If you're a high school coach, chances are pretty good you've got a handful of your guys looking to play at the college level. With that comes college coach after college coach wanting film on each kid, as well as their transcripts and other pertinent material. Fielding call after call, email after email, or text after text from college coaches or personnel guys asking about players or their film can get a bit overwhelming, but one program I talked to this weekend had an interesting approach to the situation.
This weekend I spent time at a coaching clinic in West Michigan talking to various coaches, but when I left it was a conversation that I had with Grand Rapids West Catholic head coach Dan Rohn and a few guys on his staff that really stuck with me. Rohn has led the West Catholic program to the Michigan High School state title game in three of the past four seasons, winning the Division 5 title in 2010 and 2013.
Needless to say, his players are in high demand with college coaches, and while Hudl has made the process of getting film to college coaches infinitely easier than it was before its introduction, Rohn and his staff have found a way to make things even easier and more efficient. They've created a basic website that shows the players, with access to their film, contact information, height and weight, and even 40 times. Take a look at what they've set up.
Now, every time that a college coach wants film on one of his players, he's able to send them to their website that one of his assistants helped build. There, coaches can click on an individual player and get instant access to the player's Hudl highlights, evaluate him, and move on to another player they're interested in.
Coach Rohn told me that each player is responsible for keeping their information and highlights up to date, so now when he gets an email from a college coach asking about a player, he can respond with the link to the website where the coach can instantly watch film and look at the players contact information.
There are hundreds of free websites out there that are easy enough to build to suit your program's needs. Coach Rohn tells me that it has made the busy recruiting process so much easier on him and his staff, and college coaches love the ease of access and being able to immediately get their hands on what they need help in the evaluation process.
I'm sure it's something that programs across the country have utilized before, but this was the first time I had heard from a head coach doing it, and surely it's an idea that can help numerous other coaches out there in similar situations.
If you're a high school coach doing something innovative like this, we would love to hear from you and share the idea with coaches around the country. Email me directly at doug@footballscoop.com or let us know on Twitter (@FootballScoop).