My goodness I would hate to be a coach these days. If they are too hands on such as taking a road trip with an athlete then they get criticized. If they are too hands off such as in the OP scenario then they still get criticized. Either way they are criticized. SMH
I don't understand if you're trying to make a half-baked point here or if you're fantasizing about scenarios you made up in your head. This isn't "too hands off" there was no hand at all. No handshake, not even a follow up, "hey happy you had a chance to see campus hope you liked the team."
It's just weird to offer a large amount of money to someone you have no interest in meeting before they join your program.
When USC (Southern Cal) Am. football program was giving out duffle bags of cash, placing star athletes in expensive condominiums and giving star athletes expensive German autos, Pete Carroll was no where near. Athletes can receive full ride and receive perks and never interact with head coach until a day or two before 1st practice.
It depends on the circumstances. Are you talking about track or XC? Is the head coach in town (it is Thanksgiving week)? Will you be coached by the head coach?
If you've been taking to the head coach all along and they are sitting there in the office and won't say hi, then sure it's an issue. But if they are the head track coach and work with sprinters and will only know your name if you're scoring points for them and they are out on vacation this week, I wouldn't think of it as a red flag.
I'm not talking about me just to be clear and the visit wasn't this week. This kid has spoken to both the assistant and the head coach (briefly). They've been recruiting him since his junior year and covered travel expenses for him. This is a distance runner and the head coach is a distance coach. This distance runner is among the top 5 in a competitive state in multiple events/xc and the program is a top 5 school in their division.
Another school who is roughly just as competitive had him out a few weeks before this visit and the head coach stopped by and chatted for about 10 minutes tops before he headed out for the day. That went a much longer way than nothing at all. The kid is leaning toward that school. In his words, "I just appreciated that the head coach took the time to at least say hello, he didn't have to take me to dinner or anything."
I think that if you have a kid come all the way out to visit your school on your invitation, you should at least say hello or call the kid to talk for a minute. At least pretend to care about the athletes you're bringing in.
Some of these major programs are just machines churning athletes.
Yes, based on your description I think it would concern me if the head coach didn't make time to interact with the recruit in this situation. If having a personal/friendly relationship with your coach is important than I would think twice about attending this school.
It is definitely a red flag, but in itself not enough to automatically write-off this school. At least until you learn the extenuating circumstances.
I coached a HS girl who wanted to go to school X. She sent emails, called, texted.....and was ignored at every turn. I finally contacted the AD basically saying that the school owed her nothing, except a reply of some sort even if it said, "not interested". The AD must've contacted the coach because the girl was contacted within the day. After a conversation and visit she attended that school on an academic/athletic scholarship. She loved it there and was very successful. Turns out that the head coach was very lazy in that part of the job but a very adequate coach in other aspects.
Be looking at the coach and school with critical eyes, but keep your mind open.
Arkansas flew me out even though I was not really a huge star back in the day. They had other people show me around, but John McDonnell still made a point to sit and talk with me 1 on 1 for about an hour. I appreciated it. He seemed like a genuinely great guy. I would be pretty hesitant to go somewhere without even meeting the coach.
Also, always talk to current athletes on the team and try to poke some honesty out of them about how the truly feel. Sometimes places are fairly successful in spite of there being a lot of unhappiness about the coach and/or program. It's good to know this before signing your life away. There's at least one high profile coach I know of who is a genius level salesman/recruiter but basically a fullblown psychopath as a coach. You don't want to end up under the thumb of someone like that.
There's at least one high profile coach I know of who is a genius level salesman/recruiter but basically a fullblown psychopath as a coach. You don't want to end up under the thumb of someone like that.
There is a chance we are talking about the same program!
I dont think its always a red flag. If the head coach is really involved in some aspect of the program, (when I was in college our hc managed jumps and throws for instance) I really didn't meet him bc he wasn't truly overseeing my training or recruiting me. I spent the whole trip with the distance coach and staff. I didn't think it was strange to not interact much with the head coach...
I Went on one trip, and the recruiting distance coach never met with me. Then he offered me a huge scholarship without ever talking to me. It was so weird.
Someone said something similar, but ultimately, it’s far more important how a coach is going to invest in athletes on the team than how they interact with recruits. There are some coaches who are uninterested in recruiting, but great with athletes on the team. Conversely, there are definitely some coaches who are highly engaged when recruiting and make all kinds of promises they never keep. Ask the athletes on the team how the coach interacts with them
My goodness I would hate to be a coach these days. If they are too hands on such as taking a road trip with an athlete then they get criticized. If they are too hands off such as in the OP scenario then they still get criticized. Either way they are criticized. SMH
Can you read? Can you think?
There is obviously a complete chasm between these these two things.
You are like 65 year-old male managers saying, "If you slap a worker's butt, you are criticized; if you never speak with them, you are criticized. Golly, William, men just can't win!"