How to contact college coaches

Start here and good luck..CONTACTING COACHES

I would wait to send a video until one is requested. Many on this site have said that it hits the "round" file unless it was requested. When we were in the process we were never asked nor did we send one out. I might consider videos if you are interested in a school far from you home and can't get there easily, but make sure you contact the coach first and that he wants it and is expecting it.

The link from GT provides many suggestions. I can't say there is a "normal" process. You will need to figure out what will work best for you. All direct contact with the coaches should be by the recruit. Letters/emails a parent might write are usually vastly different from how a recruit would write. Never let your future ride on what an AD or HS coach might do or not. Go ahead and talk to them about what level they think he could play at (i.e. top D1, mid D1, D2 etc..) or can they recommend your recruit to any schools you are interested in; do not rely on this. You must be proactive and be your own advocate!

I would suggest making a list of colleges your recruit is interested in. IMHO you should consider a mix of D1, D2, D3, JUCO, (others?). Be realistic about which ones the recruit has a chance to play at. If they are close by, go visit. Call the office and try to set up an appointment to come by meet the coach "while you are there checking out the campus". You need to be a little like a salesman at this point and don't let a few obstacles like getting a few rejections get you down. This time of the year the coaches are a little busy. Keep trying, ask if you can come to a game and meet the recruiting coordinator after the game is a great way to get a good perspective. Plan visits other than during the BB season like after playoffs and in the fall.

Good luck.

Not in a higher priority

a. introducing yourself in an Email is good,

b. A Follow up with a handwritten letter expressing interests is above and beyond

c. An Un-official visit as a meet and greet helps
puts a face to the email/letter. 10 min
may over-extend it.

d. Registering for College Clinic allows
the coach and players to get to know you and you
them.

e. Thank-you note after c. is beneficial

You ask a good question, but there are three or four things you need to consider as well:

1) Getting recruited is directly related to how many college coaches know you, know OF you, and/or have seen you play. Some college coaches are fine with video, others are more "old school" and need to see you in person to pass judgement.
2) Which coaches and which schools you contact is, to a large degree, a guessing game as to whether or not you would be considered a good or hot prospective recruit. Even by looking at their current roster you're not sure what they need or WANT in their recruiting class, so limiting yourself to a region, a class of colleges or a specific Division could be limiting. and;
3) The only way, and I emphasize ONLY way, to talk with coaches is from the athlete to the coach. College is NOT traveling ball or high school where parents are still an active and accepted participant in your sport. Once you're in college you're considered an adult and the decisions made are made by YOU. Your parents are going to be involved in your college financing and, obviously, in helping you choose, but the coaches want to hear from YOU and they want to know YOU as an athlete and a future "coachable" player. They don't get that if your parents write them.

The best way to ensure you're recruited, from DI-DIII is to either accumulate all the information on every school that sponsors baseball and then contact each coach individually yourself, or use a site that's designed to do that with and for you. We've had twelve or thirteen of our area kids use RecruitU2.com for this. The help you build your profile, upload video, create an intro letter and then send your profile, video and letter to every coach at every school where you can get in academically. They only charge one fee and you can update coaches for up to two years for that one fee.

You don't have to use RecruitU2.com, you can do it all yourself. Go to NCAA.org and download the list of schools that sponsor baseball, go to each web site and accumulate information, create a mailing list, create a profile, save your videos on your computer and then look up the academic requirements to get in. Once you have all this info, send out hundreds of profiles.

Remember, exposure is the key. You want every coach to know you're available and either come scout you or invite you to a camp or tournament. That only happens if they know you exist.