The Uncertainty of Fall, and the Path Forward for College Coaches
Many coaches are feeling powerless right now. Here's a suggested plan of attack:
“I’ve never felt more powerless in my 20+ years as a college coach.”
Maybe you agree with that statement, made a week ago by a longtime client who is - like many of his fellow college coaches - not quite sure if he’ll have a season in 2020-2021. He’s not sure what his budget is going to be, but he knows it’ll be less than it was last year. And, he’s not even sure when his team will actually be allowed back on campus.
Maybe you’d be describing your situation the same way as you read this. That’d be a perfectly normal reaction.
But getting back to what that coach told me - that “feeling of powerlessness”: What can the average college coach do to empower themselves, their individual sports programs, and even their athletic department as we head into the fall?
I’m going to submit a far from comprehensive list of things we’ve started implementing with athletic departments we get to partner with, featuring some not-to-common ideas coaches have told us they are implementing - and seeing some evidence of early success.
Develop an attitude that your individual program will need to be self-funded, and self-supported.
By now, most coaches have seen the economic writing on the wall: Without football and/or basketball being played, the traditional flow of cash coming into athletic departments at all levels stops. Couple that stark reality with the fact that virtually all endowment money at your college is earmarked for academic-related expenditures, or has very specific uses tied to those funds sitting in your college’s endowment fund.
In this case, A + B = C. “C”, in this case, is an attitude of self-sufficiency. The existing fundraising structure within your campus’ development department may currently severely limit an individual coach, or an individual sport (and even the athletic department itself) from seeking out new or existing donors to fill the financial gap you’re experiencing. That has to change. Time have changed, and that’s going to necessitate a new approach on campuses across the country to sustain as much of their financial foundation as possible.
This is the most substantial big-picture activity that any and every college coach could be doing right now, if their department or college administration allow for it. You have a roster of former student-athletes, parents and other supporters who would, at some level, be prepared to support you and your program.
The problem? Over the last 30 years, college coaches and athletic directors - who, by and large, are no fans of the added responsibilities of fundraising activities - have gladly deferred that vital function to their school’s development and fundraising departments. Some do a great job, but many (maybe most) have settled-in on a reliance of traditional large donors year after year, while not expanding their base. Some major universities, like Stanford, are being called upon to reexamine the way fundraising and budget priorities are made. That same kind of re-evaluation is going to be taking place on campuses around the country, and it’s probably long overdue. Maybe you, coach, are the leader you know your campus, department and program needs right now in this moment of financial upheaval in college athletics. Someone on your campus needs to start this conversation. Sooner rather than later, if recent events and trends are any indicator. The 22 coaches at Stanford who lost their jobs due to these same factors are probably wondering, at some level, “was there something more I could have done?”
To be clear: Events are warranting that you need to strongly consider taking a more active role in making your program and department more financially self-sufficient. It’s the thing that might just matter the most as we head into this uncertain fall season.
Communicating differently than you have in past years.
It’s good for you as a communication strategy, and desperately needed by your prospects.
Good for you because now more than ever - with all of the new seemingly reasonable justifications for them to delay - they need definition on when and how to go through the recruiting process with you and your program. Along the way, you stop the cycle of being a dependent coach.
We’ve made it clear over these past few weeks just how different this recruiting cycle is going to be - and how your recruits, and even your student-athletes, having unique needs and concerns that you need to be proactive in addressing as you communicate to them. When you do, you become the driver of the process, rather than the process driving you (here’s proof from one of your peers).
The keys to communicating differently this fall:
Texting your recruit, and developing conversations from that mode of communication, is yielding bigger than usual results from the coaches we’ve taught over the past few months when it comes to how to do it right. Here’s how to do it right.
Communicate normalcy. The news is pretty bleak and disconcerting if you’re a college prospect right now. As we’ve been sharing, now more than ever, they need a coach like you how to communicate ‘normalcy’: How you and your campus is planning for a return to normal in the months to come, and what that looks like. Your prospects told us they need to hear that nothing has changed when it comes to your interest in them, and a plan for the college sports career they’ve been working hard to achieve. Make that the focus of your messages as you communicate with them, Coach.
Accept that the normal way of making recruiting decisions aren’t necessarily in play with you and your program during this unique time. Communicate that you’re open to alternative ways of working your way through the process, and be open to them skipping some of the traditional steps in the process. Here’s what we advised one coach to do.
You leading the conversation about what makes your campus different and better than their other choices, and the timeline they have to make that choice, has never been more important.
Crisis recruiting is different than regular recruiting.
Coach who are approaching this season of recruiting their prospects with the same plan, same message, and same timeline as before are already hurting. They’re noticing an increased lack of response, and it’s troubling.
It’s because their mindsets are different right now. Recognizing that, and making adjustments to your focus, are important.
Here’s a talk I did as a part of our 2020 National Collegiate Recruiting Conference on what we’re seeing coaches need to do differently. It’s getting good feedback, and I hope it helps you revised your approach…take a look:
Your plan: How is it defined differently than last year?
That’s really what all this comes down to, Coach:
What are the defined differences in this fall’s approach compared to 12 months ago?
If there’s nothing that you can articulate to yourself or your staff, that’s a red flag you should pay attention to. Everything on the recruiting landscape has shifted; if you haven’t adjusted your approach, your hurdles are going to get bigger, and harder to clear.
This wasn’t meant to be a “how to” on addressing this fall’s recruiting and coaching challenges, just several big ideas that I’ve been in conversations with coaches and athletic directors with lately. There’s a lot of concern out there, and the way to fix it is to alter the plan they have traditionally used.
The Fall of 2020 is going to be an incredible challenge for colleges, athletic departments and coaches. Please carefully consider the plan you have in place to communicate differently, lead effectively, and control the process like you never have before.
Questions? If you’ve read this far, I owe you. Feel free to ask questions about any idea I’ve put forward. I’ll do my best to answer it. I really want you to own this stupid, confusing Fall of 2020 - let me know we can help in any way.
By the way, we’ve launched another free resource that coaches are really liking. It’s (almost) daily texts with the latest recruiting ideas we’re talking with coaches about. If you want to be included, shoot me a text to (661) 218-2166 and I’ll add you to the list, Coach.
And, I’d love it if you were a part of our Honey Badger Recruiting group. This is the place for daily deep dives into strategy, advice and ideas. Once you’re in, you can scroll back through all of our past archives of what’s been working for your college coaching peers. I think you’ll like it. Give it a tree, Coach.