#7: Were offered by a rival or comparable school within the conference or region
Another common reason why coaches may look into your abilities is if a rival, conference or comparable school offers you a scholarship. It is very common to hear a head coach go into an assistant coach’s office and say, “Hey, the big kid from St. Louis just got offered by School XYZ, what did you think of him?”
Coaches are always keeping an eye on the competition and they also expect their assistant coaches to know about EVERY POSSIBLE prospect in their assigned geographic region or position. They will want to know why that assistant coach didn’t think they were worthy of recruitment or an offer… or they will put that assistant coach into action to get a copy of your film in order to evaluate you for themselves.
If you are offered by a school, you will likely get looks from their rivals or schools within the conference to see if you are someone they should be offering too.
When you begin approaching coaches on your own, one of the first questions they will ask you is, “Who have you been offered by?” Your answer will give them a starting point in their research, so even if it’s a less competitive school than you may be interested in, it does give other coaches an idea of your talent.
Never lie about what schools have offered you! Coaches quickly do their research and will find out and possibly eliminate you. There is nothing wrong with saying, “I have no offers yet,” it doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t talented, it only means you haven’t been discovered yet.
