The Baseball Recruit Letter

How High School Coaches Can Help Their Players with the Recruiting Process

I received a DM on X recently asking for content about how high school coaches can help their players with the recruiting process.

I obliged by posting this:

I think the topic deserves more depth, however, so I decided to use this newsletter to expand on my advice from the X post.

The DM made me think about what I would do if I were a high school coach.

Knowing that most high school coaches teach or have another full-time job other than coaching AND wear a lot of hats FOR coaching (development, team building, fundraising, field maintenance, etc), I’m not sure I would have the time to help my players as much as I would like.

I would certainly WANT to help as much as possible, but I would certainly suggest that my players and parents schedule a meeting with College Athlete Advantage to see if their service is a good fit.

NOTE: Had I coached high school before joining CAA, I think my ego would have been too big to recommend a recruiting service. But now that I know the CAA process and everything it provides, I definitely would.

If I had all the time in the world, however, I would follow the steps below.

Here’s my advice for high school coaches to help their players with the recruiting process:

Recruiting Meeting

Once a year (a month or so before the high school season starts), schedule an hour-long meeting to talk about the recruiting process. Cover the following items:

  • Explain what it takes to play college baseball, including the time commitment involved at the college level.

  • Give an overview of the recruiting process.

  • Discuss the different associations and divisions of college baseball and how they are similar and different (include average metrics and stats).

  • Discuss the recruiting rules and how they differ between associations and divisions. Include any rule changes.

  • Discuss how the recruiting timelines differ between divisions.

  • Explain your plan for assisting those players who want to play in college.

  • Allow time for questions and answers from the players and parents.

There is A LOT of misinformation out there about the recruiting process, and this meeting will go a long way to help dispel common myths.

Pro-Style Showcase

Around the same time as the recruiting meeting (a month or so before the season starts) run a pro-style showcase for all players in the program.

Measure and record the following metrics:

  • 60-yard dash

  • Home-to-first time

  • Crow hop velocity (position players)

  • Exit velocity (position players)

  • Pop time (catchers)

  • Pitch velocities

  • Pitch spin rates (only if I could afford a device to measure spin rate)

Film video of the following:

  • Pitchers (all pitches from behind the mound)

  • Catchers (receiving, blocking, and throwing)

  • First Basemen (fielding ground balls, turning double plays, receiving and picking balls out of the dirt)

  • Infielders (all types of ground balls with throws to first base)

  • Outfielders (ground balls with throws to 3B and home AND fly balls)

  • Position Players (batting practice)

There are many benefits for doing this once a year, including:

  • Getting baseline metrics for all players

  • Showing progress over time

  • Evaluating strengths and areas for improvement

  • Creating skills videos for players who want to play in college

  • Introducing a showcase format to young players

Whether you want to help players with recruiting or not, running a showcase once a year provides value.

Determine Player Motivation

Next, have every player in your program answer this question:

On a scale from 1-10, how bad do you want to play college baseball?

A “one” means not at all and a “ten” indicates an intense desire to play in college.

Only move forward in the process with the players who answer eight or higher.

Create Recruiting Videos

For the players who answer eight or higher, edit the videos from the showcase to create quality skills videos for college coahes to view.

Here are some tips:

  • Keep skills videos short (no more than two minutes)

  • Create separate videos for hitting and defense (for position players)

  • Edit out dead time to fit as many clips as possible into a short video

  • Add text to the video that includes the player’s name, position, and grad year

  • Add text with the pitch type for each clip of a pitcher’s video

Click here for more detailed advice about creating videos.

As the season progresses, capture game footage as well and create separate highlight videos for each player. Click here for tips.

Create Player Profiles

Once the videos are completed, create an online profile for each individual player to house the videos and all other information that college coaches may want to see.

Include the following:

  • Personal Information (name, high school, state, etc.)

  • Contact Information (cell phone and email address)

  • Baseball Information (positions, bat/throw hands, metrics, and stats)

  • Academic Information (GPA, test scores, transcripts, intended major)

  • Videos (skills video AND game footage if possible)

  • References (coaches, teachers, etc.)

Much of this information will change/improve over time, so it’s important to keep the profiles updated.

Individual Meetings

Next, schedule an individual meeting with each player (and his parents) to discuss his individual situation.

Here are items to discuss:

  • What are the players strengths and areas for improvement?

  • What division(s) of college baseball are likely the best fit?

  • What factors related to the recruiting process (and his college search in general) are the most important for the player?

  • Outline a specific plan and timeline moving forward

  • Answer any questions the player and/or parents have

To discuss the players’ strengths and areas for improvement, create a detailed written evaluation and go over it with the player and his parents.

Be VERY honest about what division(s) are likely the best fit. Almost every player wants to play D1 baseball, but D1 is NOT the best fit for most players. If a player isn’t a D1 prospect, explain why and what he needs to do to get there.

Use this article as a resource to focus your discussion about each player’s priorities.

Teach the Communication Cycle

The communication cycle of the college baseball recruiting process includes four steps:

  1. Introduction

  2. Interest

  3. Offer

  4. Decision

Use this article as a resource to explain these steps.

Give your players instructions for how to move through the steps, including:

  • How to write an introductory email and/or DM

  • How to respond to messages from college coaches

  • How to stay engaged with college coaches throughout the process

Here are some resources:

Contact College Coaches

When the time is right for each player to start reaching out to coaches (depends on their ability level), he should be the first to initiate communication.

If the player reaches out to a coaches a couple times and doesn’t receive a response, reach out for the player and see if you have better luck.

The main goal when you contact college coaches is to determine the potential level of interest.

Start by asking if the coach needs the player’s position for his grad class. If yes, then ask the coach if he will watch the player’s videos and give an honest assessment of his interest level.

If the coach is interested, he will likely ask you about the player. Certainly do your best to give the coach a positive impression, but don’t shy away from pointing out areas for improvement. The coach will appreciate your honesty.

Advisement

For each player who wants to play in college, make yourself available for any questions the player and/or his parents have throughout the process. Here are some of the most common topics that come up:

  • When to start contacting college coaches

  • How to respond to coaches

  • How to determine interest level

  • What camps/showcases are most valuable

  • What a good scholarship offer looks like

  • How to leverage offers to get the best possible deal

Do research on these topics ahead of time so you know the answers.

There you have it!

For any high school coaches reading this, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions about anything. You can reply to this email, send me a text at 319-883-0242, or send me a DM on X (@MattSchirm_CAA).

For high school players and parents reading this, if your high school coach doesn’t have the time to provide everything I outlined above (most don’t), consider scheduling a free Zoom meeting with me to discuss the service I provide through CAA. To set up a time, reply to this email, send a text to 319-883-0242, or send me a DM on X.

Thank you for reading!

Matt

Reply

or to participate.