In a recent unscientific survey, nine out of 10 college coaches indicated that 95 percent of parents are great, but 5 percent actually have a negative effect on their athletes’ scholarship chances. Actually, I made those numbers up, but I’m pretty sure they are close to accurate. Here’s the concerning part: It’s easy for a college coach to spot the 5 percenters. Their actions make them stand out like a mustard stain on your suitcoat. As we’ve talked about many times before, college coaches are paying attention to and evaluating the parents of every recruit they are truly interested in, so you don’t want to be mistaken for a 5 percenter. College coaches want to avoid the 5 percenters if at all possible.
If for some reason you don’t believe me, here are the thoughts of Pat Fitzgerald, the football coach at Northwestern University: “An increasingly larger part of the evaluation of the prospect, for us, is evaluating the parents. It’s a big part of the evaluation.”
I guarantee you that Coach Fitzgerald can spot a 5 percenter from a mile away.
In my opinion, you can break the 5 percent down into five major categories. In an attempt to help you avoid being classified into one of these five categories, here are my thoughts on the kind of parents college coaches would like to avoid.
Read the entire column at USA Today High School Sports.
Be the first to comment