The Mindset of Many Top-Tier Recruits

Coaches need to be aware of this one unique dysfunction they exhibit often in recruiting

Many of you got the chance to read my last post where I posed the question, “How would you recruit Tom Brady today?”

The main reason for laying-out the ideas in that article center around the need for coaches to understand that, at their core, top prospects usually don’t make their final decisions any differently than their mid-tier or lower-tier prospects. They have universal wants, universal needs, and tend to all gravitate to the same methods of making a final decision.

Yes, the stakes may be bigger and the surroundings may be a lot more opulent, but the Division I football star makes his decision pretty much the same way a mid-tier Division III softball player makes her decision.

But there is one unique aspect of a top prospect’s mindset that you see in champions over and over again, whether it’s Tom Brady or a student-athlete you know on campus:

They’re terrified they’re not good enough.

Let me explain:

There’s a drive in them that isn’t born out of cockiness or conceit, but out of a drive to be the best. And many of them (not all, but many) are scared there’s someone better than them out there somewhere. That’s why Tom Brady, at age 78 or however old he is now, still gets up early on summer mornings and throws to receivers. It’s why he watches what he eats, and is bent on playing so long…because he’s a competitor, and he thrives on being the best. You have a few kids on your team that are the same way, probably. Or at least you’ve recruited some that did.

But understand that this drive is based on something: Fear. A fear of not being the best, or not being good enough.

This is where it gets really, really important for you, Coach - who’s going to tell them they’re good enough? I’m hoping it’s you.