What Do You Talk About With College Coaches?

Communication is a huge part of the recruiting process and helps build relationships with college coaches. There’s a variety of things that you’ll talk to college coaches about in this process, so it’s important that you know what to expect so you can be prepared.

The three main topics that will come up in conversations with coaches are your athletics, academics, and who you are as a person. Additionally, there are a variety of questions that might be asked by both coaches and prospective players throughout these conversations.

The purpose of many conversations with coaches is to gauge not only whether or not you have the ability and means to join their program, but also if it’s the right fit for both of you. Below you’ll find some common topics that recruits talk about with college coaches, why these things are important, and some advice on how to approach these conversations.

Talking About Athletic Information

Obviously, one of the main concerns in recruiting is athletic ability and whether or not the player has the skill to compete at the next level. Many conversations with college coaches will pertain to your athletic attributes and overall sports profile.

Basic Information About You: Coaches will first want to know the basics about you as a player, so be prepared to provide your position, graduation year, and some attributes that might pertain to your sport, such as height and weight or brief stats like 40 yard dash time, fastball speed, 3-pointer percentage, etc. The specifics here will depend on your sport, but you should know the basic metrics that speak to your athletic ability.

Your Sports Resume And Experience: When talking to college coaches, you will likely go into detail about your experience, achievements, and overall profile. This will include things like your current and past teams, awards, camps or showcases attended, and overviews of your different seasons and performances. Coaches will want to know about your strengths, playing style, and team impact, but also your weaknesses, failures, and how you’ve improved over time or how you plan to improve upon different elements of your game. The purpose of these conversations is to get a sense of your potential for competing at the next level and an understanding of what you have done or are willing to do to get there.

Questions That Might Be Asked About Athletic Information

While talking about your athletic experience with college coaches, there are a number of questions that they might ask or that you might want to ask them, so it’s helpful to look at some examples so you can plan how you might approach the conversation.

Questions From Coaches: What are your strengths as an athlete? What are your weaknesses? What do you plan to do to improve on these weaknesses? What are your greatest achievement as an athlete? What is your greatest failure as a player? How did you learn from it and get better from it? What are your goals? Why do you think you can play at this level? What sets you apart from other recruits on the playing field? What interests you about our program specifically?

Questions From Players: What are the goals for the team in the near future? How do you see me fitting in with the program and impacting the team? What can I do to better my chances of pursuing this opportunity? How would you describe your coaching style and team philosophy? What makes your program different than others? What does a typical weekly schedule look like? What other commitments are required to be a part of the team? What kind of athletic scholarships are available and how can I compete for one?

These are just examples and don’t cover every question that might arise in a conversation, but they should give you a good idea of what to expect and allow you to prepare how to answer different kinds of questions and know the right things to ask about.

Talking About Academic Information

Academics are a crucial part of recruiting because they have implications on both eligibility and scholarship/financial aid potential. The NCAA sets specific standards for test scores, coursework, and GPA that must be met in order to compete at the collegiate level. This is always a top concern for coaches because players must have the academic means to actually enroll at the school and join the team, so academics will almost always come up while talking to coaches.

Test Scores & GPA: As mentioned, the NCAA has specific eligibility guidelines in place for enrollment in collegiate programs. For details on these rules, see the NCAA Website. When talking to coaches, they will want to discuss your transcript, test scores, GPA, and overall qualities as a student. You should be prepared to discuss your history in the classroom, what you’ve done to improve or plan to do to improve your scores, and how your academic approach might allow you to manage the challenges of being a student-athlete.

Scholarships: Academics also have implications on potential scholarships, so this might come up in conversation with coaches. Recruits with exceptional academics can help programs greatly by earning academic scholarships and saving athletic scholarship money for the coach to give to other players. This could be part of a discussion about how you could fit in the program and have a positive impact on the team.

Questions That Might Be Asked About Academic Information

Similarly to talking about athletics, conversations regarding academic information will usually involve a variety of questions from both coaches and players, so check out the examples below to get an idea of what to expect.

Questions From Coaches: How are your grades? What are your strengths and weaknesses in the classroom? What have you done to improve? What are your academic passions and goals? Do you know what you might want to major in? What attracts you about the academics at our school? How do our programs fit with your career goals and interests? How do you learn best? Would you be able to perform given our class sizes and difficulty? What makes you think that you would be able to manage the commitments of being a student-athlete?

Questions From Players: What kind of grades do I need to enroll at the school? Do you think I might qualify for any merit scholarships based on my grades? What majors are offered? Do you think I would be able to major in _____ while playing on the team? What do your players do to manage the challenges of being a student-athlete? What academic resources and support are available for athletes at the school? What do you think makes your school a great place to get my college education?

Again, there are countless questions that could be asked, but these should give you an idea of the main topics that might come up while talking to coaches and the goals of these conversations about academics.

Talking About Personal Information And Recruiting Logistics

Coaches also want to get to know you as a person through conversations. Aside from athletic ability and academic qualifications, coaches value players with strong character and personal qualities. Talking about these things can help them determine if you might be the right personal fit for the team.

Who You Are: Coaches will want to hear about your background, your story, your motivations, and overall approach to life. Are you a leader? What inspires you to play at the next level? Are you a selfless team player? Are you a respectful and humble person overall? While talking to coaches, they will want to get a sense of your mindset and overall character to determine how you might fit with the team. Additionally, in more casual conversation, you might talk about your interests and hobbies outside of sports, your career aspirations, or your near and distant goals. These things certainly have implications on recruiting but you might find that talking to coaches can involve more casual and personal information.

Recruiting Logistics: Another topic that will come up in conversation is your overall recruiting status, timeline, and goals. Coaches will probably ask where else you’re recruiting and how seriously. They will ask you about your timeline and approach for seeking offers from other schools and when you’ll make a commitment decision. You should also be prepared to speak on your interests and potential fit in the program at a more general, holistic level. Lastly, these discussions might also pertain to scholarship opportunities or financial information in general which can impact the coach’s plan and goals for you and his recruiting process overall.

Conversations with college coaches can include a variety of things, but these general topics should give you a good sense of what your overall approach should be and the expectations coaches will have for your conversations. Be prepared to talk about yourself as an athlete, student, and person in a variety of ways.

Things To Keep In Mind

Prepare And Be Yourself: Talking to college coaches can be intimidating and difficult, but if you can anticipate what these conversations might entail and be prepared, you’re likely to find success by letting your personality speak for itself.

Knowing What To Expect: To reiterate, there are a lot of things to talk about with college coaches, but they all tend to fall under general categories that pertain to recruiting and who you are as a person. With that in mind, know the different aspects of your athletic talent, academic performance, and individual qualities that can be discussed with coaches.