In this direct, conversational talk aimed at high‑school sophomore and junior soccer players, the speaker highlights three critical components of the college recruiting process. First, he stresses the necessity of a highlight video, noting that none of the students have one and that it is a fundamental recruiting tool. Second, he critiques the common habit of only listing Division I schools, urging athletes to create realistic, diversified lists that include Division II (and even Division III) programs, because most players are unlikely to land at top‑tier schools. Third, he explains how to strategically involve club coaches: coaches should only be asked to leave recommendation messages after the player has already generated genuine interest from a college, as coaches will not make calls on behalf of every player. The speaker emphasizes that a simple voice endorsement from a respected coach signals credibility to college coaches, and that a college’s willingness to call back is a strong positive sign. He concludes by offering further personalized help through links in his bio.
Chapters
Everybody gather around, gather around, gather around. You guys are sophomores and juniors, so it's time to start thinking about the recruiting process. Raise your hand, uh, how many of you have a highlight video? Okay, so none of you have a highlight video. Well, that's a problem, um, but we'll get into that later. How many of you have a list of which schools you want to go to? Okay, so one or two of you have kind of a list put together. How many of you on your list are just Division I schools? Okay, so those of you who have a list most of you are only Division 1 schools. How come you're not thinking about Division 1 and Division 2? Well, Division 3 sucks, and I would never play Division 3, and I'm freaking amazing. And Division 1 is like where I want to play. I want to play UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, etc. Okay, I love your goals, but I'll be honest with you, you're not playing at any of those schools, so you need to have some other schools on your list. You can't say that to me! My parents pay for this club team, and you can't tell me— you can't tell me that, you know. You can't be that honest. Well, I care about you, and I have to be that honest because you're out of your freaking mind. Well, I'm gonna tell my parents and the director and gonna get you fired. Believe it or not, this is something I have seen done before, which is why you have to be really careful about when you talk to your club coaches if they're really going to help you play college soccer, which I hope they do. They're really important to have in your references. They're really important to have when you start calling coaches, but they will not call the coaches for you. They will do so once you have genuine interest already. They're willing to stick their neck out for you and potentially be told by a college coach that they're wrong, but not if they just— you expect them to do, and they cannot do it for all, every player on your team. So you must get the genuine interest first, then tell your club coach, hey coach, I've gotten interest from this Division 1 school, Division 2, Division 3 school. It's one of my favorites. Would you mind leaving a message? It doesn't even matter if they get them on the phone. All the college coach wants to know is there's somebody out there who's a high-level coach who recommends you as a person and as a student. It doesn't even matter if they listen to the voice message. All the voice messages are the same. It's a great kid, he's a great player, you should take him on your team. If the college coach really wants to know about the player, they will call back, and that's a great sign. If you want more help, give me a call. Links in the bio. Bye.
