So you think this is a game? Well, you’re playing one on the field that’s for sure. Is this recruiting process just another opponent to you? Or is this recruiting process the biggest game of your life potentially? You don’t need to be playing for rings in high school OR college in order to understand what this list is about. This list isn’t about being the man; these things from ACTUAL college coaches aren’t just hyperbole. This list is about HOW to be a man about your business if you think you’ve already accomplished “man” status on your respective campuses from your gridiron accomplishments. Trust; if you aren’t handling your manly business OFF the field, you can forget college; let alone your professional career…in any form of life. Below is a list of “Red Flags” that arise when college coaches meet potential prospects for the first time. We spoke with 6 actual college coaches at the division 1 and 1aa level that provided us with the following information. Many of their “Red Flags” overlapped one and other.
Written by: Doug Pugh
“Attire”
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Somewhere, someone hopefully has delivered this message to you in its proper perspective. If you were going to Coachella or some sort of summer madness series, you’re not exactly going to where your Sunday best. Time and place. This is YOUR brand, your business. You can bum around in sweats and socks with flip-flops when nobody’s around, but if you think that’s gonna work for you playa when there’s a CHANCE, not even a certainty that a college coach might be stopping by; then you’ve just fumbled the ball and cost your brand the victory from jump. You don’t have to look like the cover of GQ, (that takes money you don’t have) but you need to NOT look like you just got dressed in the dark, suffer from color blindness and have lost spatial-textual awareness rendering your sense of fashion to something resembling a homeless man in a van down by the river. Pull your pants up, take the hat off, tie the shoes and make sure the shirt is not too tight.
“Posture”
Sit up straight. Pull your shoulder AHHH who wants to hear that?!? Well, apparently some of you guys out running around looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Non-verbal cues (something you aspiring communications majors will get ALLLLL sorts of intimate with) are just as important as the ones that are falling out of your mouths in the form of language (and hopefully inspirational dialogue.) If you’re slacked in the chair while a coach is talking to you, what makes you think he’s going to feel good about going back to his superiors and justify investing hundreds of thousands of dollars on you? This one’s easy, and probably just as important a factor of giving the impression of being a man about your business than just about anything else; except for…
“Eye contact”
Ninety-nine percent of the time you are going to want to make eye contact with people that are in a position to do amazing things for you if you would just show this “non-verbal” cue some more love. On a serious side, it is tough sometimes when a person is screaming obscenities and spitting on you just because you screwed up (albeit mildly in your eyes), but this is more about respect or at least projecting an image of it. Most coaches sitting down with you want authenticity. At least that’s the greatest gift you can give yourself and to them in return for meeting with you. They can’t assess your authenticity if you don’t command it from them as well. You can do this by simply looking them in the eyes when you are talking, as well as setting the tone by….
“A firm handshake”
Is this really an appropriate time to introduce the “dead fish” or the “Rock ‘em, sock ‘em robot” is it? You want to be somewhere between Adrian Peterson (please Google search his universally-known skill for nearly breaking peoples’ hands) and a sea trout that’s just perished yet as firm as a wet noodle. This may sound like a huge margin for error thus making it the easiest of the tasks to adjust and get right. I’d say this should be a no-brainer. Men don’t have cartilage-less hands, act like you are a man; not a sea trout. A firm handshake screams confidence!
“Communication skills”
Okay. Before we go any further on this topic let’s just be clear. ALL of the above are a part of communication. This is where it all comes together. You can sit up straight, dressed in a suit, make eye contact and give off the overall aura of Athenian God, but when your mouth opens and it sounds like Lloyd Christmas from ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and his most annoying sound in the world then you’ve got a YOU problem. I highly doubt schools will want you to become a mute while you are representing them in front of 8,000 or 80,000. If you can’t hold a conversation without using slang or even cussing (WARNING: DO NOT FALL FOR THE OKIE DOKE, THIS IS STILL A TEST) when coaches get chummy with you then you are better off finding another route in life. There’s a time and there’s a place. This is NOT the place to have peer-to-peer conversations with people who WILL BE reminding you they are most certainly NOT your friends once you arrive on campus and haven’t seen them in their own working environment. Maybe Dad or Uncle, but not necessarily your friend; ‘tis best you apply the same oratorical consistency you would have in say, church or at your Grandmama’s house just to be safe.
“Separate, but equal”
Whether it’s FSU, or it is Texas-San Antonio, or Southwest McGillicuddy State you need to treat every coaches’ visit as a privilege, not a right that’s been declared to you from birth. This is where you might want to learn some lessons on humility. Keep in mind, you might not actually be as good as you or anyone thinks you are, yet the fact you are getting this opportunity to at least be in front of someone is further than A TON of kids across this country. The very reason you’ve been pulled out of class or practice should be one born from earning it vs. expecting it. Sure, if you’ve been BCP ranked or have 4 or 5 stars next to your name then congrats, you can be expecting visits; but this goes beyond your stars.
“Taking studies seriously”
I honestly can and cannot believe prospects still have to be reminded of this. You can listen to all the talk-radio and read all of the message boards, heck even this site and it still won’t matter what state of affairs the NCAA is in once you get there. If you cannot properly handle your business in the classroom, and even worse become dependent upon friends and “tutors” to make it happen for you, then you should actually try the profession of pimping or hustling and stop wasting these coaches time. You will be exposed over time. Just remember what happened at FSU or what’s going to happen with North Carolina Basketball. Doesn’t matter how you’ve gotten by, when the lies hit the streets, you will still look like an idiot. Wise-up and man-up. It gets tougher in college because of time management.
“Attendance Records”
So you want to take all five visits, get pulled from classes and meet with coaches, then go chill and get right before practice, huh? Oh, okay. You thought this was about actually showing up to school, right? WRONG. Don’t think we don’t see you with that “get-on-campus-and-hideout-in-the-weight-room-while-answering-bloggers-texts-swag”, or at least I don’t. Again, don’t complain if someone’s trying to find you and you can’t be found. That’s not a good look, especially when you already have won 99% of the battle by actually MAKING IT to campus. Lack of attendance screams lack of commitment. If you are struggling to get to school now, that is a direct indicator that you will struggle in college.
“Tardiness”
BREAKING NEWS, unless you are finishing up a lab or a test or an assignment, there’s not a whole lot of other reasons to be late to class or meetings with perspective “employers”. There’s always an exception, but eventually you run out of excuses. Leaders get there first. You are a leader on your campus if this chance at playing at the next level appears to be a reality by nature. You are supposed to be on-time to give the people what they want.
“Disciplinary Record”
Really? I mean, REALLY?!? Stop it. If you have a disciplinary record that includes anything beyond some harmless detentions for possible tardiness or even a random Saturday School (things happen, but should only “happen” once, nah mean?) then you should probably rethink this whole thing unless you can explain and PROVE that your actions (verbal and non-verbal) are louder than your words now and that you can prove you’re a “man” by SHOWING accountability, not telling.
– Doug Pugh