Can HS Coach Hurt Prospect Chances

Don't worry about what's in the paper. Our paper get's it wrong most of the time. The players need to be out doing their own exposure through the steps on this website. I gues a high school coach can hurt a player only if a college calls the coach and he downtalks the player, but not contacting the coaches in the first place is not a real minus.

The player and his parents need to be Pro Active regardless of what the HS coach is doing or not doing

Do your job with the paper, get him to showcases etc and it will all work out.

If you have any questions as to what to do please feel free to phone or email me

Tom Rizzi
www.collegeselect.org
800-782-3672

stats in the paper are for the parents braggin rights and for scrapbooks....They have very little value beyond your memories...

Why?.. the main reason is objectivity, 99% of the time when stats are published they are submitted by the winning team and are biased. Ive done games where I know a player went 1-3 on 2 errors only to see it posted as a 3-3 game....the other reason is there is no way to judge the competition faced..........a 4-4 game hitting against weak pitching or a no hitter against a team with out any talent looks good in your scrapbook, but does not hold any water any where else....

One of the things I see often is "4 year Varsity player".......sounds good, Until you know that the school only has 12-15 kids come out for baseball and has no Freshman or JV team...

can a coach hurt a prospect?.......absolutely he can.......by choice, by action and by inaction....

I encourage you to try and turn the coach around, even if the best you can do is get him to not harm your chances..then take the effort into your own hands and use this site to maximaize your efforts........you can do it with out the coach..........best of luck!!

Thanks for your reply. Makes me feel better. I have gotten my son the exposure through team one and other showcases. As a junior he has already been invited to D1 colleges for junior day and has received a number of letters from colleges. He has received a lot of attention. You can't say anything to this coach if you have something on your mind because, if you do he tells you to go somewhere else if you don't like his program (real nice guy). I will encourage the other parents to do as you said and I will too. Thank you.

hsbsblfan,

I am just curious--what part of Fla. are you in?

hsbsblfan,

I feel your pain. As I have implied on this site before (if I didn't say it straight up), I think our coach would hurt a players chances to move to the next level. You just never know what he would say if a coach called him for information. I can assure you it would not be good. Of course that is judging what he would say by the way he addresses the players and their parents.

hsbsbl-Unfortunately, Coaches, like many people people in this world, are in a position of power. I have met lots of GOOD High School coaches and it always takes a few bad apples, like your son's coach, to ruin it for the others.
While most college coaches will know how good your son is before you know how good he is, a civil repore with the high school coach is still important. If your coach wants to be a jerk, he could easily start saying bad things about your son when asked by College Coaches. Ever see the movie "All the Right Moves" with a young Tom Cruise? He went from being a football prospect coaches were interested in to not being wanted at all because of his Coach.
Alas, college coaches can judge a player for themself when they see him play or meet him in person, but sometimes high school coach can be the gatekeeper keeping perspective colleges from seeing players. I am also NOT endorsing kissing a high school coach's behind, but rather endorsing a policy of caution when dealing with a Coach who gets in the way of your son's future.

And the answer is: YES, ABSOLUTELY (and unfortunately).

As a coach my job was to prepare my team for the season. At the end of the year the team had a won loss record. I always thought of the team first. I did things that would make the team better. As far as individual players performances they were what they were. If a college coach inquired about a certain player I would be straight with him. Embelishing the players ability would only decrease my credibility. what does getting in the way of a players future mean. the only thing I could think of is to lie about his ability either way. Why would I or anybody do that?

Let’s not paint all high school coaches with a broad brush. There are many great high school coaches that help players improve to where they have the ability to play at the next level. On the other hand there are coaches that do very little. I know there are some parents that feel as if it’s the job of the HS coach to see their son gets the opportunity to play college baseball. I don’t think we should blame the HS coaches if they don’t “promote” a player. I have always felt parents were the ones to assume the role of assisting their son during the recruiting period to guarantee he has the best opportunity possible. It’s bad when the coach is NOT promoting the player and the parents think he has it all under control! If this happens, no one (coach or parents) is doing anything and everything is left to chance.
My advice is like TRHit’s: Don’t rely on the high school coach for assistance...get proactive; showcase your son and do what you can to see that he can play on a good summer team.
Fungo

I don't think this coach would ever lie about a player's baseball skills but he says some pretty mean things about and to the boys in anger and you wonder if he would do the same when speaking to a college coach about a player if he was mad. He never believed in showcases so he never sent any of the boys to them. Things are so different now, better, for the athlete to get maximum exposure away from the high school baseball season through showcases and summer travel teams.

Hsbsblfan

Mean things? Over the years on occassion I laid into a few. If the shoe fit!!!! I did not do it often but when I did it they knew I meant business. However it always stayed there.

Will,

Being direct is sometimes painful but it is not mean. Our coach is almost hateful in his handling of the players. He takes it to the classroom and belittles them infront of the class. If you have a bad outing on the mound he will make a comment about it in class, for the whole period. He is one of those people who never has a positive comment. Here is how I think the call would go, " Yea this is coach ...., yea the kid is on my team. He is ok, good grades I guess. He shows up for practice most of the time. Not a winner though, but he was better than the other bums who came out."

However I work on him every chance I get to try and pull him over from the dark side. To have friends you have to be a friend.

Making men out of boys I guess. The boys never complain about the things he says. But,either they've lost a lot of respect for him or he just doesn't know how to gain their respect. I'm sure it is a very tough job. There are many, many more great coaches out there than so so and I just wish we had one.

The answer is a resounding yes, unfortunately.

I agree that most high school coaches are men of integrity and will promote and help their players that deserve to be promoted to the next level. I have seen first hand how so many coaches will go the extra mile for their players to get into a good school and rather than say anything negative about a player, they would preferably not say anything at all.

However, unfortunately, there are those that lack honor and integrity. Just as there are human beings in our society with no morals, no standards and no integrity. There are high school coaches who lack those attributes as well. High school coaches are a microcosm of our society. Most of the people in our society are good and decent people and most coaches are good...but not all. As has been stated time and time again during the almost five years that I have been posting to this message board, a number of us have had the occasion to bump up against a few of them. To know that someone that has been so close to your son for usually three or more years has made undeserving, unfounded, disparaging remarks about your son to a college coach or scout literally breaks your heart.

So as TrHit and others have said, parents should do as much as they can to promote their son. Do not rely, solely, on someone else to do it for you. For what ever reason, stuff happens!

I think its great if a high school player gets the opportunity to play for a few coaches during his high school career. The high school coach, and a different summer team coach (or two)when appropriate. This gives the player a fresh perspective and other "references" when needed. In addition, if the player knows a scout or two, use them for references.

I am in the newspaper business. Have been for 25 years. I can tell you that MOST of the people working in the business do everything they can to get it right.

But you can't believe everything you read in the papers.

I can also tell you that a kid putting up huge, and I mean huge numbers, might draw some attention. But only from schools in his backyard.

Coaches don't recruit off clippings. They recruit off initial inquiries made by players. They verify with recommendations from people they trust. They recruit off camps and showcases. They recruit what they see and what they know.

If your son has the skills and takes control of the situation, eventually he will find himself in the right places to be seen. The high school coach can be a great help, but it can be done without him. My son is proof of that.

As parents, there is only so much we can do. But you're here. It's as good a start as you can get.

A few things to ease your mind. College coaches in general are not stupid.

When thye are talking about a recruit to a 20 year old wet behind the ears hs coach they know it. They take that into consideration.

When they are talking to an egotistical, arrogant or downright mean spirited coach they take that into consideration also. Something like that iss often hard to hide.

Baseball coaching is a small world , folks gain reputations. While the college coach may not know your hs coach due to geography, he may know a nearby college coach who does know the hs coach. And yes, coaches do talk and share information.

Yes, there are a handful of bad coaches at any level. Give college coaches some credit. Many can see through a really bad, or inexperienced hs coach. And if they have seen your son play for themselves, and really like what they see, they will certainly dig a lot deeper.

Now for your job, get him enough exposure that they do see him for themselves and trigger their curiosity.

I have a similar issue-
My son has already signed with a college and the plan for there is that he will be a 2 position player (left side of infield and pitching). He has played nothing but ss in HS.

He has had some scout interest but only as a pitcher. The HS coach insists that my son can play SS/3B at the next level-the scouts say different.

Many scouts are calling and writing asking for information about where he will be in the pitching rotation. I conveyed this to the coach who responded "that will be hard to do" (meaning letting the scouts know when he will pitching).

Any thoughts or advice?

croll

Thats too bad. I would refer the scouts directly to the coach. Perhaps they can deal with him better one on one.