Current NCAA Coaches Discussing Changes in Their Approach to Track and Field Recruiting in 2020
Founder Willy Wood at the Ivy League XC Championships while Head Coach at Columbia University
“It's not so cut and dry any longer and the 4:20 / 9:20 type thing is not enough anymore.” – Hakon DeVries, University of Kentucky
“Typical scholarship and recruiting standards will essentially go out the window – we will use all of the subject areas listed below to project how we believe an athlete may fit into those typical standards and go from there. Easier said than done, but as I’ve communicated to our staff, this is a time where we can really prove our aptitude as evaluators of talent and projected development.” – Alex Heacock, William & Mary
Not having a junior track and field season will make your college recruitment process much more challenging. As a rising senior, you will need to rely on more than your marks from this spring. You will need to create a compelling story that highlights your potential as a future college athlete. In addition to changes for you, coaches are experiencing new challenges for this year’s recruiting process as well.
Johns Hopkins University Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, Bobby Allen when asked stated, “The COVID-19 Pandemic will certainly change some things in the recruiting process across the board for most coaches. It might be slight for some schools and significant for others though. Here at Johns Hopkins, without having junior year track times we will have to do a lot more work to evaluate the progress of each recruit. With everyone really in different circumstances, it can’t be a one size fit all approach. Some students had strong indoor seasons or even sophomore year times that already put themselves in a good spot on our recruit lists. Others though, we need to weigh more of their junior year cross country seasons, and how that progresses for their senior year. Some of our recruits have been able to submit videos of time trials by themselves, which is helpful when they run PRs, but that obviously is a bit more difficult to do without full competition and practices. As we move to a more virtual recruiting platform, those that stay connected to coaches and help sell their character also would be something that could give a recruit a step up on everyone else. If things improve where on-campus camps or clinics can take place, this can be another great advantage to get some more exposure as overnight recruit visits will probably be limited. This will be a fluid process, and so many changes we still don’t know such as admissions changes, financial aid changes, and perhaps changes to the fall XC season. We are optimistic though we will once again be able to target a good recruiting class just in a different way than before”
Harvard University Director of Track and Field / Cross Country Jason Saretsky further explained stating, "These are extraordinary times and so extraordinary measures need to be taken for everyone's safety and well-being. With the cancellation of so many competitions this spring, coaches will be looking deeper into sophomore performances. There has always been a significant emphasis with recruiting on personal qualities and character and that will be even more important now. Everyone will need to readjust and adapt to this ever-changing environment."
Coaches will be looking at such factors as a recruit’s trajectory of improvement, cross country results from last fall if applicable, video analysis and relying much more on qualitative input from other sources. This was reiterated by Cornell University Coach, Mike Henderson, “Now more than ever, detailed conversations with recruits and those who can give an honest opinion of a high school athlete are supremely important.”
“We certainly will have to reduce our scholarship standards and recruitable time standards because not many runners have run that fast yet”, stated Brandon Bonsey of Georgetown University. In fact, Boston University Coach Paul Spangler has revised his scholarship and walk-on standards to include performances for athletes who did not have a junior season and is providing his amended walk-on and scholarship standards to potential recruits.
Other non-achieved performance factors will now carry much more weight. Louisville Cross Country Coach Joe Walker commented, “We will likely looking for good academic fits and projecting what they would have run this year. We are hopeful that we can make late summer and fall visits happen to learn more about each recruit.
Coaches will now focus more on where a recruit ranks amongst his classmates as opposed to a specific performance achieved. The Georgetown Men’s Cross Country Coach stated, “We will watch even more film on kids than we typically do and will have to look at where they are ranked in their specific class versus a strict time. In most years, the 10th best 3200m runner in the junior class may have run 8:55, but right now it's 9:05.” Kentucky Coach, Hakon Devries agreed statin that he will “start looking at sophomore track times and being more inclusive than normal.”
Times and performances will always matter to coaches. However, there is more emphasis on your story now. UNC-Charlotte Coach, Joe Lynn reiterated this stating, “We do have recruiting standards, but at the end of the day it's more about finding the right fit. Times and performances are a big part of the process, however, I also look at consistency, performances in big meets, and their level of improvement over the past two-three years. In the end, performances along with how a recruit fits in with our team culture and vision for the future will determine how we move through the recruiting process.”
Columbia University Director of Track and Field, Danny Ireland stated, “With no junior year outdoor track times it will certainly change recruiting for most athletes. We have decided to try to dig a little deeper on each recruit. To gather more information from speaking with the individual recruits, speaking more often and in-depth with the high school coaches, speaking more with parents, and watching more video. Basically just getting to know as much about the person as possible from all different angles. Take the approach that the most informed decision that we can make is hopefully the best.”
Northwestern University Head Coach Jill Miller further confirmed this stating, “It’s a challenge to discern development without the junior track season. While progression is certainly something we look for, I’ve always felt the intangibles are equally important. Accordingly, I have never used set standards and place an immense value on those things I believe it takes to be a successful student-athlete outside of times on the track. I don’t want to make it seem like I don’t value talent, I just think that talent doesn’t always show through PRs.”
The UNC Director of Track and Field Chris Miltenberg discussed another issue to overcome in identifying good program fits, “The part I miss is getting to meet recruits and they’re parents in person. I’d say it looks unlikely we’ll be able to do that this summer. Official visits will hopefully go off in the fall but that could be pushed back too. Ultimately, it is still all about finding the right fit and we’ll take our time to do it right instead of rushing because the circumstances are abnormal. Milt went on to state, “It is important to me to identify their motivation; is it more about being recruited than it is about running at the highest level they’re capable of, which is exactly what we’re trying to vet out in the recruiting process; what is their motivation? What are their goals? Is it just to get recruited or do you really want to find out how good you can be at the next level and be part of a great team mission? How recruits are responding in this time is actually teaching us more about them than the times they would have run this spring.”
In addition, William & Mary Head Coach Alex Heacock said, “We will be taking the extra time and the relative lack of performance data to create a deeper connection with potential recruits, to evaluate their personalities and athletic/intangible qualities against our team culture and coaching styles. Our staff will also have to be better than ever in projecting performances to how they likely would’ve unfolded this outdoor season – this will require greater communication about current training situations and information about time trials and mock meets that recruits may be doing this spring.” Former UNC standout and current coach at Millikan University, Andrew Craycraft said, “What I, and I'm sure many others, look for in a prospective-student athlete are the intangibles. The objectivity of recruiting based on marks simplifies at least one step of the process of scouting talent. So the answer becomes: what else is there to look at? I am a firm believer in evaluating what the first phone call can tell you. Is the recruit a good listener, have they researched your program and school ahead of time? How do their responses to their questions give you a glimpse of their character and personal integrity? How do they talk about their relationship with the sport? Do they love Track & Field and/or Cross Country for the right reasons? Liking something because you're good at it, in my experience, is a red flag.
Craycraft agreed with current UNC Coach Chris Miltenberg that how recruits are handling this this experience will be helpful. He stated, “The relationship with the sport" question is really important because it gives perspective on a lot. The Covid/Quarantine situation that so many of these kids are left to face actually creates an opportunity, in a way, for recruiters to analyze what that relationship the recruit has with the sport. If the recruit is still training, still upbeat, looking forward to the next season/ opportunity,etc....then I want them. Instant gratification is more and more a plague of young people. The young athlete that can see further down the road and isn't swayed (or at least has the ability to look past it an on to the next challenge is the kid I want. We are constantly telling our charges to "control what you can control." The kids that are doing that in an environment this novel in global history is going to be someone who produces for your program.
Many of the top college programs have identified prospects earlier in the process and feel relatively comfortable with their current list of prospects. Georgetown Coach, Brandon Bonsey stated, “We are pretty locked in on the recruits we really want and now we will just have to do our homework on them even more so than in the past because we don't have results to fall back on” This thought was reiterated by the Harvard Men’s Sprint Coach, “I have a very solid recruiting pool right now. So, not much will change.”
MIT Director, Halston Taylor agreed and doesn’t envision significant changes in how they will react to this season being canceled. He quite simply stated, “We will not be changing much of what we do. We will compare individuals the same as we always have” All juniors are in the same position, so comparison amongst their classmates should be fair in most cases. He went on to state, “We will paying more attention to improvement from freshman to sophomore year.” This notion was reinforced by USC Coach, Pat Henner, “I will look for those runners still improving”
Distance runners have the added benefit of having had a cross country season in the fall. This will matter greatly. Coach Taylor of MIT stated, “We will put a lot more emphasis on the cross country season. While I do not pay attention to times in cross country, I do pay attention to place, particularly in the larger meets and championships. Brandon Bonsey of Georgetown agreed, “If they are a pure distance runner we will have to rely pretty heavily on cross country results, more so than in the past”
University of Missouri Cross Country Coach Marc Burns added, “We will be using the fall results from sophomore year for XC/distance kids and relying on whatever video we have or can find from sophomore year performances for track kids. It will be a crazy recruiting cycle until we can see the next set of results. We will need to lean on relationships with high school coaches to get their input more than ever.”
Mike Henderson of Cornell University continued, “I'm looking at improvement from sophomore to junior year in cross country at meets that they have run on the same course and really focusing on state finishes at both xc junior year and track sophomore year…. we are going to be relying more on fall racing for XC/distance recruits “ Ohio State Coach, Sara Vegote reinforced this, “We will be relying much more heavily on state meet placing and placing at other post-season meets.”
Henderson further stated, “For technical events, since we can’t get out to meets and see them, we are requesting more video of a current practice session or past meets, and communicating more in-depth with high school and club coaches to get additional insights and information on the athletes training and background.” Louisville Coach Jeff Petersmeyer cautioned, “Evaluating 2021’s could be risky – some coaches have very good eyes for talent and won’t be deterred. I will be leaning heavily on several factors, but multiple performances on video will be even more crucial. This was further reiterated by William & Mary Head Coach Alex Heacock who said, “For technical events, we will have a greater emphasis on reviewing training/prior competition video to various social media accounts, Milesplit (and other databases), and video sent directly from coaches and recruits.” The level of risk of taking on recruits without marks form their junior year will vary from coach to coach. Some coaches will take a more conservative approach and be more likely to play it safe. A prominent SEC Head Coach contemplates the idea that he, “Will likely not sign as many prospects this upcoming year. Our program is in a good place and I will not take the chance on signing unknown entities. I will likely go after proven transfers and grad students and try to go big after the class of 2022.” Louisville’s Jeff Petersmeyer agreed, “With so many talented athletes in the transfer portal, not to mention junior college prospects, it could be a situation where college coaches take the safe route and go with the “known” commodity rather than take a risk on the 2021’s (who haven’t yet put up marks worthy of bigger offers).”
Petersmeyer went on to say, “Many athletes in the 2021 class are in an unfortunate situation. While you’ll have the top tier athletes who may not suffer – as they may have top marks and will get nice offers at the school of their choice regardless of COVID-19, you’ll have others who would’ve had a break-out season in their junior year – waiting a bit longer to find a home. Additionally, we always see athletes who may have only played other sports step onto the track for the first time and do great things. My guess is that there will be a lot of unsigned seniors next May who put up huge numbers and the schools that have scholarships remaining will battle it out later than normal for top-tier talent. Others may fill-up on the JUCO transfers and transfer portal athletes and play it safe” However, mid-major NCAA 1 coaches are seeing this as an outstanding opportunity to find a late bloomer. Troy University Coach, Elliott Blount said, “I don’t anticipate too much of a change for me in how a recruit here at Troy. I always end up digging a little deeper since we typically don’t attract the fastest kids on paper. Since coming to Troy I’ve done more leg-work by getting to smaller local meets and talking with coaches about a student-athlete’s work ethic. Sometimes they have an innate love for running, others have to come into it. During the evaluation period, I found focusing on PSAs motivations is a great insight into the kind of person you are recruiting. From a pure running evaluation standpoint, video is huge as it allows you to see if they can pass the ‘eye test’. I’m actually looking forward to recruiting this upcoming year. I think a lot more kids will slip through the tracks end up at a ‘mid-major’ level since they won’t have times that jump off the paper. The circumstances will most likely lend themselves to a coach who recruits with a good eye.” UAB Cross Country Coach, Matt Esche shares a similar excitement at Blount stating, This is year is going to be the year of the diamond in the rough more so then ever. Due to the athlete's different situations…will they have access to a track, care they able to train, do they have a training plan? There will be a lot of factors at play that we have taken for granted in the past. We will place significantly more emphasis on a PSA’s progression from year to year. How did they perform in cross country, was it a very slow start or did they come out strong and finish well. If a PSA has the ability to complete a time trial, and video it for us, I will take that. Just a picture of a stopwatch with a time is hard to use for a scholarship.”
Coach Mitch Switzer of Bryant University when asked said, “Great question. Not sure anyone is going to have an absolutely correct answer. I think looking for interest in our school, for athletes to tell their story and having high school coaches speak to their work ethic and potential. Coaches are going to have to dig deeper to look for the athletes who are ready for a breakout.”
Either way, Cornell’s Coach Mike Henderson believes, “I suspect that there will be more students pushing back to regular decision applications in the higher academic programs, and more athletes signing later for their D1 scholarships in most programs. That’s just my personal projection on the landscape of it.
Wash U Head Coach, Jeff Stiles summed it up accurately, “The current recruitment environment is certainly still a work in progress. Right now we are using any junior year indoor times we’ve been able to find. For those who don’t run indoor or cross country, we are honestly still trying to figure out how we might evaluate them. It’s a discussion we have weekly at our staff meetings.
As Princeton’s Reuben Jones said, “We are simply taking it day by day.”