In the wake of one of our busiest weeks ever consulting with coaches and athletic directors, one of your coaching peers proved that the best thing to do during a crisis - when it comes to the recruiting part of your job as a college coach - is to execute a strategy.

As we’ve outlined in past articles recently, that strategy should include you emphasizing normalcy in your conversations with recruits, and looking at taking advantage of the unusual recruiting trend we’ve seen trending over the last few weeks of the current COVID-19 crisis.

Taking all of that to heart, one of our clients and Honey Badger Recruiting subscribers shared the results of incorporating these principles, and others that we’ve been sharing, in her recruiting over the last few days:

Just like when one of your athletes comes up to you and says ‘thank you’ for helping them become better and showing them how to achieve their goals, when a coach takes the time to write a note like this, well…it fuels us up giving 100% into helping coaches the next week. We’re in this together, and seeing our research, advice and strategies pay-off for a coach we work with gives us a fantastic feeling.

Let’s dig into what she did here (because there are important lessons in it for you, Coach):

• She put things to work. One of the most tragic aspects of receiving information is then not putting it to work…not even experimenting with it. This coach trusted the process, and found ways to implement it into the way she wanted to approach recruits.

• She assessed the current situation, and realized it required an augmented strategy. There are things that unique times like these require. The recruiting results for college coaches need to remain the same, but the plan to achieve those results may need to change a little, based on your expertise as a coach, evaluator, and recruiter.

• She trusted in a process. If something we, or any other trusted source you listen to, doesn’t work, we or that source is to blame. We got it wrong. But the only way you’ll know is to trust a process, and try it. Credit to this coach for trying it, and seeing that it was going to work. (Spoiler alert: We don’t publish or teach anything that we aren’t confident is going to work in the vast majority of cases).

• She evaluated the results and assessed whether or not to continue the changed approach she was taking. The results? More conversations than she would normally be having, multiple commitments, greater diversity in the recruits that are committing, and that “cloud 9” moment when she beat out two regional rivals for a pair of recruits at the top of her list. Should she continue the strategy, based on the results? It would seem so. :-)

Developing your strategy happens before you execute it

Do you have to become a client or do it our way to ensure success?

No.

There are lots of ways to make sure your recruiting and college program development don’t suffer now, or even after the crisis is over. A handful of coaches have the personality and reputation that make recruiting easy for them. Others coach at a university that has prospects knocking down the door to get in. There are lots of roads that will lead you to the class you need.

The key to any approach is simple: Develop a consistent strategy that fits your approach, and then outline clear steps that allow you and your staff to consistently execute that strategy. It’s as simple as that.

The problem we’re seeing with many coaches right now is paralysis. The crisis hit, and the fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants approach that they used to get by with obviously won’t work in the current state of affairs.

If that’s you, take this time to develop the best strategy possible, based on your available information, then develop a plan, and then execute that plan. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect…focus on the execution part. Then - just like this coach did - evaluate and adjust, if needed.

Too many coaches adhere to a strict “Ready, Aim, Fire” approach.

Right now, you need to alter that slightly towards a “Ready, Fire, Aim” approach.

Resources you can use to develop and execute strategy

The free resources available to you:

• Our free research and training library: www.dantudor.com/blog

• Our free webinar series: https://dantudor.com/webinars/

• Our free College Recruiting Weekly podcast for coaches: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/dan-tudor/college-recruiting-weekly

• Our College Recruiting Weekly email newsletter every Tuesday morning: (Go to https://dantudor.com/ and sign-up at the top of the page)

Our low cost resources available to you:

• Subscribing to our daily Honey Badger Recruiting training emails and website:

• Our popular recruiting guides for college coaches: https://dantudor.com/product-category/recruiting-guides/

• Tudor University online recruiting certification: https://tudoruniversity.thinkific.com/

Our more extensive resources for programs and departments:

• Becoming a Total Recruiting Solution client: https://dantudor.com/total-recruiting-solution/

• Hosting a live on-campus recruiting workshop for your department: https://dantudor.com/on-site-campus-workshops/

• Going through our new athletic department webinar recruiting training: https://dantudor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Virtual-Athletic-Recruiting-Workshops-2020-Overview.pdf

You can get through this crisis, Coach. Hang tough, develop the best strategy you can, and keep moving forward.