<p>today, i got a letter from the football coach at a school in which i have much interest. the note reads:</p>
<p>"i saw your name on the list of applicants who are interested in football. please contact me if you view yourself as am impact player and if you have a game video, coach letter of recommendation or a youth coach willing to recommend you by a phone call or e-mail."</p>
<p>i will follow up on monday with video and my pop warner coach to have him call the bs coach. is this a good sign at this point in the process? can anyone with experience tell me what this is about? thanks.</p>
<p>i got a letter from a b-ball coach at loomis chaffee, i took it as a good sign, i think you should take yours as a good sign too. It's not an in, but it probably means they're thinking of you and if you send them the info and phone call about how amazing you are ( :) ) then that should convince them to let you in. coach's do have some pull.</p>
<p>thanks, nelly. i will follow up on monday with the coach, send a video and contact the coach i have played ball with for the last five years. he wrote a recommendation which they received but will have him make a phone call. do you like loomis? i did not apply but did review materials.</p>
<p>Think of this invitation as a chance to submit your "football application" to this school. Don't just throw some stuff together and dump it on the coach. This is a presentation. A sales pitch. Be deliberate and intentional about this. And good luck with it!</p>
<p>dyer, i appreciate your advice a lot. i am going to send him a video with a personal note that explains my experiences as a football player. last, i will have my coach from the last five seasons call him. as part of two state championship teams with this coach over five years, i was a RB the first time and QB last season. this should qualify as "impact" player status. at least i hope so. :)</p>
<p>This is your chance to present yourself! Football is often an important sport to prep schools. If you are a strong candidate for admission in other ways, then this could be what tips the balance in your favor.</p>
<p>keylyme, i wonder if the admissions office has looked over my application and put me on a list of students who meet the standards for the coach to include on his "wish list" of players. either way, it is an opening and i will take it.</p>
<p>I don't know if they do that. When my son was looking at bs, I took him to watch the team play and after the game, I brought him over to meet the coach. After speaking with him and learning who he played for and at what level, he became quite interested. We hadn't even applied to the school yet. After we applied the coach kept in frequent contact; I don't know if he contacted my son's coaches or not, but he was evidently pleased by the stats we provided on the prospective athlete questionnaire. That, backed up by the reputation of my son's club team, was all he needed.
It might not be a bad idea to go and actually meet the coach, in person, if you get a chance withing the next week or so. Hand-deliver that video; really impress that coach.</p>
<p>I'm with keylyme on the idea of going and meeting the coach.</p>
<p>My thinking here is that the coach probably has not seen your application and was just given the list of applicants who checked the football box. He may or may not recognize your accomplishments (don't know if coach actively follows your league or not).</p>
<p>And even if he does know of your accomplishment in football, he is probably unaware of your personal qualities, and while a coach's phone call is one thing, your articulate nature on this forum would speak even more of you in a personal setting like an interview. This speaks well for your leadership and initiative, as well. It would also give you an opportunity to impress upon him your desire to be a part of his program. Makes it really easy for him to push for you with admissions.</p>
<p>By all means, if you can get some time with coach, do it.</p>
<p>Gotta agree with that personal touch advice from keylyme and goaliedad.</p>
<p>First, goaliedad's right. Judging from your presentation here, you will impress the BS coach. </p>
<p>Second, his word based on personally meeting with you (versus his word after viewing some tapes) will carry much more weight in Admission Central.</p>
<p>Third, there's the whole "yield" factor. If you show up in person, that signals a decent likelihood of matriculation. Admissions will like to hear that part.</p>
<p>Fourth, playing off of #3, above, the likelihood of matriculation or yield factor will translate into the coach actually thinking about you, as a person, being on the team. As a high school lacrosse coach I would look ahead and think of what different players would be like when they showed up for the next season. You're more likely to work your way into those kinds of thoughts and plans if you show up. And if you're in that position -- sort of like a song you keep replaying in your mind -- then that's a good thing -- unlike most of the songs that keep replaying in your mind.</p>
<p>Dress like the team dresses for road games (unless it's in jerseys and incredibly informal) and treat this like an interview. That's exactly what it will be. And, above, I wished you good luck. But you know what I really mean: create your good luck!</p>
<p>Not to put a sour note on all of this, but for many schools the time between when the application is submitted and the decision is rendered is a time that coaches are basically forbidden from talking with potenial athletes. Much of the "recruiting" has happened prior to the application being submitted.
Coaches may not be able to speak to you directly but certainly can receive letters, tapes etc. I know this is at least true in the ISL in the Greater Boston area and true for Andover as I recall from Son#1.</p>
<p>This is really enforced via an honor system. I recall late in the application game for Son#1 seeing a coach from a prep scouting him at a game. We acknowledged the coach (whom we had met in the fall) and he said hello, but quickly stated that he was not able to speak with us during this time due to league rules</p>
<p>That's a good point and needs to be pointed out...as it might explain some reluctance on the part of this coach to meet with the applicant...but mainly because it will put the silence from other schools in perspective.</p>
<p>I thought of it briefly but dismissed it because the OP begins with these words: "today, i got a letter from the football coach" but the better approach is to point it out. It may apply to this coach (even though he sent a letter out which, I believe, is verboten under ISL rules at this time) but it is worth noting that the silent or dead period is underway at other schools and the applicant should be aware of this before operating under the impression that this school loves him unlike other schools that are giving him the "silent treatment."</p>
<p>lots of good advice here. i will not have time to give the video to the coach in person. however, i will call the phone number he sent to let him know that my game film and personal note are on the way. it will not hurt to have my coach give him a call as well since he can provide an adult view.</p>
<p>If you are an athletic recruit you will likely find that once you receive admissions decisions, you phone will ring off the hook from coaches of the schools to which you have been admitted. This is when a "hard sell" begins from coaches to attend their school.</p>
<p>i applied to five schools. football coaches from only two have been in touch since january 1. a student athlete from another school called last week. before january, i heard from one other coach who commented on some game film he received. only one school has not been in touch and it is a top choice of mine. this does not deter me one way or the other. before the coaches can call, i need to get an acceptance or two based on more than football. this forum has good advice especially if you select those in the know.</p>
<p>football or no, i know which of the five schools are the best fits for me. i just hope i land one or two of my tops.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that the "no contact" period for coaches is between when an acceptance is offered, March 10th, and when a child commits to a school in April. It is fine for a coach to have contact with an applicant until March 10th.</p>
<p>i searched for information as well on the leagues that my wish schools belong to. all i could find was a site on the evergreenleague.com but nothing about recruiting except for PGs.</p>
<p>In our experience the black out time is definately between the date applications must be received and the time admissions decisions are rendered (3/10). The day our S1 received his letters of acceptance he was called by every coach at his schools (nearly all ISL) to sell the school and convince him to attend</p>
<p>S2 is in the waiting period for a 3/10 decision and one ISL coach called him this weekend and starting the conversation by saying "I really should not be talking to you as it is the black out period....."</p>