If you’ve come to one of our ScoutConnect events in the past year, you’ve probably heard a staff member or two say something along the lines of “It’s never been harder for a high school player to get recruited to play college baseball”. 

 

In our eyes, that statement rings true. In today’s world, high school athletes aren’t only competing for collegiate spots against their same-aged peers, but they’re also doing so against an abundance of others. Junior college baseball has never been more popular for athletes, and for four-year schools to recruit from, and the transfer portal has so many players in it when it opens that it’s hard to keep track. 

 

From a recruiting standpoint, the high school athlete is running up against more experienced, often more physical, and older players in an era where college coaches have been pressed to win more than ever. This question gets asked a lot – do we recruit the 18 year old high school player that hasn’t matured physically yet, or the 21-year-old portal prospect with 300 collegiate at-bats under his belt? 

 

Navigating through the recruiting process is hard, and over the next few months our staff is going to be putting out weekly pieces like this one to hopefully educate players and their families on certain aspects of this journey that may have more of a grey area than others. We’ll do our best to touch on all sorts of recruiting topics that touch on all of the next levels  – NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA, etc. – and are more than open to hearing from you on what topics you’d like to gain more knowledge about. 

 

Today’s topic: How do I email a college coach? 

 

In this, we’ve polled five college coaches in the Midwest and asked them a few questions regarding the all-around email process from an athlete’s perspective. These coaches have been granted anonymity for their candor. Those five coaches are: an SEC assistant coach, a mid-major Division I associate head coach, a mid-major Division I assistant coach, a NJCAA Division I head coach, and a NCAA Division II head coach. 

 

Continue reading below to learn more on a few do’s and don’ts from these five college coaches as it pertains to emailing a college coach. You’ll find their responses, in order of how they were listed in the paragraph above, here: 

 

Question 1: If an athlete is reaching out to you via email, how should they format their subject line? 

 

Coach #1: Name, Grad Year, Position, Carrying Tool (Ex., 6.50 runner) 

 

Coach #2: Name, Grad Class, Position

 

Coach #3: Grad Year | Name | Position | GPA

 

Coach #4: Name, Position, Carrying Tool 

 

Coach #5: Lead with your strengths. Examples: 6’5” RHH with 105 EV. 6’3” RHP FB 88 mph. LHH with a 6.5 60 yard dash. Etc. 

 

Question 2: What content in the athlete’s email is important for you to know as a college coach.

 

Coach #1: High School Coach and Travel Coach phone number 

 

Coach #2: Age, position, possible video link, high school and summer schedule/game times (if applicable) 

 

Coach #3: In no order of important, but things I am looking for and expecting are: 

+ General and basic information regarding athlete (home town, summer team, high school and position)

+ Video link or attached showing clean, easy to see footage of the player

+ Academic summary: intended major, test scores (ACT/SAT), GPA, college or AP class history

+ Metrics/stats: Very simple statement of the more recent stats or metrics collected

– Pitchers: Velos, Pitch Profiles, Strike %, K:BB
– Hitters: K%, BB%, XBH, SB, OPS

+ Contact information for high school and summer coach. 

 

Coach #4: Position, high school, statistics, summer team, high school coach contact, summer coach contact, GPA, clear and easy to see video. 

 

Coach #5: Access to video is important. Twitter links that have highlights in games. Open side video for hitters or low home along with CF cam video for pitchers. Making sure the pitching highlights are zoomed in enough as well. A blurry video from the press box isn’t going to show how the pitch shapes look. Need mom, dad, or friend to get sufficient video. 

 

Question 3: What content in the athlete’s email is not important for you to know as a college coach? 

 

Coach #1: Excessive background story. 

 

Coach #2: Velocity, unless verified, exit velocity, and how hard you work. 

 

Coach #3: Every single statistic and metric collected over the last five years. Gamechanger video. Hype phrases or intense self praise for yourself. 

 

Coach #4: How much you lift in the weight room and videos that are in slow motion. 

 

Coach #5 Eliminating fluff, I think is important. If an email is too long, it makes it tough to read. Provide your measurables, your stats, and clear video. Along with the unweighted GPA. No one cares about the weighted GPA. I know it sounds nice telling coaches that you have a 4.7 GPA, but when you apply to a college, they are only going to calculate your unweighted GPA and that will determine whether or not you get admitted along with how much academic scholarship you will receive. 

 

Question 4: If an athlete is emailing you a game schedule – such as high school, summer, fall, etc. – what information should that email include? 

 

Coach #1: Name of tournament, where it’s located, and coach’s number. 

 

Coach #2: Game schedule, times, field number if applicable. Pitchers should include when they are throwing (innings) if possible. 

 

Coach #3: Organized dates and information, such as: 

+ Head coach & assistant coach information

+ Specific dates and times (Wed., July 15th at 4:30 PM)

+ Location and field number

+ Player jersey number 

+ Opponent

+ Pitching rotation (if applicable)

 

Coach #4: The high school schedule and summer tournament game schedule are normally good enough. 

 

Coach #5: A PDF document would work. Just make sure it has the dates, location, and time. Try to specify whether or not you will be pitching and, if not, where you’re playing positionally. 

 

Question 5: In your opinion, what are some huge, absolute do not do this when it comes to emailing a college coach?

 

Coach #1: Making the email too long is a no go, make it bullet points and easy to read. 

 

Coach #2: Emailing a coach and calling them by a different name, or calling their school by a different name. Do some research. 

 

Coach #3: The wrong name, school included in the email. Sending an email to 50 coaches by CC or BCC (We can tell when it’s BCC). Also, email from a parent. We want individual ownership and accountability from our prospects/players. 

 

Coach #4: A mass email sent without changing the coaches name or the schools name. SLOW MOTION VIDEO. Sending videos of you working out – example, lifting. 

 

Coach #5: If your mom or dad is reaching out on your behalf, that is a huge red flag. I want to get to know the kid first and see what kind of makeup he has. We can talk to mom and dad on the visit. But, initial contact such as email, text, or phone call should be coming from the kid who is pursuing a college baseball career.