What Do You Do If A College Coach Doesn’t Email You Back?
If you’re trying to play sports in college, you’ve probably started emailing college coaches to let them know you’re interested in their program. Sometimes you won’t get a response from a college coach right away or even at all. So what do you do if a college coach doesn’t email you back?
If a college coach doesn’t email you back, you should follow-up within a timely manner. There are many reasons why a college coach may not email you again, and a few of them have nothing to do with your athletic or academic ability. If it’s the first time you email a coach, it’s appropriate to send a follow-up email or call the coach within a few days.
If you don’t hear back from the coach after that, you can start updating them on your progress every few months or so until you know they aren’t interested. At a certain point, with no response from a coach, your time will be better spent focusing on coaches who you know are interested. When you follow-up with a coach, be sure that you’re personalizing your communication, whether it’s an email or over the phone. Doing your research on the coach beforehand can make your email stand out and result in a quicker response time.
Why A College Coach Didn’t Email You Back
It’s normal for coaches to take some time to respond to you. They have crazy schedules, and responding to potential recruits may not be at the top of their priority list. Coaches are balancing practices, games and other bureaucratic tasks on top of recruiting.
NCAA Restrictions: A coach may not respond because they aren’t allowed to contact you yet. College coaches can’t email student-athletes until after June 15 of their sophomore year or September 1 of their junior year, depending on the sport. Student-athletes are allowed to initiate contact before these dates but know that coaches can’t respond. It can be strategic to wait until after these dates before you start contacting coaches to allow a natural conversation to develop.
They Missed Your Email: Coaches get emails from hundreds of potential recruits, and their inboxes can get flooded with other requests as well. Your best bet is to reach out to keep showing up in their inbox continually. As you keep sending updates, the coach will hopefully see your name multiple times and start to recognize who you are.
Hectic Schedule: Coaches have hectic schedules, so sometimes it takes them longer to respond than you might prefer. You shouldn’t expect a response from a coach if you’re emailing them during the middle of their season or right before a big game.
They’re Not Interested: Sometimes coaches are not interested in recruiting you. They might think your skills are not comparable to the team players or are already focused on other recruits. Depending on your sport and division that you’re targeting, college coaches may have decided on the recruiting class a year out.
If you don’t hear back from a head coach after reaching out, you might want to email other coaches. Every program will have an assistant coach or recruiting director that might be able to answer your questions more quickly than the head coach.
How To Follow-Up With A Coach
If you aren’t getting any emails back from a college coach, it’s a good idea to give them a phone call. A phone call can be an excellent way to introduce yourself to a coach and ask them your recruiting questions all in a short amount of time. Calling is also a better way to get to know the coach and help you stand out from other recruits. Even if you decide to follow-up with the coach with an email, you should consider a few things to communicate most effectively.
Consistency: Try to be consistent when you follow up with coaches. If you email once and then never follow up with a coach after getting no response, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Emailing with consistent updates on your athletic progress or asking questions will help you build a relationship with a coach, which is very important when securing an offer.
Not Too Often: However, don’t spam the coach’s email inbox. If you haven’t heard from the coach after your first emails, it’s good to check back in every three months with a quick update on your athletic progress. You never know if something you send will change the way a coach is thinking about you.
Send Highlight Video: A great reason to follow up with a coach is to send an updated highlight video. As you add new clips, you can send a follow-up email to the coaches you’re talking with to share the updated video with them.
Whenever you email a coach, be specific, clear and concise in your message. You should include essential information, like who you are, why you’re interested in the school, why you’d be a good fit for the team and what questions you have for the coach. Including all of this information in a professional email will make a great first impression on the coach and show them what you can bring to their team.
You Should Stop Emailing A Coach If. . .
Sometimes it’s time to give up on a coach and move on to emailing other coaches. Your energy is best spent on coaches that are going to return your emails. Below are some of the reasons you should stop emailing a coach and focus on other schools.
If The Coach Says They Aren’t Interested: You might get a response from a coach, but it’s not exactly the response you’re looking for. If a coach responds and tells you that they are not interested in recruiting you, you can take this as a clear sign to move on to other schools. Even though this might seem like a negative sign, it’s pushing you toward a school that fits you best.
The Coach Is No Longer Recruiting: For highly competitive programs, coaches recruit players years ahead of time. They might already have players who have verbally committed. If this is your dream school or one of your reach schools, your skills might not be comparable to current players yet. Having a range of schools you’re considering can expand your options and ensure that you get a scholarship offer from a school.
The Class Is Full: Some schools will post on their website or social media when they have a full class of recruits. If you check this and see that they have an entire recruiting class filled, you can focus more on other schools. While sometimes things happen and coaches move players around or look for other players, it’s best to target schools that are actively recruiting players.
It can be very frustrating to not get responses from coaches time after time. Stay positive and keep emailing coaches even if you don’t get a response. You will eventually find the team that is right for you if you keep looking. Breaking down recruiting into small manageable steps and staying organized can help you not burn out too quickly.
Things To Keep In Mind
Social Media: You should monitor your social media. If you’re posting inappropriate content, it could be a reason coaches aren’t emailing you back. Use your social media to promote your athletic abilities and keep it appropriate for coaches to look at.
Subject Lines: A good subject line can help your email get noticed by a coach. It should be catchy and attention-grabbing but include some detailed information about what the email’s about. If you aren’t getting emails back from a coach, try to title your emails with your name, position, and strongest athletic statistic. This might be enough to get a coach to open your email or send a response.
Email At A Specific Times: Another reason you may not be getting a response from a coach is the time you’re emailing. With a coach’s busy schedule, some emails might just get missed, especially if they’re sent during the day or around practice time. To maximize your chances that the coach will open your email, try sending it early in the morning around 8 am to 10 am or later in the evening around 7 pm to 9 pm.