How HS players should reach out to college coaches

Short, to the point, written by your son. 

Subject:  SS/OF 2022 John Francis Jr

Hello Coach Smith. I am interested in your program. I play for coach Johnson (505-555-5255) at Smithson HS. My summer team is The Phenoms coached by Rob James (505-555-5499). I have attached my summer schedule. 

Look torward to meeting you!

John Francis Jr

(and if he has a recruiting page somewhere with measurables, like PG or PBR, include that link)

Thx go44dad!

You can also have the coach give your son their cell and send it via text.  Hi, this is Francis Jr and you had asked coach for my summer schedule, here you go!  It  gets his contact info in the coaches phone so that if he sees him over the summer and wants him to call, your son just sends a quick text saying, "I'm calling you at XYZ time."  That let's the coach know to pick up.

To maintain contact and initiate contact with additional schools next spring email asking what summer showcases in the area they will attending. When you decide which ones your son will participate email again stating he will be there. The big one in the area (Morristown) is SelectFest. It requires a scout’s recommendation. His travel team/academy can probably arrange it. Another regional showcase (recommendation required) within reasonable distance is Atlantic 100 (Plymouth Meeting PA).

Isn't there limits on contact?  I think technically he can't talk to coaches until a certain date, right? 

The only schools recruiting freshman are the cream of the crop. The Vandys, Clemsons, UNCs, Arizonas and LSUs of the baseball world. Unless your son is capable of playing at schools of that caliber, which I'm sure you would know by now, don't expect a ton to happen this summer. Most emails will probably be followed up with a send schedule or camp invite. 

This is where your coach comes in. Even if your son isn't a future SEC talent, he can still start talking your son up to some of the regional schools and see how interested they are/how often they show up. These schools typically aren't going to offer a freshman, but if they have good information they will follow him early and try to lock him up before a warmer climate school does. If your travel coach can't do that for you probably don't need to be playing for that team.  

If the schools aren't interested, he probably needs some time to develop. If they are all over him then it might be best to go after some bigger fish if that is what he's interested in. Just know that a phone call from a baseball guy goes a lot further than a cold email in an inbox with 200 others. One gets you a camp invite. The other gets you a camp invite and a tour of the facilities. 

You can talk to coaches if you call and they answer unless that just changed.  

Francis7 posted:

Isn't there limits on contact?  I think technically he can't talk to coaches until a certain date, right? 

He can talk to them every night as long as he (son) initiates the call. I know freshmen who have weekly check-in calls scheduled with different college coaches. D1 coaches can't initiate a call or text with your son until September 1st of his junior year.

I definitely second RJM's recommendation about SelectFest. 

Also - when a HS or travel coach recommends you contact a college coach, chances are that they have a good relationship.  We found that putting something like "Referral from Coach X" in the subject line was very successful in getting the recipient to view the linked video.

We used Vimeo to host the videos.  It gives good metrics about when the videos were viewed, and the location of the viewer.  This helped us track which emails were successful.  (Not sure if YouTube does the same).

It’s time for your son to be playing in a travel program that can make contact and promote him to college coaches. 

The travel coach should be able to call a college coach to tell him your son will be at XYZ tournament and he’s a potential fit for their program.

Good stuff. Thanks everyone.

K9 posted:

 

We used Vimeo to host the videos.  It gives good metrics about when the videos were viewed, and the location of the viewer.  This helped us track which emails were successful.  (Not sure if YouTube does the same).

It does.

Have your son reach out to coaches of schools he's interested in. Keep it short and sweet and add video (60-90 seconds is enough) of at bats/pitching. E-mail is good and if he has a cell number, texting is also good. Replies will be limited/zero based on your son's age - but getting his name out there is good.

I know you were trying to lay out all info in your post, but refrain from going into extreme detail about high school and him only missing 2 games on varsity because of blowout games, etc. My son was being recruited by a D1 school while playing JV as a sophomore. They saw his swing via e-mail on video in addition to his verified metrics (60 time, MPH throw)....the recruiting coordinator made time to see him play early in the summer after sophomore year and he quickly became a prospect.

Good luck - the information you will find here on HSBBW will be invaluable to you...it was for me.   

Thanks again to everyone.

Francis ... I believe you mentioned in the past the travel team/academy provides good training. But the team isn’t very competitive. It’s time to find a competitive team where he might even play up a year. Not just up a year because of a late birthday. Play up a grade. Play up as far as possible and still compete. It’s not just a matter of playing well in travel. It’s playing with and against quality competition that draws college coaches. 

It may be too late for this summer. But being a catcher may be an exception. At the worst be looking for the right team for summer of ‘20. Be thinking about how to position him to ultimately get on the right 17u team.

Also, your son can’t become complacent. The coach who liked him liked him as a freshman with potential. Now he has to fulfill the potential. And draw more interest from other coaches. Always be thinking “bigger, faster, stronger, more talented.”

Good luck.

Thanks. And, great points on the travel team side of it.