Do We Push Coaches For a Decision?

We had this situation with our younger son.  We just had very polite and direct conversations in which we said, 'Our son has an offer from XX.  He is strongly considering that and the time line we have with that is YY month(s).  He also loves your school, but will have to decide on this other offer soon.'

One sped up their time line and made a really good offer.  One said that time line was too soon and they'd probably be interested if he was still available 6 months later, but not enough now to offer.  And another got pissed and walked away.

In the end, he took offer #1 and although offer #2 was a very good one - he never regretted the choice he made.

Coach at #2 left for another job before our son woulda got there.  The 'too soon' school remains successful with the same coach.  The 'PO'd' coach was fired before our son woulda got there.

Agree with JBB, and took a similar approach. It can't hurt. And as a 2019, the schools understand (I would think) that decisions are likely to be made soon. One factor to weigh: does it help or hurt with other D1s to say that your son has a D3 offer? I'm not sure. My gut would be to have your son say he has another D1 offer (and maybe the D2 offer) and needs to make a decision soon . . . but I don't know whether the D3 offer helps . . .

The D3 offer helps, be honest  are the D1's P5's or mid's

We had a coach tell our 2018 RHP that "if you really want to come here you don't need to do those other visits or camps."

It made us mad at the time, but he was right.

Son went to one more camp, school offered, son waited two days and then said he was taking it.

We thought it was a good choice, but told him we'd talk about it when he got home that night. I spent the day making a list of questions and "have you thought about this?"

He came home and said "I told my school I'm coming and called all the other coaches and told them I'm not coming. What did you want to talk about?"

That's when you know it's the right fit.

Have your son respectfully advise any prospective school that he is interested in that he has offers and is planning to make a decision fairly soon. You will very quickly know which schools have a legitimate interest....and which ones do not. 

I'm going to give you another perspective.  After running through the gamut of schools, offers and situations (D1, D1 MidMajor, D1 HA, D3 HA), my oldest son realized it really wasn't about their offers it was about what he  wanted to do when he graduated.  Don't get me wrong it is great to have offers, but the decision isn't about the offers it is about the life opportunities, choices and profession he will go into when he graduates.   If he has the right offer in front of him...grab it.  If he doesn't keep moving on until he does.  Play the recruiting game, but be honest with yourself and offers coming in. 

PS...You can tell the coaches anything you want as it won't matter they are going to keep looking for the best talent they can get admitted.

As always, JMO and best of luck with his decision!

To be honest I would not mention the D3 offer. It tells coaches that you're willing to play for free (no scholarships D3)

Pushing coaches is like pushing on a rope.

When coaches know they want a player, they move decisively and unambiguously to recruit him. Telling a coach who hasn't decided you're part of his solution that you're ready to make a decision is not likely to motivate him to come forth with an offer. 

FenwaySouth's advice is sound, as always.

Best wishes, 

Swampboy posted:

Pushing coaches is like pushing on a rope.

When coaches know they want a player, they move decisively and unambiguously to recruit him. Telling a coach who hasn't decided you're part of his solution that you're ready to make a decision is not likely to motivate him to come forth with an offer. 

FenwaySouth's advice is sound, as always.

Best wishes, 

I dunno. I've seen coaches get pretty motivated by the interest of other coaches. Here's an example from two weeks ago:

Text from coach (who had been in touch all Spring and had finally seen son pitch at the WWBA): "are you still thinking about doing ____ showcase?" [an event in early August my son had previously indicated he might do]

Text from son: "No, I don't think so, I think I'm going to have to make some decisions before then"

Phone rings 30 second later. Coach gets details of visits/offers, including one from a league rival. Extends an invitation for a UV for three days later, and says the whole staff would be there.

Your son needs to email the RC's at the other 3 schools and any other schools he's interested in to notify them of the new change in his recruiting status. The email needs to go something like this :

Coach ,

Just wanted to let you know there has been a change in my recruiting status . I've received an offer from a division 1 school in the South ( Insert region but not school name ) . It's a great offer and I'm seriously considering accepting it. However, before I do, I wanted to reach out to you.

 UCLA ( Insert email Recipients University name ) has always been a dream school of mine. I only get one shot at getting this right. So, If you think I'm a good fit at UCLA I'd appreciate it if you could let me know right away. I need to make a decision soon and I don't want to commit until I check with you first .

Thanks

-Bryce

Email subject line should be player name and recruiting class year ALL CAPS and position: BRYCE HARPER OF 2010

2019Dad posted:

Swampboy posted:

Pushing coaches is like pushing on a rope.

When coaches know they want a player, they move decisively and unambiguously to recruit him. Telling a coach who hasn't decided you're part of his solution that you're ready to make a decision is not likely to motivate him to come forth with an offer. 

FenwaySouth's advice is sound, as always.

Best wishes, 

I dunno. I've seen coaches get pretty motivated by the interest of other coaches. Here's an example from two weeks ago:

Text from coach (who had been in touch all Spring and had finally seen son pitch at the WWBA): "are you still thinking about doing ____ showcase?" [an event in early August my son had previously indicated he might do]

Text from son: "No, I don't think so, I think I'm going to have to make some decisions before then"

Phone rings 30 second later. Coach gets details of visits/offers, including one from a league rival. Extends an invitation for a UV for three days later, and says the whole staff would be there.

Your example doesn't contradict my point.

In your situation, the school had recently seen and liked him, initiated follow-up contact, and then reacted to the news that they wouldn't have a chance to get a second look. 

Your situation is an example of the physical law of recruiting that a coach in motion tends to stay in motion. The OP was about how to act upon a coach at rest to put him into motion.

Swampboy posted:

2019Dad posted:

Swampboy posted:

Pushing coaches is like pushing on a rope.

When coaches know they want a player, they move decisively and unambiguously to recruit him. Telling a coach who hasn't decided you're part of his solution that you're ready to make a decision is not likely to motivate him to come forth with an offer. 

FenwaySouth's advice is sound, as always.

Best wishes, 

I dunno. I've seen coaches get pretty motivated by the interest of other coaches. Here's an example from two weeks ago:

Text from coach (who had been in touch all Spring and had finally seen son pitch at the WWBA): "are you still thinking about doing ____ showcase?" [an event in early August my son had previously indicated he might do]

Text from son: "No, I don't think so, I think I'm going to have to make some decisions before then"

Phone rings 30 second later. Coach gets details of visits/offers, including one from a league rival. Extends an invitation for a UV for three days later, and says the whole staff would be there.

Your example doesn't contradict my point.

In your situation, the school had recently seen and liked him, initiated follow-up contact, and then reacted to the news that they wouldn't have a chance to get a second look. 

Your situation is an example of the physical law of recruiting that a coach in motion tends to stay in motion. The OP was about how to act upon a coach at rest to put him into motion.

OK, fair enough. But I was reacting to your statement that the coach "moves decisively and unambiguously to recruit him." To me, saying "are you going to do _____ showcase?" is not really all that decisive or unambiguous. I mean, how should a kid interpret that? But when that particular RC found out there were other offers, all of a sudden he became decisive and unambiguous. 

I agree with you that if the coach isn't interested, other offers won't make him interested. But if the coach is kind of interested but thinks he has more time to make a decision, the presence of other offers can galvanize movement.

A likely interpretation is that one coach saw him, liked him, and wanted him, but they wanted a second set of eyes on him. When they found out there wouldn't be a second look, they decided to trust the first set and go after the player. We had a situation where an assistant saw my son pitch, reached out enthusiastically, and clearly wanted him--but the HC insisted on seeing all pitching recruits. We couldn't get my son in front of the HC before his decision time, so no offer came from that school. 

I still maintain that in the normal state of affairs where a player has been seen and evaluated without an offer or UV invitation being extended (i.e., the situation described in the OP), informing a coach that the player is about to make a decision is unlikely to make the coach think, "Oh, someone else wants him, I'd better get in on the bidding."

In nearly every case except for the true, early-identified blue chippers, coaches drive the recruiting process, not the players. Parents and players should be realistic about their ability to "manage" the process or influence the behavior of coaches.

Swampboy posted:

 

I still maintain that in the normal state of affairs where a player has been seen and evaluated without an offer or UV invitation being extended (i.e., the situation described in the OP), informing a coach that the player is about to make a decision is unlikely to make the coach think, "Oh, someone else wants him, I'd better get in on the bidding."

But in a sense, you have.  The coach will be put in a position to answer that question for himself.

A. Am I interested in the kid to the extent that I don't want to lose him (which I now know is a distinct possibility).

B. Am I not interested enough to feel the need to move on the kid.

So he will respond positively, negatively or not at all.  So in a sense, you've motivated him to make a decision and the kid can then act accordingly with his decision.

Let's face it.  Coaches are recruiting with a wide net and the recruits typically don't know where or how wide that net's being cast.  So a coach will always want to fish as long as they can in hopes of landing a bigger better fish.  But as some point, they need to cut their losses as the longer they fish, the fewer fish remain available.  This provides a coach to make a determination of whether to keep fishing in this instance or cut bait.