What does it Mean When a Coach Says: Trying to Get You an Offer?
Some of the best advice comes from the questions others families and recruits ask. While no two recruits are the same, there are a lot of common questions and relatable situations that can be applied to your recruiting. In this post I share an excellent question about getting a scholarship offer from a coach.
“I am a junior football recruit. I have been in contact with a coach from a school and have been in contact with him messaging wise. What should I think when after I took a visit and talked to him and other coaches he sends me a message that says “Thanks for the update. I am trying to get you an offer.” How should I handle it? And what should I expect?”
What does the coach mean “trying to get you an offer?”
College coaches compete for scholarship money within their program. As an example, coaches might have three scholarships for their position and five scholarships “at-large” where the entire coaching staff will decide where they think the next best available players/biggest needs are. After coaches have extended offers for their allocated scholarships as a program they will where the next best recruits are. This is where a coach is debating against other potential recruits to “get you a scholarship.”
What does it mean for the recruit?
This means this recruit is very close to getting an offer from this school, but it isn’t a sure thing. The reason they don’t have an offer yet is probably because the coach has recruits they rank ahead of them and he has already extended those recruits offers. There are two ways this school will be making an offer to this athlete. The coach could win the debate and gets the additional scholarship or one of the recruits offered ahead of this recruit declines and the coach has a scholarship they were going to give to someone else. There isn’t much the recruit can do to change the immediate situation, however, they can ensure they are in position for a possible scholarship offer later by maintaining the relations and checking in with them from time to time.
The lesson for other recruits
The competition for scholarships doesn’t stop after a coaches evaluation. Once they have evaluated and “ranked you” against the other recruits, another competition begins. Coach’s need to use their allocated scholarships and offers in a way to try and lock up their top recruits before someone else does. If they miss on a couple higher recruits or suddenly get more scholarships they can make more offers. If, when and how much of a scholarship offer depends on where the programs ranks you and how many scholarships they have that year.
The situation above is actually the more common when receiving a scholarship offer than the one you see on ESPN with multiple offers in front of you on signing day. For every scholarship a coach might have, they will probably offer 2-3 athletes. They aren’t going to be able to speak directly about the offer because the truth is they don’t know what their scholarships situation is until their other offers get accepted or denied.
Do you have questions about your recruiting process? Are you having a difficult time interrupting what a coach is saying to you? Ask below in the comments or email me directly david@athleticscholarships.net.