Every year college coaches need to find the best players in their recruiting area to fill their class. They spend countless hours every week pouring over high school tapes that are sent to them. But certain times during the year are better than others when it comes to sending a college coach a highlight tape and transcript.
We asked college coaches when they want highlights and transcripts, and the results are in the chart below. We found that responses were similar across all divisions, with the exception of D1, who want to see the tapes considerably earlier.
D1 (FBS) coaches are looking to get the tapes right after a player’s sophomore season. D1 (FCS) are most likely to look after a player’s junior season. All D1 coaches have completely moved on once signing day passes in a player’s senior year.
Coaches in other divisions start later and are most interested in recruiting right before, during, and after a player’s senior season.
High school athletes and their coaches want to get their information to college coaches, but they often don’t know the best time to send tapes. A high school athlete has a much better chance of getting evaluated by hitting send at the right time. In the chart below you can see that high school coaches are not getting tapes in the hands of college coaches at peak times.
Based on our research, we recommend sending tapes and transcripts to D1 coaches immediately following a players sophomore and junior seasons. High school coaches should send tapes and transcripts to coaches of all other divisions before, during, and after the player’s senior season.