What impressed your son about a recruiting coach?

for my son it was simple coach told him he was the sole freshman oufielder thwy were bringing in. that was followed by a personal letter telling him they had a uniform with his number on it but he had to earn a starting role as well as a travel team spot

--That he showed interest in him! That was always big, honestly.

For the school he committed to, the recruiting coordinator will also be his pitching coach.

--Younger guy that my son could relate to and with.
--Knew a lot about my son. Talked about games he pitched and talked about his stats from the Perfect Game tournament in Atlanta. The fact that he knew a lot about him.
--Philosophies on pitching/training. My son is big on long toss and so is this guy. He did talk to a coach who isnt a fan of long toss and it turned him off a bit.
--Its a JUCO, and the fact that he sends quite a few pitchers to D-1 after 2 years.
--talked to my son about his mechanics and sees a couple things he would like to change. My son liked that.

As far as the program goes, it is a top JUCO and they send pretty much all their players on to either D-2 or D-1 schools after two years, mostly to D-1, which is my son's ultimate goal.

I have relayed this story before but since you asked I will again.

On my sons last visit to campus near the end of his senior year, the coach pulled him aside and explained that he really wanted him to come to this college and play baseball for him, BUT there were some thinkgs he needed to understand.

1. He was recruiting my son and it was his job to make him like the school and the program.
2. AS part of 1. he would seem like a great guy and friendly as all get out. (not his words but this is a family site)
3. If he came to campus it would not be his job to be son's friend but to win games. And as part of that he was probably going to be very hard on my son and the other players.

He wanted to be sure my son understood that before coming to campus.

My son appreciated his honesty and always like coaches that were not afraid to push kids and be hard on them if that is what they needed.

This was not the deciding factors on his school choice but it got the school to be one of his top schools.

Son was impressed with coaches that:

1) Showed genuine interest in his baseball skills, and discussed pitching sequences at a game
2) The coach discussed academics at the potential school
3) Coach told son when he would follow up with the next step in the process
4) The Coach followed up exactly when he said he would follow up. He liked coaches that kept promises.

My son was an early commit. The coach clearly showed a big interest in him in several ways right from the start. The weather and the amount of girls walking around didn't hurt.

We had visited many colleges and had been around several college coaches being a part of a very good summer program. There was just a really good feeling right from the start with the recruiting coordinator and the head coach at this school.

One of the questions I asked the coaches (I got the question from someone on this site) "what are you as a coach going to do to make my son a better person during his time here" - I was impressed with their response.

On a side note when we visited a top 10 program the next day and met with their staff, after 5 minutes my son looked at me and was shaking his head no - the feeling just wasn't right and it was obvious to him.

By coincidence, my son's pitching coach had played for my son's JUCO recruiting coordinator who once coached at a D1 college, so my son had some insight on the coach in advance. But what was cool for my son was that the recruiting coordinator made my son feel wanted. My son had always been told, "Go where you're wanted". The coach did a great job of conveying that to my son. Plus, my son enjoys the occassional text from the coach updating him on the college winter workouts and asking our son how things are going on his training.

There were a few things, the coaching staff seemed truly interested in him and us as a family. They made him feel like he was important and wanted and was going to be a part of something bigger.

Mostly what impressed him and us was the integrity that the coaching staff had and how they support their players with the commitments that they make to them.

For my wife and I what impressed us was that we felt that we were leaving our son in the most capable hands, not just from a baseball perspective, but also from a personal growth. We left with the feeling that we were dealing with high moral and ethical coaching staff, something we put a very large importance on, and we were very comfortable with our son spending the next four years with them. To us that is what was MOST IMPORTANT.

My son left and even before they made him an offer he said, this is where I want to go and where I belong.

relentless interest ,comming to his games

Son's recruiter was young, early 30's. From the beginning he told my son they were looking for his type of player and he was their guy. He definitely got the feeling that they really wanted him. Recruiter was honest and told him exactly how they saw him fitting into the team. Everything he told son about the team and the head coach was accurate. He really felt this coach was on the up and up. He got the same feeling from the head coach when he met him.

He was a juco transfer (I can still hear Howard Cosell saying that) so the coach was involved in which courses to take and would track his grades. I got as many phone calls and texts as my son regarding classes and procedures. I actually felt guilty knowing how hard the recruiter was working to get my son to his school.

After this experience he and I now know the importance of going where they really want you. It may be hard to explain the importance of this, and how to identify it, but you will know when you get it.

The thing about a recruiter that impressed me the most was how he deals with a player. Before I brought velocity into the equation, I wanted to know how he treats a recruit he knows nothing about. That gave me a lot of insight as to how they value each individual person. If a coach only started giving longer responses after I told them I throw hard, that was something I became weary of as the process went on.

The college I am signing my NLI to tomorrow impressed me the most recruiting wise. The recruiting coach was also the pitching coach and he showed interest in me not only as a pitcher, but also as a person. He took the time to actually get to know who I was as a person and that impressed me. This mindset also carried over to what kind of program they are. The team is the closest group of people I have ever seen. It is closer than a family or any other college team I have been around.

A coaches personality generally shows what kind of program they have and what the team chemistry is, but a coach who cares for players as a person not just a player is something I was impressed with

quote:

Originally posted by dano07:
There were a few things, the coaching staff seemed truly interested in him and us as a family. They made him feel like he was important and wanted and was going to be a part of something bigger.

Mostly what impressed him and us was the integrity that the coaching staff had and how they support their players with the commitments that they make to them.

For my wife and I what impressed us was that we felt that we were leaving our son in the most capable hands, not just from a baseball perspective, but also from a personal growth. We left with the feeling that we were dealing with high moral and ethical coaching staff, something we put a very large importance on, and we were very comfortable with our son spending the next four years with them. To us that is what was MOST IMPORTANT.

My son left and even before they made him an offer he said, this is where I want to go and where I belong.

All good posts but this sounds similar to our situation and how we felt about it. My sons recruiting experience began about 10 years ago but to my understanding even though many things have changed many things obviously have not.

My son fell for Sully the first time he talked on the phone with him, which was shortly after WWBA his junior fall. However, as I have stated in another topic, we made it very clear that this decision couldn't all be about one guy, there were many other things to consider, so the courting process took a year before he committed. As many of you know the relationship after 6 years since he was coached still exists. I do believe that this was one of the things that impressed my son the most, that he was not only going to go work under a great pitching coach, but one that he knew where the relationship would last way past college, as he saw how he related to those he had worked with before him.

One thing I do want to touch upon, keep in mind the the dynamics that exist during recruiting with coaches changes very quickly when you get to their program. My son used to be very stubborn, and that led to many times where he didn't want to hear what advice was being offered to him and that resulted in a lot of not speaking to his pitching coach for days. Keep that in mind folks, sometimes most of it is tough love, and your son has to be able to adjust. When making decisions, understand that 9 out of 10 times he is going to lose the battle, but in the end, if he walks away a better person (no you don't have to be pro ball material) that person who first impressed your son did his job.

Good discussion, I was getting kind of tired of trout vs. cabrera for MVP.

The key word in the topic question is "recruiting" coach. As many of us have experienced, the recruiting coach is often an assistant.

I think it is important for prospects and parents to remember that the recruiting coach doesn't make out the starting lineup. In addition, it's more likely that the head coach will be at the school all the way through your son's career there than it is for the recruiting coach.

As a result, I recommend to the parents that I speak with that the prospect needs to spend as much time as possible in speaking with and interacting with the head coach. Prospects need to ask many questions and use their gut instincts to determine if this is a coach who believes in them and will give them every opportunity to succeed.

The feedback I hear from many parents is that few head coaches are as honest as the one that BishopLeftiesDad was referring to.

Everything!

quote:

Originally posted by Rick at Informed Athlete:
The key word in the topic question is "recruiting" coach. As many of us have experienced, the recruiting coach is often an assistant.

I think it is important for prospects and parents to remember that the recruiting coach doesn't make out the starting lineup. In addition, it's more likely that the head coach will be at the school all the way through your son's career there than it is for the recruiting coach.

As a result, I recommend to the parents that I speak with that the prospect needs to spend as much time as possible in speaking with and interacting with the head coach. Prospects need to ask many questions and use their gut instincts to determine if this is a coach who believes in them and will give them every opportunity to succeed.

The feedback I hear from many parents is that few head coaches are as honest as the one that BishopLeftiesDad was referring to.

My son's recruiting coach was his pitching coach and he was the one he spent most of his time with because his head coach let the coaches handle their own players. He is the kind of coach that stays back and lets his coaches recruit and then takes their advice on who should or shouldn't be offered. This was told to us during recruiting, and that is exactly what happened. My son's HC was the guy who made sure that son went to class and maintained his GPA and took care of other business that I suppose HCs do. Game management, I suppose was between all coaches. Clemson's HC is known for letting his assistants take charge, as they are in learning mode as well. Good head coaches do that.

I do admit that it's important to get to know the head coach during recruiting, but I feel that for most, who they will spend most of their time with and in instruction is important. We felt that son's HC would be the man who would be more of the father figure, he would teach the life lessons, not so much the instructor.

Winning record
Good reputation for being honest
longevity in same program
tough but fair
id long and short term expectations for recruit

and most important, show sincere interest by offering athletic scholarship

The size of his potgut.

I must say it was not so much about the recruiting coach as it was the entire package. I remember going over pros and cons about the schools with my son; their baseball program, the facilities and the coaches. What impressed my son was not necessarily what impressed his parents either and we talked about that too. For my son, I believe it came down to how the head coach treated him when we were on campus for camps, visits or just sitting in the stands watching the team practice. I also believe that the pitching coach being a southpaw too helped push him their way!

For me it was definitely the pitching coach and the school itself, very impressive school to get serious consideration from! For my wife and me it was the “baseball only” dedicated academic advisor for the baseball team!!

quote:

Originally posted by Rick at Informed Athlete:
I recommend to the parents that I speak with that the prospect needs to spend as much time as possible in speaking with and interacting with the head coach.

A lot of good advice here; along with Rick's concerning the significance of the head coach's stake in all of this.

For those of you who are pitchers, I'd suggest that the quality of your pitching coach ought to be high on your list of considerations, as well.

Reflecting upon what I've observed over the years, here are a few thoughts about what sets certain pitching coaches apart from others:

The best pitching coaches...
(1) Work constantly to improve each pitcher's performance throughout their time in the program.
(2) Stay current with what is being learned by experts about what makes successful pitchers successful.
(3) Are committed to protecting/strengthening the arms with which they're entrusted.
(4) Encourage competition throughout the staff and reward with innings fairly and appropriately.
(4) Work the network on behalf of their pitchers who are capable of pitching professionally. Place pitchers in appropriate summer venues, open door policy with respect to scouts, etc.
(5) Care about the person as much as the player. Encourage and model good behavior and habits off the field. Deal effectively and appropriately when bad behavior is exhibited.

Recruits can learn a lot about dimensions such as these through in-depth conversations with current and/or recent players. Conversations of that sort can go a long way toward improving a pitcher's choice of programs and cut down on unwelcome surprises once they arrive.

TR IS RIGHT. PROGRAM SON LEFT RECRUITED 5 OF HIS POSITION THIS YEAR! HOW MUCH YOU WANNA BET SEVERAL WERE ALREADY IN THE WINGS TO REPLACE HIM IN 2013?

IF ITS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.