The Social Media Scout. What Coaches See When They Look You Up
July 2025
A college coach finishes practice, sinks into the desk chair, and starts scrolling. In less than a minute, a crisp through-ball, two clean angles, and a short caption reveal a midfielder who trains with intent. The coach bookmarks the clip for follow-up. A few posts later, another prospect appears. same talent level, but the feed is littered with trash-talk, skipped-workout jokes, and memes that push the line. By morning, that name is off several recruiting boards.
During travel restrictions, college coaches learned to scout online, and the habit stuck. Recent NCAA surveys show over 70 percent of coaches now review social profiles before first contact. Your highlight reel gets you in the door. Your social media profile keeps you there. or gets you shown out.
Here is what a recruitable profile looks like. Your bio should include your name, grad year, club team, position, and GPA. Keep your profile public. coaches cannot evaluate what they cannot see. Post content that shows training, games, team achievements, and academics. Nothing that makes a coach question character. And most importantly, link your highlight reel in your bio or a pinned post.
The opposite is also true: a private profile with questionable content raises questions a coach doesn't have time to answer. And they won't. They'll move to the next athlete. Your social media is part of your recruiting package. Make it work for you.
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