Understanding how college coaches identify athletes is fundamental in maximizing your recruiting outcomes.
There are 9 position coaches at each University.
Linebacker, Quarterback, O-line, D-line, Tight End, Wide Receiver, Defensive Back, Safeties, Running Back
Based on the size & location of the university, they break up the country, a couple of states, or a single state into sections. They then assign a coach to a section and he is responsible for identifying their recruits from that area.
A university normally recruits heavier in regions closest to the campus.
When I was coaching at New Mexico State, the large majority of our guys were west coast, closer to the university.
Below are examples from Stanford and their staff.

Stanford RB Coach
Stanford LB Coach

We will show how to take advantage of this for personal outreach later in the email series.
Once a coach is responsible for their "Recruiting Areas" they will have three primary ways to organize, identify and evaluate your son.

1
Hudl
Free to Athletes
2
Scouting Services
Free to Athletes
3
High School Coach
Free to Athletes

There are a lot of misconceptions out there on how college coaches find and evaluate talent. Twitter and camps are among two of the most mis-leading!
For camps, it all depends. Our staff would want to see the camp and evaluate your personal situation before advising you to go or stay home. Some camps help specific players but camps normally are not designed for exposure and a lot of times do not help sell an athlete strengths.
Also, there are a million camps and the people running them will use the term "exposure" all over their marketing to get as many kids as possible there.
Camps do not come cheap when adding in travel cost and attendance, and many times there is little to no return on that investment.
A college program is hosting a camp and invited you? If they don't waive your cost, they are not interested in you.
Development camp? These can be helpful but are quite costly and your son will get a few days of coaching that he has to share amongst all the other participants.
This is why one of the core philosophies at AthleticOutlook is running a personal program. Everyone has a different path in recruiting, it is not cookie cutter. Giving proper advice & coaching takes 1 on 1 attention, while understanding level of play, location and size.

1
Recruiting Area
A college coach is responsible for identifying, and evaluating athletes in this specific area.
1
Recruiting Area
A college coach is responsible for identifying, and evaluating athletes in this specific area.
2
Identification Process
College Coaches will use Hudl, Scouting Services and High School coaches to aid my evaluation process. This will allow them to get there recruiting list smaller and smaller.
2
Identification Process
College Coaches will use Hudl, Scouting Services and High School coaches to aid my evaluation process. This will allow them to get there recruiting list smaller and smaller.
3
Evalaution Funnel
Utilizing those three methods, athletes will go through a series of evaluations based on how much a college coach believes an athlete fits what we that specific university is looking for.
3
Evalaution Funnel
Utilizing those three methods, athletes will go through a series of evaluations based on how much a college coach believes an athlete fits what we that specific university is looking for.

Athletes can increase their "exposure" to coaches the most in the identification process.
Let's dive into Hudl.
Hudl is where your son's high school program likely manages their game film.
Hudl is the ONLY recruiting profile your son needs.

What you are looking at above is Hudl's website login for college coaches. It is called recruit.co. Hudl has revolutionized the way athletes are scouted and found.

Game film is the most important aspect in recruiting. It is the number one determining factor in whether you will get a scholarship.

Why?
Game film is what coaches care about the most. It allows them to properly evaluate your son to see if they wish to invest a roster spot in them and their ability.
Hudl has all of it in one centralized location, organized perfectly for college coaches.

Number of High School Programs on Hudl
99%
of Athletes
Number of D1 and D2 programs that use Hudl
99%
to Identify Athlete's

This is a HUGE change in the recruiting world. Never has it been easier to evaluate and find talent.
So what does this mean to you?

The cornerstone of playing at the next level is showcasing execution on game film and your most important recruiting profile is Hudl. This needs to be your foundation as a parent and as an athlete!

- Hudl is the most important recruiting profile
- Other profile hosting websites are obsolete.
- Keep your highlights on Hudl public
- Exposure & film performance are intertwined
- Insure you have up-to date highlights.
- Ensure your Highlight tape is well organized
- Share your Hudl profile not another website
- Share stats that help you not hurt you on Hudl
- Make sure you have your highlight tape pinned

Create your highlight tape, keep it up to date and ensure it is pinned!
This is what is should look like on your profile. This ensures it as the first thing a college coach sees when he visits your profile.

For QB, RB, WR, LB, the ideal angle is always sideline view camera angle.
For OL, DL, K, P, LS, the back view camera angle works best. (This can be situational though we would have to look at the film, position and player to properly advise.)

The reason highlight tape organization is so important is because it is the determining factor on whether a coach wants to continue to look at you or not.
Its your trailer.
A coach has to watch a lot of trailers to vet through his specific recruiting area.
So here are some guidelines on how to best sell yourself.
First and foremost, ensure your highlights are consistently up to date as soon as you can. We see it all the time, a current college coach is looking to evaluate a player they are interested in, only to find they haven't updated their film or highlight tape.
Second, if you play multiple positions make sure its your first 5 plays are your best plays, no matter the position. Don't split it up by position or go game by game.
You have 5 plays at the beginning of your tape to show a coach why he should continue to look at you.

So you can now run a great Hudl profile which is one of the largest pieces of a coach evaluating and identifying your son.
Our next lesson we will talk about scouting services and how college coaches utilize them to identify athletes in their recruiting areas.

Lesson 1

Recruiting Timelines & Divisions

Lesson 2

Coaches Perspective - HUDL

Lesson 3

Coaches Perspective- Scouting

Lesson 4

Coaches Perspective - Your Coach

Lesson 5

Twitter, Camps & Personal Outreach

Coach's Perspective & Hudl

Stanford RB Coach

Stanford LB Coach

Hudl

Scouting Services

High School Coach

So lets recap from a high level how coaches identify recruits

Recruiting Area

Recruiting Area

Identification Process

Identification Process

Evalaution Funnel

Evalaution Funnel

Athletes can increase their "exposure" to coaches the most in the identification process.
Let's dive into Hudl.
Hudl is where your son's high school program likely manages their game film.
Hudl is the ONLY recruiting profile your son needs.

Hudl by the Numbers

Number of High School Programs on Hudl

Number of D1 and D2 programs that use Hudl

Listen to Penn State Head Coach emphasize this. Hudl has eliminated the "sleeper recruit".

This is why at AthleticOutlook we work with our athlete's directly on their game film.

Pin your hudl highlight Tape!

Create your highlight tape, keep it up to date and ensure it is pinned!

This is what is should look like on your profile. This ensures it as the first thing a college coach sees when he visits your profile.

Have Proper Film Angles on Hudl

For QB, RB, WR, LB, the ideal angle is always sideline view camera angle.

For OL, DL, K, P, LS, the back view camera angle works best. (This can be situational though we would have to look at the film, position and player to properly advise.)

Camera Angles are Important!

Highlight Tape Organization

Here is a demo of our play by play highlight tape organization. (Volume On)