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College recruiting resources

Everything on this page is the work of getting recruited, written down: what to do in each grade, what a coach is actually looking at, what to ask before you sign, and the spreadsheets to keep it all in. Nothing here is gated, and nothing here requires our product.

Free downloads

Two spreadsheets, both plain CSV so they open in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets. No sign-up, no drip, no email capture in front of them.

Target school tracker

The spreadsheet, pre-tiered into reach, target, and likely, with a row per school and a column for the next action. Opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.

Download the target school tracker

Research worksheet

One row per question worth answering about a program, with space for the answer and where you found it.

Download the research worksheet

Recruiting timeline by grade

Organised by grade rather than by month. Contact dates and dead periods differ by division and change between cycles, so the official calendars are linked at the bottom of this page — check them against your own division rather than trusting any summary, including this one.

9th grade

Grades and habits. Almost nothing you do this year is recruiting — it is groundwork.

Treat every semester GPA as permanent, because the core-course GPA is cumulative from now.
Start saving game footage even if it is unusable. You cannot go back and film 9th grade later.
Learn the difference between NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, and junior college.
Play, lift, and get taller. Position and role at this age predict very little.

10th grade

Build the thing coaches will look at, and find out where you actually stand.

Register with the eligibility centers for the divisions you are considering.
Build a complete profile with current film, measurables, and a transcript.
Get measured somewhere official, and write down the date next to the number.
Go to one or two camps run by programs you might realistically attend.
Make a first list of 30 schools with no regard for whether they know you exist.

11th grade

The year that decides most outcomes. Outreach, visits, and honest list-cutting.

Contact coaches yourself. Junior year is when most programs can respond meaningfully.
Update film after every season, newest clips first.
Take the SAT or ACT if your target divisions or academic aid require it.
Visit campuses, including one you are confident you do not want, for calibration.
Cut your list to roughly 25 with a reach, target, and likely tier.
Ask every interested coach what their roster looks like at your position.

12th grade

Close it out. Keep your grades, finish the paperwork, and decide on real information.

Keep the GPA up. Offers are contingent, and mid-year transcripts get checked.
File financial aid forms as early as the cycle allows.
Ask the scholarship questions below before signing anything, in writing.
Have a concrete plan if nothing lands: junior college, preferred walk-on, or post-grad.
Send a short thank-you to every coach who spent time on you, including the ones who passed.

Junior college and transfer

A route, not a consolation. Two years of film and college coursework changes your file.

Confirm which credits transfer before you enroll, not after your second semester.
Understand the eligibility clock for the division you intend to transfer into.
Film every game. College film is worth more to a recruiter than high school film.
Track which programs took transfers at your position in the last two cycles.

Recruiting profile checklist

A coach decides whether to keep reading in about the time it takes to scroll one screen. Everything below is there so that decision is not made on a missing field.

Identity

Full name as it appears on your transcript
Graduation year, stated plainly
Sport, and every position you can credibly play
High school and club or travel team
City and state

Measurables

Height and weight, with the date each was measured
The two or three sport-specific numbers your position is judged on
Where the number came from — a combine, a coach, or your own tape measure

Academics

Current GPA, and whether it is weighted
Transcript a coach can actually open
Test scores if you have taken a test
Intended major, or the two you are choosing between

Proof

Highlight film, most recent season first
At least one full game, unedited
Two coaches who have agreed to speak for you, with their contact details
Any award with the year and the body that gave it

Reachability

An email address you read daily
A phone number that accepts calls from numbers you do not know
One link that holds all of the above and will not expire

Film checklist

Film is the only part of your profile that cannot be talked up. Most highlight reels lose their reader in the first thirty seconds, and almost always for the same handful of reasons.

The first thirty seconds

Lead with your three best plays. Not chronological, not a build-up.
No title card longer than two seconds, and no montage.
Identify yourself on the first clip with an arrow, circle, or spotlight.

Through the reel

Mark your jersey on every clip, not just the first.
Keep the highlight under about four minutes.
Label clips with opponent and date so a coach can gauge the level.
Show the plays your position is actually evaluated on, not only the loud ones.
Include two or three effort plays — a recovery, a block, a sprint that did not matter.

What to attach

A full game, unedited, so a coach can watch you when nothing is happening.
Raw footage of any measurable a program is likely to doubt.
A link that does not expire, is not private, and does not require an account.

Coach outreach messages you can copy

Three worked examples with the variable parts in brackets. Retype them in your own words rather than pasting them as they are — a coach who reads twenty of these a day can tell, and the parts in brackets are the only parts that matter.

Write to one coach, by name. A message addressed to a staff is addressed to nobody.
Put the film link above the point where a phone screen cuts off.
Give one specific, checkable reason you are writing to this program.
Ask exactly one question, and make it answerable in a sentence.
Sign off with a phone number, an email, and a coach who will vouch for you.
Send it yourself. A message from a parent's address is read as a message from a parent.
Proofread the school name. It is the single most common way these get deleted.

First message to a coach

The one that gets deleted most often. Almost always because it could have been sent to anybody.

Subject

[Grad year] [position] — [your name] — [one real credential]

Coach [last name],

I am [name], a [grad year] [position] at [high school] in [city, state]. I am [height], [weight], and my GPA is [GPA].

Film: [link]

I am writing to you specifically because [one concrete, checkable reason — a scheme you watched, a position group losing seniors, a major only this school offers, a coach you met at a camp]. I want to be clear that I looked at your roster before I wrote this.

Would you tell me what you would need to see from me to be considered for your [grad year] class?

[Name]
[Phone] · [Email] · [Profile link]
Coach reference: [coach name], [role], [phone]

Following up on no reply

Two to three weeks after the first message. Send this once, and then move on. Silence is information.

Subject

Re: [Grad year] [position] — [your name] — new film

Coach [last name],

Following up on my note from [date]. Since then, [one thing that actually changed — a new season of film, a measurable that improved, a test score, a second-team all-conference selection].

Updated film: [link]

If I am not a fit for your [grad year] class, I would rather know, and I would still be glad to hear which level you think I should be aiming at.

[Name]
[Phone] · [Email]

After a camp or a visit

Within 48 hours, while the staff can still put your face to your name.

Subject

Thank you — [your name], [position], [camp or visit date]

Coach [last name],

Thank you for [running my group / the time on campus] on [date]. The point you made about [specific thing they actually said] is something I have already started working on.

Film, including two clips from that day: [link]

You mentioned [what they said they wanted to see]. I will send you that by [date you can genuinely hit].

[Name]
[Phone] · [Email]

ID camp checklist

Camps are the one setting where a coach evaluates you in person and on purpose. The athletes who get remembered are rarely the best ones there — they are the ones who did the unglamorous parts.

Before you register

Check which staff are actually attending, not just which programs are listed.
Confirm the camp is an evaluation camp and not a revenue camp.
Email the position coach beforehand to say you are coming and why that program.
Decide the one thing you want the staff to say about you afterwards.

What to pack

Two jerseys or shirts, in case one is unusable
Footwear for both surfaces you might be put on
Your own water and food — do not rely on the venue
Tape, and whatever you normally need taped
Insurance details and any required physical form, printed
A card with your name, position, grad year, and a QR code to your profile
A notebook, for the names of everyone you speak to

On the day

Introduce yourself to the position coach by name, once, early.
Compete on every repetition, including the ones nobody is watching.
Be first in line at least once per drill block.
Ask one real question, and not about yourself.
Write down who coached your group before you leave the field.

Within 48 hours

Email the coach who ran your group, by name.
Reference one specific thing they said to you, so it is clearly not a form letter.
Attach the film link again. Assume nothing was saved.
Ask the one question that moves it forward: what would they need to see next.

College research worksheet

What to find out about a program, and why each one is worth the time. Answer these for every school on your list before you decide which tier it belongs in. The downloadable version above has a row per question.

School, division, conference

Sets the level you are actually comparing against.

Location and distance from home

Decides who can watch you play, and how often you get home.

Enrollment

A 1,500-student campus and a 40,000-student campus are different lives.

Does it offer my major

The fastest way to cut a list honestly, and the check most athletes skip.

Head coach and position coach

You are choosing the position coach more than the head coach.

Years the staff has been in place

A first-year staff recruits differently from one eight years in.

Roster count at my position

The single most predictive number for playing time.

How many at my position graduate within two years

Turns roster count into an actual opening.

Class year of everyone ahead of me

Three sophomores ahead of you is a very different wait than three seniors.

Published cost of attendance

The number to compare aid against, rather than tuition alone.

Camp dates and cost

Often the only route to being evaluated in person.

Date and outcome of my last contact

Stops you re-sending a first message to someone who already replied.

Reach, target, or likely

Forces the honesty that makes the rest of the list useful.

Next action, and the date I will do it

A list with no next action is a list you will not return to.

Questions to ask on a college visit

A visit is a two-way evaluation, and the athletes who ask nothing are the ones who end up surprised in year one. Ask these of a coach, and ask the same ones of a current player when no staff member is standing there.

About the roster

How many athletes are on the roster at my position right now?
How many of them graduate in the next two years?
Where would I sit on the depth chart the day I arrive?
Do you expect me to redshirt, and is that a plan or a possibility?
What does a realistic year one look like for someone recruited the way I am?

About development

Who runs strength and conditioning, and how long have they been here?
What does a week look like in season, hour by hour?
What does a week look like out of season?
How much individual film work does a player at my position get?

About academics

Can I realistically complete my intended major with this schedule?
What is the policy when travel conflicts with a required class?
What academic support exists, and is it required or optional?
What is the graduation rate for athletes in this program?

About the staff

How long is the head coach contracted for?
Which coach recruits my position, and how long have they been on staff?
How many staff changes have there been in the last three years?
If the staff changes, what happens to my place here?

About actually living here

Where do first-year athletes live, and is it a choice?
What are the summer requirements, and are they paid for?
What does a year here cost a family after every form of aid?
What is the one thing players complain about most?

Questions to ask about a scholarship offer

Ask every one of these, and ask for the answers in writing. An offer described out loud on a phone call is not a document, and the gap between what a family hears and what the award letter says is where most recruiting regret lives.

What the award actually is

Is this a full award or a partial one, and what percentage?
Is my sport a head-count sport or an equivalency sport here?
How much of this is athletic, how much academic, and how much need-based?
What is my family's out-of-pocket cost for one year, as a number?
What does the award not cover — summer terms, books, fees, travel home?

How long it lasts

Is this a one-year award or a multi-year one?
What is the process for renewing it, and who decides?
Has anyone at my position had an award reduced in the last three years?
What academic standard do I have to hold to keep it?

What happens when something goes wrong

If I am injured and cannot play again, what happens to the award?
If the coaching staff changes, is the award still honoured?
If I stop being in the plans on the field, does the money change?
What happens to it if I decide to transfer?

The decision itself

When do you need an answer, and what happens if I ask for more time?
Is this offer contingent on anything I have not been told about?
Can I have the terms in writing before I commit?

Transfer and roster research guide

How to work out where there is actually room for you, using only what programs publish themselves. This is the same research whether you are a high school junior building a first list or a college athlete considering a move.

Count the roster at your position

Open the online roster and list every athlete at your position with their class year. This takes four minutes and tells you more than any conversation with a recruiter will.

Turn class years into openings

Athletes graduating in the next two seasons are your actual opportunity. A deep position group of freshmen is a closed door; a thin group of seniors is an open one.

Read two seasons of playing time by class year

If this program has never played a first-year athlete at your position, that is a pattern rather than a coincidence, and it applies to you too.

Check staff tenure before anything else

The staff that recruits you is not necessarily the staff that coaches you. Look up how long the head coach and your position coach have been there.

Look at who they have taken from the portal

A program that filled your position with transfers in each of the last two cycles is telling you how it prefers to solve that problem.

Confirm the eligibility and credit rules in writing

Ask the compliance office, not a coach, which of your credits transfer and how much eligibility you have left. Get the answer by email.

Use the federal roster and aid data

The Equity in Athletics tool linked below publishes roster sizes and athletic aid totals by school and sport. It is official, free, and almost nobody uses it.

NCAA, NAIA, and junior college official resources

Primary sources only — governing bodies and federal databases. Every rule that matters is published by the organisation that enforces it, and a family that reads it there does not have to take anybody's summary on trust, ours included.

NCAA Eligibility Center

Open NCAA Eligibility Center

NCAA

Division rules, recruiting calendars, and the contact periods that decide when a coach may reply to you.

Open NCAA

NAIA Eligibility Center

Registration and eligibility for NAIA programs, which recruit on their own calendar and rules.

Open NAIA Eligibility Center

NJCAA

Junior college divisions, eligibility, and the transfer rules that govern the two-year route.

Open NJCAA

College Navigator

Federal data on every college: enrollment, majors, published cost, and graduation rates.

Open College Navigator

Equity in Athletics Data Analysis

Official roster sizes and athletic aid totals by school and sport. The best free roster-research tool there is.

Open Equity in Athletics Data Analysis

Federal Student Aid

Where the FAFSA lives, and the aid rules an athletic award sits on top of.

Open Federal Student Aid

Want to do this automatically? Try Recruit My Game.

The research on this page is the part software is good at. Super Charged Pro builds the shortlist, scores roster opportunity at your position, reads depth charts, and flags coach stability — the columns you would otherwise fill in by hand. The messages are still yours to write and yours to send.

Start free See the research tools

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