Who Makes The Call?

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

“The Call” in the title refers to calling college coaches. The “Who” refers to mom, dad, or the player. I have spoken to many moms, dads, and players over the years and I have gotten many different responses to this question. Here is a sample conversation I have had with our families on this topic:

(I am sitting at a Baseball Factory Player Development Event at Dodgertown with a mom, dad, and player. For the sake of this exercise, we will call the player Johnny):

Me: So Johnny, which schools have you contacted for your college search?
Mom: (Doesn’t allow Johnny to answer)… I have sent Johnny’s resume to 15 schools and then I made follow up calls to each of the schools reviewing Johnny’s statistics.
Me: Johnny, have you sent any follow up emails to these schools?
Dad: (Doesn’t allow Johnny to answer)… Actually, I sent the follow up emails from my work account to make sure the coaches received the information.

This discussion is the classic quintessential example (unfortunately) of how you should not approach the communication process with college coaches. Unfortunately, I have had this type of discussion about 150 times over the past 10+ years.

I know this is a really tough one for parents. Parents are used to jumping in and “taking control” for their kids. However, you have to take a step back from the situation and realize that the coaches are recruiting the player, and not the parent. They want to see how a player handles himself on the phone and via email. By doing so, it helps to gauge the player’s genuine interest in the college program, and the coach gets to learn a little bit about the player’s make up. A coach will not learn anything about a player’s makeup from speaking to their parent. Coaches usually have their own children and know that a mom or dad can never be 100% objective about their son. It also throws up a red flag for a coach when they see this type of dynamic, because they start to question how the player will handle the responsibility of college academics and balancing their social life when mom and dad are not around.

So, the answer to the question of “Who Makes the Call” in the title of this blog...the player. There may be specific times when a coach needs to speak to mom or dad (ie; scholarship talk or setting details for a college visit), but the primary point of contact needs to be the player. Mom and dad, I know it is tough to sit on the sidelines here and allow your son (who may not be 100% comfortable representing himself on the phone) to be pushed to the forefront. Parents should view themselves as the “coaching staff” in this exercise. Your role is to help your son research the college programs, read his cover letter before he emails it to a college coach, help to organize him with folders and phone logs for correspondence from each school, and to do mock phone calls with the coach to help get him prepared.

Letting the player make the call will go a long way towards establishing the player as a responsible adult in the eyes of a college coach. It also helps to build his self esteem and self confidence. In the end, this approach will help give him a leg up in the recruiting process!

Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.