What to Do When Coaches Don’t Respond to Your Email
I get this question all of the time, “I am e-mailing coaches, but they aren’t responding! What do I do next?” This can be frustrating as an athlete, but you have to understand these critical things.
- Coaches’ e-mail boxes are extremely busy—They get e-mails from their universities, current athletes, their coaching staff, media outlets, and hundreds of recruits. They receive hundreds of e-mails weekly, if not daily. They will not always respond right away.
Here is how you fix this problem—Pick up the phone and call them. If you truly want a coach to remember you, calling them is a terrific way to set yourself apart.
- Some coaches are not skilled recruiters—Just like good athletes do not always make good coaches, talented coaches do not always make talented recruiters. There are companies dedicated to teaching coaches how to be better recruiters. Some of the areas they focus on most are how to use e-mails in recruiting and how to manage time as a coach.
Here is how you fix this problem—Make it easy on the coaches and e-mail them again. Try e-mailing during different times of the day and week. E-mail them during office hours or in the evenings when they are not getting as many e-mails.
- The coach might not be interested in recruiting you—The truth hurts, and unfortunately, not every coach will take the time to respond to an athlete they are not interested in.
Here is how you fix this problem—Make sure first that it is not just a coach who is busy. If you have e-mailed and called a coach five or more times and have not gotten a response, it might be time to look at other schools.
- Coaches might not be allowed to respond to your e-mails—At the NCAA Division I and Division II levels, coaches are restricted from e-mailing recruits before certain times in their junior or senior year. However, this is a gray area with the NCAA, and coaches will eventually respond to a person if they e-mail them enough.
Here is how you fix this problem—Do not always include your graduating class or age in your e-mails. That way, if coaches respond, they can say, “I was only responding to the e-mail. I didn’t know it was a recruit.”
- Your e-mail might not be enough for the coach to want to respond to it—Coaches receive hundreds of e-mails from athletes. The majority of them are highly unprofessional, and the coaches will not waste their time responding to them.
Here is how you fix this problem—We have two excellent resources, the Guide to Communicating with College Coaches and How to Create a Great College Recruiting Resume. Download them and follow the instructions.
Recruiting is hard work, and it can be frustrating to go through the effort of e-mailing the coaches and not getting responses. You have to remain positive. Just think of all of the thousands of athletes who are not e-mailing coaches. Every time you e-mail a coach, whether they respond or not, you are getting closer to finding the right school for you.
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