Fairly brutal rejection letter. Is this typical?

Advice: check you mail more often....

Sorry, I am just a bit skeptical of your accounting of the situation. Is that word for word, or are you paraphrasing? Seems like there is more to this.

If that's all of it, IMO it's a pretty crappy response. Coaches want to present themselves as "leaders of men" while posting the most meaningless, non-sensical quotes online while ghosting or responding like this to prospective recruits. Sorry if that's the case for you and your son.

I know exactly who this is from. The head coach and the recruiting coordinator are very direct, and I don’t necessarily mean that in a good way. When they offered my son, they asked what other schools he was considering and they head coach bashed the other schools and the baseball programs. it really rubbed us the wrong way. We all had some satisfaction in my son calling them to tell them he wasn’t interested in their offer. There are other posters here who have similar stories as yours in dealing with this program

No its not typical.   What was typical (at least for my son) was not getting a response whatsoever, which required us to read between the lines and move onto the next school.  Most coaches were not excellent communicators.

So, at the very least you know where you stand with them, and there is no mystery.  Put it behind you, and move onto the next school on the list which is why we build lists.

Just my experience and opinion...

@joemannix, first of all I was a big fan of your TV show, especially after you broke off from the big agency and went out on your own.
  Regarding the letter, it is very direct and not news that you wanted, but I have no problem with it. As others have mentioned it leaves no room for misunderstanding. That’s much better than being strung along. And it won’t be the last time your son hears “no”. Using the letter as motivation is exactly the approach to take.
  A player that I coached had a similar experience with this HC during the recruiting process. And this player ended up playing for a conference rival. In fact he was a 4 year starter and team captain at this rival school. In his last game against JH he was playing 3B and made a tremendous diving backhand play on a ball down the line. After getting up and throwing the runner out at 1B he heard the opposing 3B coach (who is the HC and author of your letter) say, “nice play 12”. To which this player turned and responded with delight, “you know my f@cking name.” It was the best vindication possible. Lots of us that played have had moments like that. Karma is a real thing.
  Best of luck navigating the process!

My son didn't receive any rejection letters.  He DID call every coach who gave him an offer to tell them who he committed to.  He only had one negative interaction/response and he hasn't forgotten it.  He also has told many, MANY people about it.

In some cases I kind of wish son would just get a simple no response. I don't like when there is emails/talks then all of a sudden he gets ghosted, no returned calls or emails... nothing. 

@adbono posted:

@joemannix, first of all I was a big fan of your TV show, especially after you broke off from the big agency and went out on your own.
  Regarding the letter, it is very direct and not news that you wanted, but I have no problem with it. As others have mentioned it leaves no room for misunderstanding. That’s much better than being strung along. And it won’t be the last time your son hears “no”. Using the letter as motivation is exactly the approach to take.
  A player that I coached had a similar experience with this HC during the recruiting process. And this player ended up playing for a conference rival. In fact he was a 4 year starter and team captain at this rival school. In his last game against JH he was playing 3B and made a tremendous diving backhand play on a ball down the line. After getting up and throwing the runner out at 1B he heard the opposing 3B coach (who is the HC and author of your letter) say, “nice play 12”. To which this player turned and responded with delight, “you know my f@cking name.” It was the best vindication possible. Lots of us that played have had moments like that. Karma is a real thing.
  Best of luck navigating the process!

Karma sounds like a great idea a for a future topic.  I agree it is a thing.   I'll bet some people have some great stories about karma.  The baseball gods are always watching. 

Many years ago the kid got invited to a very high-end program to work out. While visiting the bathroom the HC walked in. The kid acknowledged him with a "hello coach". He did not reply. We crossed the school off and didn't give it a second thought. Years later the kids team went much deeper into the tournament than his did with no small amount of help from the kid. Even though the coach had to have heard the kids named mentioned I'm sure he didn't remember that encounter.

I've said this before here. Your kid is a piece of meat to these people. They'll find him appetizing or throw him in the trash and not give a second thought.   

Fuel!

My son called every coach he had had serious conversations with to tell them when he committed. More than one hung up on him. Glad he didn't pick them.

I think it is good that the coach is honest, probably more helpful than a coach who just ghosts you or even worse fakes some interest to keep you around as a plan C or D in case plan A and plan B jump off the ship but I don't like how he worded it, you would expect some level of more diplomatic wording.

That he uses that brutal of a wording could be a red flag, maybe he is well meaning and it is a kind of "prepare for the real world" intention but he could also be just cruel or very frustrated and using those rejection letters to let out some of his anger which of course isn't a situation where you want to be in as a player.