Hundreds to even thousands of times per day, high school prospects are sending their HUDL links to coaches and posting them on Twitter feeds. The ultimate goal of this process is to have a coach click your link, watch your highlight tape, evaluate you, then eventually offer you, right? However, the chances that a college coach makes it all the way through this process (or even halfway through this process) is pretty slim. So, here’s what you can do to make it more likely that a coach will actually click on YOUR link, and actually watch your tape all the way through.
Target appropriate college coaches
Just because you are sending your HUDL link to every coach you come across on Twitter does not necessarily increase your chances of a college coach clicking on your link. Don’t waste your time sending your link out in mass quantities when you could be using this valuable time to strategically target the correct coaches.
Be realistic in your abilities and the level you see yourself playing at in college
Reach out to the recruiting coordinator and position coaches at these schools. For example if you’re a Quarterback, then you should be contacting the Quarterback Coach
Engage with coaches in other ways besides just blasting them links all the time
See AlsoLearn How Highlights Work • Hudl SupportGet Athletes Recruited • Hudl Classic SupportHighlighting – Learning CenterTips for using privacy settingsLike or retweet their tweets
Send them a personalized introductory message
Be a REAL person and be genuine
Connect with college coaches by using The College Search Tool! Gain access to valuable contact information, recruiting questionnaires, and message templates to send out.
Post consolidated highlight tapes
College coaches will NOT take the time to scroll through your HUDL profile and watch short clips from single games! Whether it’s after 3-4 games, or a midseason tape, make sure that you are combining your top plays into one tape and posting that specific link! I had someone send me a link that just went straight to their HUDL profile. So I thought, what am I supposed to watch here? There weren’t even any highlights on their HUDL profile, only clips from single games. You MUST have consolidated highlight tapes on your profile.
Put top plays at the front and use variety
Your first few plays should be your most explosive plays and show the top traits for your position. This is so you entice coaches to continue watching because they will be more interested. Also, use a variety of different plays at the beginning that show different characteristics. For example: If you’re a WR, you don’t want your first 3 plays to be you catching 70 yard bombs and running in a straight line. You would want to throw a clip of you catching a slant and making a defender miss, OR going up and high pointing a pass over a defender. Try to show a variety of different skills in your first 5 plays.
Trim, spot shadow, then trim again
College coaches have very limited time in their day and short attention spans. Honestly, you are very lucky if the coach even clicks on your link, and you are EXTREMELY lucky if the coach watches your tape all the way to the end. Don’t give a coach a reason to close out of your tape because it’s poorly put together or too confusing to locate you on the field.
Use the tools on HUDL to trip all the extra footage before the snap of the ball
Use a simple circle and spot shadow to locate yourself BEFORE the ball is snapped
Trim all the extra footage at the end of the play so it’s quicker to get to the next clip
Include an eye catching caption in your post
There’s no need to include a long paragraph about yourself, but you also don’t want to just post the link to your HUDL without any description. You want to include relevant information in your tweet or DM so coaches can learn a little bit more about you. Think of it as a 1-2 sentence plot line of a movie or TV show that is about you and also enticing to the viewer.
Impressive season statistics that reflect the video that is in your compiled highlight film
Weekly or yearly awards you have earned
Team performance record
Impressive measurables and metrics (height, weight, maxes, GPA, etc.)
An evaluation of your abilities that a credible coach has provided for you
Connect with college coaches by using The College Search Tool! Gain access to valuable contact information, recruiting questionnaires, and message templates to send out.
