Why Do College Coaches, in Public, Scoff at Scouting Services and in Private Praise Our Efforts?

Coaches Sometimes Forget Where They Came From

Ego?  Eh, maybe.   Certainly, in some instances, we know of college coaches that would rather cut an ear off Van Gogh-style than admit that someone outside their office put them onto a legitimate prospect.  It doesn’t make much sense, but that’s the way it is.  An NSR scout recently attended a major volleyball event in the Southeast recently.  College coaches from all three NCAA divisions were asked to give advice to participants.  Our scout stood in the background waiting for the inevitable question posed to the DI coach, “What do you think about scouting services?”  Then, as expected, the bomb dropped.  Answered the coach, “They’re a waste of money.”  Our scout cringed.  A few days later he called the coach and ever so delicately reminded her that she had recruited an NSR kid who was currently on her roster.  Her reply?  “Oh, sorry.  I forgot about her.”  

Top-tier coaches have the power because they have access to more money in their recruiting budgets than most college coaches can imagine.  They can send their assistants to every corner of the country and to every major talent showcase to spot great prospects.  But, and here’s the rub, all the top players in the nation aren’t at these events.  Some, in fact many, are in the smaller regional events which don’t get the attention of the big time staffs.   Truth is that there are a lot of current mid-major, DII and NAIA student-athletes who would thrive in DI competition.  But, because most of these athletes did not attend the premier events, or because they were not on a premier travel or club team, they were overlooked by the big guns. 

In the light of day, here’s the way recruiting really works:  when NSR puts a DI-level prospect in front of DI coaches for evaluation, the coaches go after those prospects as vigorously as they do any other top-level talent.  But, the connection provided by us, or any other scouting service for that matter, is left standing in the dust.  It’s what we deal with in the high school scouting business.  We don’t like it, but that’s the way it is.  Similar scenarios are repeated at camps and combines every day across the country.  It’s not fair, but it’s life, and it’s our line of work.

On the other hand, nearly every DII, DIII, NAIA and NJCAA coach will tell you just the opposite, if they are being honest.  Yes, some of their egos stand in the way at times, too, because in private we hear some coaches praise our promotional efforts as time and money saving.  But, again, some of these same coaches are unable to step up and give scouting services the credit they rightly deserve in public.  Still, there are coaches whose recruiting lives depend on our promotions to identify, evaluate and recruit prospects beyond their immediate-area reach.  NSR is their lifeblood.  Without us, they could not conceivably recruit all the athletes they need to assemble a competitive program.  Why?  Money.  They simply don’t have enough money in their recruiting budgets to attend all the available showcases, tournaments, combines and other key events which typically present even medium to superb teams and athletes.  The dough just isn’t there.

NSR started 31 years ago.  Over that time we have collected literally hundreds of letters from colleges coaches expressing their appreciation for what we do.  And, you guessed it, we have letters from practically every Division I program in the country.  We are proud of what we do and how we do it.  We are thankful to be the high school scouting organization with the most on-the-ground scouts in America.  And, while we must at times endure being scoffed at by college coaches whose vision of recruiting is myopic, we stand on this fact — over 90% of our senior prospects receive offers to participate in college athletics each year.