The other day I received this email from Indiana University’s head baseball coach Tracy Smith.
Franco,
Thought of you after drafting this email back to a parent today. You might be able to use this someway with your blog. I think it could be a great way to inform parents about the recruiting process. Hopefully, giving this real life example will help parents and players better understand how the recruiting process actually works from the coach’s perspective. Use it at your discretion if at all.
-Skip
Skip, as his players call him, and I go way back. He was the one who recruited me, offered me a scholarship, and coached me for four years. He was intense, strict, and competitive, but also fun, knowledgeable, and honest. Once I read the email exchange between Skip and a baseball dad, I decided that it was worthy of a blog post. There are countless parents out there who have an unrealistic view of their child and/or have a warped view of the college recruiting process. As Coach Smith states below, it’s important for high school prospects to keep an open mind of what level of college baseball they want to play.
The following is the actual email with the dad’s name changed to “baseball dad,” and the son’s name changed to Steve, for obvious reasons. Lord knows this is not the first letter of its kind sent to a college coach. I hope this provides some insight into, how pitchers are evaluated, whether or not to send videos to college coaches, things to consider when picking a college, if Coach Smith feels ALL ballplayers can play beyond high school baseball, and more.
Now the actual email (Coach Smith response in red):
Baseball Dad,
Sorry it has taken me some time to respond to your email but we have been on the road a lot and I’m still catching up. I will try to address your questions and comments as best I can. Easiest for me to put my comments into the body of your email in red. That way, I can address each one of your concerns. Please see below.
Hello Coach Smith,
I hope this email finds you well. I have some questions for you which have been chewing at me for months, and I hope you can take the time to answer me and help me figure out the ins and outs of this whole baseball recruiting thing.
My son sent you a video of himself pitching, several months ago. He is only a junior in high school. You very quickly sent back a reply letter that he was not scholarship material and basically “no thanks”.
We try to be prompt in our evaluations of videos. We receive several every week and want to respond to every video we receive in a timely fashion.
I am very curious why you were so quick to reply and what he can do differently. Was it the mere fact that he sent the video? Was that the turn off?
No, we actually encourage prospects to send us footage of them if we have not seen them in-person.
Did you see something in the video that was negative?
We look very closely at arm action and delivery when evaluating pitchers. Does the prospect possess a “quick arm”? What type of body does the pitcher have? In our opinion Steve did not have a quick arm, which we could see from the video. The velocity (81 mph) as indicated on his PG report supported the fact. In addition, his 5’10” in frame is not what we typically recruit for RHP.
Did you look up his ”stats” someplace? Are you just so “big” that you don’t need to look at videos?
We review every video we receive. If we like what we see on a video, we will prioritize seeing that prospect in the spring or summer.
I’m not sure how you can tell simply from a video that a pitcher is not for you.
20 plus years of coaching and professional training at the major league scout school have provided me with a pretty solid basis for judgment. I will agree, video is not the best, but it can at least give me an idea if we like a certain player or not. We can “see” the tools we are looking for relative to our standards at IU from a video. As mentioned, if we like what we see on video we will go see the players in-person to get a feel for how a kid competes, etc.
You had no academic information on him, whatsoever.
Not a factor UNTIL we determine if we like them athletically.
You had never met him.
Same as above.
Maybe you just don’t need a right handed pitcher at this time, but it was quite perplexing to me how you could just send a quick letter dismissing him.
We are definitely looking for RHP in that class. To give you a reference point, we are recruiting a couple now that are 6’5” and currently pitching at 89-91 with solid breaking stuff.
You are the only school to use such a negative approach so far.
I can’t speak for other schools, but I prefer not view it as a negative approach. I view it as “honest” feedback relative to our interest level. I am very aware that athletes and parents spend a lot of time and money when trying to narrow down their choices in schools, and it would be a disservice to lead a kid on if we generally did not have an interest in them as a potential player for our program. I prefer to let prospects know immediately if we have an interest or not. If so, we keep the process going. If not, it allows the prospect and his family to devote their time, efforts and money to pursuing a situation that is a better fit. In the end, it has to be a fit for BOTH sides.
I guess I could choose to lead prospects on which a lot of schools do because they are afraid to make such decisions so early, but at the end of the day it is a waste of time for all parties involved. Time you don’t have, and time we don’t have. I would rather be direct and honest up front so both of us can concentrate our efforts elsewhere. I apologize if you see it as negative.
I appreciate any advice you may have for us. At the time Steve sent you his video, Indiana was one of his first choices. He has obviously cooled that opinion. I find this whole process confusing and honestly, quite subjective.
No doubt it is subjective, but years of doing this and some of the best professional training one can receive, have put me in a position where I feel we honestly can eliminate some of the “guess work” and make some pretty solid decisions, even from viewing a video. Right now, Steve is a 5’10” RHP that throws 81 mph. I am a believer that ALL kids can play beyond high school at some level. It may not be division one, but they can play somewhere. 5’10” righties are not hard to find for any level. My recommendation would be for Steve to keep all his options open and not just focus on D1 schools.
As a parent, I want my son to have the best choice for a college and the option for the best baseball team he can be a part of. He is a great kid, and a dedicated ball player.
And you should! I say all the time that the player needs to decide how important baseball is to his college experience. For some, it is a must. For others, it is secondary to their academics, and so on. The art, or the real skill in selecting a college, is making sure the player (and family) find the best match. All of our players currently at IU are great kids and dedicated or they wouldn’t be here. I am sure Steve is a great kid and dedicated player, but in my opinion he doesn’t possess what we are looking for in a RHP as we compare him to the other players we have seen across the country. I am not taking anything away from Steve, and it is no way a knock on his abilities. Simply put, he just wouldn’t be a good fit for OUR program. That is the sole reason we try to provide that information to players and their families as early as possible so they can continue to look for the “right” fit.
I wish him the best of luck!
Thanks for your time,
Baseball Dad
Great response from Coach Smith. Yes, brutal honesty hurts but I agree with coach it is so much better to be honest and reply early then keep athletes and families wondering.
Being a former college and pro athlete I can say without a doubt it is so much better to have a coach be direct and honest with you (no matter how hard it is to hear) then have one lie to you or lead you on. I have a lot of respect for coaches like Coach Smith. College sports is a tough businesses and he is acting with class. Hopefully the Baseball Dad will understand that and so will his son.
Having said that, it doesn’t mean that the Notre Dame coach may feel the same way about this player. Remember it’s just one person’s opinion. It happens all the time. A player is a bench warmer for one coach and team MVP for another. Key is the athlete stay mentally strong and not let this reply from the coach affect his confidence. It will in the beginning but it shouldn’t in the long term if he is mentally strong.
Good luck Baseball Dad and trust me it’s much better to hear it this way from Coach Smith then have him encourage your son to attend his camp (so he can make money) and just lead you on. Good luck with your recruiting!
Great insight J. I know you deal with this kind of stuff on a daily basis with your company (CollegeRecruitingWebsite.com). Keep up the good work over there and thanks for sharing some wisdom.
Great article.
Awesome article and I think it fits perfect with your blog. Keep up the great work, Franco!
Really interesting look inside college baseball recruiting. I think that honesty is the key and if parents out there can’t handle it- shame on them.
Beans….great article! I hope Baseball Dad gets realistic soon so his son doesn’t miss out on a great college baseball experience ! I have seen this sort of situation happen way too many times. A decent high school player who thinks (and parents included) that he has D1 talent shoots for the stars and end ups getting cut in the Fall. College baseball is college baseball so I hope he realizes he may not be D1 talent but may be able to compete at other levels while getting his degree. Keep em coming Franco!
I completely agree BC. If you love the game of baseball and want to play at the collegiate level, you have to find the right fit. Too many kids get their dreams crushed getting cut in the fall of their freshman year by a D1 program… Then what?
Of course you can transfer and keep pursuing ball, but it gets complicated and is a big hassle that is better avoided. Great point BC.
That’s a great blog post. Having gone through the process with baseball and football. I wish all coaches were like Skip, because it would have made my decision a lot easier. So many coaches will “string” players along and by the time they make a decision it might be to late for that player to look elsewhere.
Keep content like this coming and high school coaches would be foolish not to read and encourage their players to read as well!
I agree with Jared’s post. I am a high school coach and a father of a college freshman that was not recruited by his first choice. Instead they lead him on and told him to come to there baseball camps. $260.00 dollars and several failed attempts to contact the coach later we decided to go somewhere else and he is very happy with his decision. I have another son and will be more watchful of the money that we spend.
Alex, I’m sorry to hear about your first experience with your son. Unfortunately that’s not an isolated incident and happens all to often. In the end, I’m glad your son found a choice that worked out. Worst case scenario would be what BC described above- getting talked into walking on and then getting cut.
It’s important for high school players/parents to ask around and get as much info as possible on potential coaches and their programs.
On Next Level Ballplayer I frequently interview college coaches for a few different reasons. One of them being that it gives my readers an inside look at how a certain coach thinks, and his program’s personality.
Best of luck with your younger son when he goes through this process. Feel free to contact me personally any time Alex- Franco@nextlevelballplayer.com
Alex,
Sorry to hear that happened to your college freshman son. It happens. Now you know for the second son! Good luck to him in his college recruiting!
How is his recruiting process coming? What grade is he in?
great info!!
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Dave – I think posting this was a great idea.
Skip – Very professional response. I don`t know if you could have handled that any better.
Great site my man. Keep it up. I`m trying to get it more popular up here in Canada for you!
Thanks for spreading the word up north man. My goal is to get Next Level Ballplayer.com in front of as many aspiring ballplayers as possible. All help is greatly appreciated!
I will say this as a Dad of a Jr. RHP that throws high 80s low 90s this D1 recruiting process has become overwhelming. We have spent most weekends and many days off during the week going to schools up and down the East Coast. Its a hand full to say the least. But I am fortunate to have a son who is open an honest with the coaches when he sees them and tells them exactly what he wants, an education first. I think any parent would want honesty, I know I do and my son expects the same and gives the same. I will say this you never know what a school is looking for til you ask (and ask) and take nothing for granted. The offers as of 7/11/11 have started to come in and we still have a list as big as my arm of schools to see. Keep your options open, we have been told by D2 coaches they will not spend to much time on my son because he is D1 material, which breaks my sons heart cause his first choice was actually a D2 school and that single comment broke a 17 yo heart, but at least he was honest, and my son appreciated it.
I couldn’t agree more with the above comments. My son was very heavily recruited by a dishonest coach that was trying to build his numbers, told all the players (we found out later) that they would ” see a lot of playing time”, sold us on his $50K a year program, and sat all but 9 kids on the bench. He had no interest whatsoever in our son as an athlete. He just wanted to pull a bunch of kids in for a very expensive tryout and to show the college what a great recruiter he was. Other coaches were much more honest, didn’t make any guarantees, and one of them will be getting our son for his last 2 yrs of college. Advice to parents: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Better to have a coach tell you up front you aren’t what they are looking for than to go to a program with high expectations, build those college friendships and relationships, only to get a huge let down.
Awesome response by Coach Smith! The dad does not realize at the moment that Coach Smith has displayed much integrity by his response. As a dad of a four year player at D1 school I can tell you that over-recruiting and dishonesty is alive and thrieving at one PA university.
My son had multiple options to play college ball. He decided on the one school. He was promised this and that. He was on the conference all-rookie team his freshman year. His Sophomore year he was the teams second leading hitter. But the coach for some reason unknown to all was trying to keep him from the starting lineup. I guess its hard to do when the player is betting .350+!
All of sudden the coach decides to play my son sparingly his Junior year only 105 at-bats. Now in his senior year, he has been given only 49 at-bats!!
All of this and yo would think the coach would give my son an explanation? NOTHING!! Liek he doesn’t even exist!! Now some may be thinking, well maybe the kid did something to tick he coach off? My son is well respected on his team, in his college community and by both the administration and faculty. As a matte rof fact my son is involved in many service groups and coomunity service programs for the school.
To my point, yes, parents can be blind to their childs skills, but as someone who has coached at every level from youth to AAU to Collegiate levels, A coach should be a mentor and give his players every opportunity to succeed. Most importantly be fair and honest witjh your players , and parents. My son has loved his academic and social experience at his University, but his Baseball dreams and pursuits were crushed by his head coach, and why? Well, it’s very simple, because the coach can! There needs be no reason. There are plenty of bad coaches, incompetent coaches, and just plain old mean coaches on the college level. My advice to parents, when you and your son go on a recruiting trip, make sure to catch a game of said team, AND make sure to talk to the current parents about the program, especially those parents that are off to the side by themselves. They will giv eyou the real deal about the program, AND most importantly about the integrity of its’ head coach!! It is a shame that coaches like my sons coach are in a postion that can impact young men.
Lastly, to show you what type of person this coach is, this coach CUT a three-year player in his senior year! This is just plain old nastiness. A player commits his first three years to your program and you cut him his Senior year. That’s just wrong!!
I apologize for the wordiness of this response. But it just hits at my core when I see the injustice that goes on with college sports.