Factors in Recruiting

GOMG2013 · December 9, 2014

It took me a few minutes to come up with a list of over 50 things that can factor in a recruit's decision. Some may seem small or trivial to us, but they can add up, or it may be a deal breaker.

Location of school...City or rural...distance from home...

Winning...bowls...

playing time...Redshirt?...how many at my position?...

Parents influence

religion

Friends attending school...girlfriend...teammates attending?...other recruits

Academics...college major...

Schedule...conference...rivalries

Campus...dorms...stadium...

favorite team growing up...uniforms...

attendance at games...fanbase size...fanbase contact on social media

HS coaches influence...little league/other coaches influence...

Coverage...websites...local paper...beat writer...local TV

TV games...national coverage...

Players to NFL...coaches played or coached in NFL...

Attitude of school towards athletes...attitude of community towards athletes

Cops in school location...

Race...Diversity...demographics...coaches race

Parties...girls...

Head Coach...Co Ordinators...position coaches

$ spent on athletics...stipends...extras?...

style of play

dual sports?

Recruiter...how much contact?...how much mail...how many calls...

Position coaches contact...Co Ordinators contact...head coach contact

handwritten letters vs flyers and generic mailout

A recruiter has to find out what makes each recruit tick and what to sell to the recruit and what to sell to the parent. Recruiters like Joseph and Ryan Walters have success because they can hold a few conversations with a kid, look at his style, talk to a few people, scope out the home, get on social media and form a strategy of how to recruit the kid. Bigger schools have more resources in this area. They have students working in the AD department on social media, handwriting letters, etc.

There some things that can't be controlled such as a recruits dream to play for a certian school. Some other things UNT can improve on that does not cost money. Its just a matter of MARKETING and making decisions.

Withers940 · December 9, 2014

Cops in school loacation? What do you mean by that?

GOMG2013 · December 9, 2014

Cops in school loacation? What do you mean by that?

Do the cops allow the college kids to have fun? How do the cops treat the football team? Campus cops and local.

We can get on here and act like we have never been young and made mistakes...and say if they are troublemakers, then we dont need them...but these are 18 year old young men that have been catered to since middle school, and stupidity will come with the territory.

Some places troublemakers get away with small petty crimes and if they do get caught, it doesnt become everyone's business...

Withers940 · December 9, 2014

Do the cops allow the college kids to have fun? How do the cops treat the football team? Campus cops and local.
We can get on here and act like we have never been young and made mistakes...and say if they are troublemakers, then we dont need them...but these are 18 year old young men that have been catered to since middle school, and stupidity will come with the territory.
Some places troublemakers get away with small petty crimes and if they do get caught, it doesnt become everyone's business...

Well I was just asking but small petty crimes, are you referring to stealing crab legs and tv's or like being drunk in public?

Greendylan · December 9, 2014

Good work compiling that extensive list. It would be interesting to learn of what institutional research the athletic department is doing/has done surveying potential recruits to determine which of those factors carry the most weight. It might also be enlightening to learn if our assumed strengths, from a recruiting standpoint, are perceived as such by recruits.

GOMG2013 · December 10, 2014

Good work compiling that extensive list. It would be interesting to learn of what institutional research the athletic department is doing/has done surveying potential recruits to determine which of those factors carry the most weight. It might also be enlightening to learn if our assumed strengths, from a recruiting standpoint, are perceived as such by recruits.

I know Joseph used to ask when he saw fort bend recruits that chose other schools. Problem is, you will get a standard answer about education, opportunity, etc. a recruit won't come out and say, too much comp at my position. Or I like the parties and the girls. Or my coach was black. Etc.

Some of the big reasons like winning, bowl games, conference etc are probably at the top of the list. once again, those are obvious predictable answers. For a team that doesn't win, the opportunity to turn it around can be replaced for winning.

In a lot of cases, the teams that makes the final cut are the ones that show the recruit the most attention. That is huge. Getting the parents to trust you is big. Especially with some of these mamas boys.

Some of these seem very small, but can be a real deal breaker. I know a school in Utah that a recruit was very interested in. Mother heard the environment was not friendly for blacks. Talked to the coach, but I guess he did not give a good enough answer. Recruitment over. Just that fast.

It really is a lot about getting to know people in a short period of time. How to approach a young black kid? A country white kid? A country black kid? A poor white kid? How do you approach Africans? Better not make the mistake and come at them like urban black people. How do you approach a samoan? You walk into a house and see a lot of crosses and pictures of angels, Virgin Mary, and Jesus...do you mention church?

Selling the generic education, opportunity, etc is what all the schools are doing. You have to cover as many of the other bases as possible. P5 stationary and mail outs are a lot different than G5. I was surprised to see the private, religious schools use the females and parties in the recruiting process.

I have been on trips with several recruits, talked to lots of recruiters that camp and come through houston, and seen lots of presentations. Mac is a pretty good salesman. But the head coach is usually the closer. There's a lot more areas that can be improved.