions or guide them in what steps they need to take to gain the best commitments as possible.
If you are able to enhance the program to prospects, the prospect’s experience, and the head coach’s work load, then you’re in business. And you’re going to be in this business for a long time.
All of this is an ever-improving process. Which is why you need an efficient system and to always be thinking ahead. Remember, it is a process, especially for a new, young prospect who does not do this every year. So be consistent, be conversational, and most importantly, be ready for all of the post-dead period conversations you’ll be having by letting Tudor Collegiate Strategies partner with you and your staff to develop a winning approach when it comes to your recruiting message. Click here for more details.