In this coaching segment, the speaker explains how high school athletes should interpret recruitment letters they receive. A handwritten note accompanied by a personal gift (e.g., a shirt or hat) signals genuine interest from a college team, indicating they value the athlete and may want to recruit them once recovered from injury. In contrast, most letters are generic mass mailings sent to promote the program’s camps; they do not reflect specific knowledge of the athlete’s abilities. The speaker emphasizes that the only reliable way for a coach to evaluate a player is through camp participation, as coaches rarely watch game footage, call high school coaches, or rely on mailed letters. Athletes are advised to mention a genuine handwritten letter in follow‑up emails to leverage that signal, but they should still attend camps to earn a spot. The segment ends with an invitation to comment “Cole” to schedule a personalized call with the athlete and their parents for further guidance.
Chapters
Hey coach, I just got a letter in the mail. I'm basically on the team, right? Like, that's just incredible. So getting a letter in the mail can mean two things. One, if it actually comes with a physical gift like a shirt or a hat and an actual handwritten letter, then it's very likely that team loves you a lot. We had a girl recently who got a wonderful gift. She had torn her ACL and the coach sent her a handwritten letter saying, hey, we still love you, we still want to recruit you when you're all better, and we just wanted to write you a handwritten note, which is an incredible sign, right? That means they really like them. However, on the flip side of it, the one you're talking about, I have a feeling it's just a generic letter that they're trying to get you to come to their camp and they don't really know anything about you. Now, these letters do go out. This is called a mailing system. Remember, these coaches have to make money and they are a business. So just like they email you, they're going to send you letters hoping you'll come to their camp. Now, what if you're the kid who's good enough? Like, you're good enough to play on their team and you got this letter. However, how do you know if you're good enough? How do you even know if they need your position? How do you know if they think you're good enough? Because it doesn't matter if I think you're good enough, the coach is the one that has to make the decision. Well, I don't know, like, how do I know if they think I'm good enough? Okay, I know this can be scary, if you really got a handwritten letter, you can mention that in your email. The only way you're going to get a chance is if you go to camp. They're not coming to your game, they're not going to watch enough video of you, they're not calling your coach, so you got to go to camp. But if you go, look, this is not my dream school, if they liked me I would entertain it, then don't go to the camp. That is correct. If you got a handwritten letter, you can kind of leverage it and say, hey coach, I got this letter, what does it mean? If you want more help, comment Cole and we schedule a call with you and your parents.
