College coaches ask travel coaches about lots of players, especially if the coach has a premium team. Sometimes it is meaningful, sometimes it is not. Many times it is confidential -- which is important not only in regard to the player under discussion at the moment but also to all the players who will come along in the future. It is how relationships are formed and cultivated and how trust is gained.
The best teams provide meaningful avenues for players to attract positive attention and perhaps gain opportunities better than would otherwise be the case. Ultimately, it is based on the actual talent of the player -- not the words of any coach.
That said, it is not hard to figure what TR means -- and he is helping his players greatly, I am sure.
Those of you who do not understand his point just don't understand the entire picture. And, I am sure, that each case for TR and any other coach of a high-end program is different. If it is appropriate to mention something to the player or the parent, it will happen. If not, it won't happen. But in the end, many opportunities indeed come about while many others simply were not meant to be. And more harm is done by too much talk than the other way around.
Nearly all of it ought to be good.