What do D1 coaches look for in athletes other than their mileage?

I would say the #1 thing is high school times

Yes. People make it too complicated. Stanford looks for guys running 4:05 and 8:55. Some crappy program takes guys at 4:25 and 9:30. Neither schoolnos going crazy looking at mileage or body type.

Based on what actual D1 coaches said, they consider more factors than just times. Times are the starting point. The top schools choose between 8:55 kids. If you think that's too complicated then it makes sense why you wouldn't understand this.

I'd add rate of improvement. A high schooler who ran 9:35 3200 as a freshman and is now running 9:15 as a senior is not looking as promising as someone who only ran 10:30 as a freshman and is now running 9:15 as a senior.

Also, lack of DUIs or similar red flags is a good sign. If the athlete is getting in trouble in high school it's probably going to get worse in college.

Check the social media, companies do it, its shocking what you might see.

A lot of kids are smart and have two instagrams. They make "recruiting profiles" and then have a private one as well.

"If Hannibal Lecter ran a 4.3, we'd say he had eating disorder" - former Arizona Cardinals GM

This isn't to such an extent in college track / XC, but if someone's running under 10.10 in the 100 or under 8:40 in the 3200 (obviously a different person for both), a lot of flaws will be viewed as minor because of how much they could contribute.

In my experience, I've definitely seen it play out a bit - track / XC won't have the 7 figure NIL deals like football (or basketball), but top athletes have much more leeway with personal flaws (think incredibly self-centered / not team-oriented, lazy outside of running, entitled) than a 4:15 guy trying to walk on

I've heard similar. Times are very important (in addition to grades for colleges like Stanford) but progression and region is important as well - a kid running 8:50 solo in Maine or a different rural / isolated state is viewed as having more potential as a southern California kid being dragged along to 8:50 in Arcadia who hasn't broken 9:05 any other time

I will say that most people do tend to downplay their mileage by about 10-15 mpw when speaking with coaches though to have the appearance of more upside - whether that is not counting shakeouts, warmup, cooldown, etc or just lying

My last remark: most people I knew / knew of (except possibly the top ~10 runners per gender per class) had theirs private. With the $ incentives to run fast, more will have a public one, but a few will have a private one as well.

On that note - though this is much more for males than females - stop following 15 onlyfans 'models' while you're being recruited. Have a clean instagram with no beer cans and make sure you're not tagged in anything illegal either if you drink.

They take the fastest kids they can get. It is that simple. No top program passed up an 8:45 for an 8:55.

That's a specific situation that only affects .1% of recruiting classes. I know a very successful program who offered money to a 9:06 athlete and had a sub 9 athlete walk on.

Their prs. They don't really care about your mileage. You'll either survive the program or they'll cut you. They might individualize training if you can consistently score points.

-size isn't a factor, most are done developing around 18

-grit isn't a factor - see above, if you stop showing up or get injured too much you get cut

-grades - its kind of a binary here. You stay eligible or you get cut. Academic all american is a nice news article, but coaches would rather beat one more team at conference than have even a team full of academic all americans

-leadership qualities? from Freshmen, no. A jr or sr acts as the team leader.

Sure these aren't always the case, but if we're making blanket statements these are more true.

Either the coach is an idiot or the slower kid was ahead in his recruiting pipeline.

-"Size isn't a factor because they are done developing at 18." Are you saying everyone grows to become the exact same size at 18? Come on man lol.

-Grit isn't a factor in racing and training? Do you know what that word means?

-Literally every coach I talk to looks at grades immediately after looking at PRs. If they're below a 3.0 coaches will look at the next guy.

- You don't understand how freshmen can have leadership qualities? Did you know that 100% of freshmen who run for four years become seniors?

The coach is definitely not an idiot as they are regularly competing in the top 10 for NCAA xc. Seems like maybe you're the idiot for not understand why times are simply there for a starting point?

1. Ability to attend my university (grades and money. If they can’t afford it they can’t)

2. Times and training. You are the average of your 3 best times not you PR. Also running well at your large xc meets. Great if you are undeveloped but why are you undeveloped? Do you do anything outside of HS practice? Body type does help (with women ED?)

3. Personality, and yes social media counts. If you are dumb enough to post yourself snorting pills or using slurs you probably aren’t a good investment.