How Lame is Negative Recruiting?
- Thread starter Yolobomb
- Start date
Wow! Must be lame enough to mention and post about it. Schools are going to do this when they feel threatened.
Is it lame though?
Lets say 6 months ago, Oklahoma was calling Bookie and saying, 'you know Riley is probably going to get fired, so should come for a visit.' Is that really lame?
If they are saying things like, 'Nebraska is full of racists' or something, yeah that it pretty lame. But if it is a legitimate criticism, like how I assume most coaching staffs laugh when I recruit mentions Iowa or mention how Iowa is the worst, then is it really lame?
Lets say 6 months ago, Oklahoma was calling Bookie and saying, 'you know Riley is probably going to get fired, so should come for a visit.' Is that really lame?
If they are saying things like, 'Nebraska is full of racists' or something, yeah that it pretty lame. But if it is a legitimate criticism, like how I assume most coaching staffs laugh when I recruit mentions Iowa or mention how Iowa is the worst, then is it really lame?
Show me a winning program and I'll show you a program that does some kind of negative recruiting.
Probably Urban Meyer, telling JJB that our staff hasn't put anybody in the pros yet. And that Nebraska is too far away.
Negative recruiting is a sign of weakness. You can't sell yourself and your program, so you tried to tear down others. Super lame.
I mean, on one hand I get it. Sell yourself and don't worry about the others... But on the other hand, I would hate to be using one less recruiting tool than everyone else in college football. Its not like isn't hard enough to recruit as it is. So where do you draw the line. I guess everyone has to decide that for themselves.
Personally me... I'd tear down every school I'm recruiting against and wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it.
Personally me... I'd tear down every school I'm recruiting against and wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it.
I think you also need to qualify what is and isn't negative recruiting, and somebody else in this thread had a great example. A fan base might say it's negative to point out the possibility of a coaching staff like MR and Co. that might be fired, I'd call it stating the obvious.
I've always said. If you have to run down someone else' s**t in order to sell your s**t. Chances are your s**t is exactly that. S**t.
I just see it different I guess. I think saying things like “you are interested in Nebraska?, you know Riley is getting canned right?” Is totally bush league. Mentioning the rhabdo stuff is too. Nothing wrong with mentioning how good your S&C is or how much job security your staff has, but the negative recruiting stuff against other schools is a bad look. IMO
I think honesty is the way to go. Besides, I think the majority of kids out there are turned off by that stuff anyway.
i agree .. but what one determines negative recruiting isn't uniform
you can talk about how good your S+C program is, that it is very rigorous and emphasize that the athletes are closely monitored to ensure it isn't too much (don't have to mention Neb at all)
If I'm recruiting against Ole Miss I am emphasizing that is a high priority for our student athletes to experience a bowl game every year as a reward for all the hard work they put in during the year ... we consider it a failure if our athletes don't attend a bowl game every year they are on the depth chart ... you don't have to mention Ole Miss to get your point across
is that negative recruiting?
I think recruits would respect you taking the high road and choose not negative recruit. That gives you an advantage and would draw attention to the negativity when other coaches try it
Not to me. That is how I think it should be done, or at least how I would like to see it handled.
in a sense pointing out how others may bring up factors that may seem like a negative about nebraska is negative recruiting in itself.
its saying those other guys are negative. which is saying something negative about a competitor
Dean's got it right. I have worked at colleges where we recruited. The common thing was to say something negative about the opposing schools. I instructed our recruiters to never do that and if they did I would consider firing them. Focus on the positives that you have and go from there. Sometimes the more you bring up negatives of the other school you just give them more publicity to the recruit. You just want them to think about what you can do for them. Take the high road.
And yes, the kids figure it out eventually.
The whole process is about as lame as it gets. A bunch of 17 year old boys, getting attention that they have yet to earn, and will most likely never get again. How many recruits did we drool over, just hoping that they would choose us, only to find out they maxed out in HS. I really wish there was a more humble culture at the HS level...it is a hard balance....football has 105 players on a team, and no room for individuals...wheras basketball has 15 and can deal with some guys putting themselves forward. Let the kids have fun but then they get on campus and are competing against 10-15 guys at their position...the who #LOOKATME, thing doesn't jive with competition.
We are talking about coaches commmunicating with recruits, not message board posters.
I think you would be amazed at much time and energy some of these kids have put into getting themselves in a position to be highly recruited. Lifting programs year round, camps, and more. Are there self aggrandizing players? Of course. A local four year BB coach was saying a few weeks ago that his biggest challenge is every kid he recruits to small four year BB believes he has a shot to play in the NBA. He said once they get over that vision, they become coachable and part of the team.
I guess if you were in a very small pool of elite (fill in the blank, sports, jobs, etc) and were considered one of the best in the nation and in some cases, the world, I am guessing you would expect things to be a bit different. There is a reason they are highly recruited - it isn't because they are wannbes.
Let them have their day in the sun. Once they report to campus they quickly find out they are boys among men and a little fish in a big pond. It is up to the coaching staff to help them keep their egos in check. Human nature being what it is, some of that is to be expected.
Wrong. It happens EVERY DAY in sales. Recruiting is no different than sales. And every program in the country does it...including us. It's just being tactful when you do it.
Yeah how do you think michigan state is doing recruiting... you dont think they have to deal with the negative recruiting or penn state still?? It happens but im a big believer of getting kids sold on the positives of N... then let the chips fall.. again winning cures a whole lot of things too
Then why post a tweet about it. If it wasn’t “effective” why would it bother someone to the point of tweeting about it? If it wasn’t effective why tweet to let everyone know it was going on? Wouldn’t he say thank you for negative recruiting keep it up?
We are winning championships, Nebraska isn't. We are sending 6-8 players a year to the NFL, Nebraska isn’t. That is negative recruiting and truthful in some cases.
We are winning championships, Nebraska isn't. We are sending 6-8 players a year to the NFL, Nebraska isn’t. That is negative recruiting and truthful in some cases.
None of the top sales training systems suggest any type of negative selling/crticizing the competition. It totally cheapens your offering and gives legitimacy to your competitor- people in decision making roles hate it:
http://www.roi-selling.com/blog/talking-about-your-competition
As a former business owner and sales manager I would do QC and process improvement for our sales guys. That involved one on ones with our clients and panel discussions with clients to determine why they did and didnt buy from us (consulting services). Interesting stuff- the clients absolutely hated negative selling. Of course when that negativity is untrue- it can be very frustrating, you want to respond in kind- but it was always best to just smile, be professional, work harder than everyone else and just continue to make sure our offering met their needs. We dominated our chosen space in a very short time period using a different approach- and got plenty of rocks thrown our way- it didnt work. Just my personal experience- but same approach was used in the previous position for international building materials manufacturer and training I attended for job at Xerox.
http://www.roi-selling.com/blog/talking-about-your-competition
As a former business owner and sales manager I would do QC and process improvement for our sales guys. That involved one on ones with our clients and panel discussions with clients to determine why they did and didnt buy from us (consulting services). Interesting stuff- the clients absolutely hated negative selling. Of course when that negativity is untrue- it can be very frustrating, you want to respond in kind- but it was always best to just smile, be professional, work harder than everyone else and just continue to make sure our offering met their needs. We dominated our chosen space in a very short time period using a different approach- and got plenty of rocks thrown our way- it didnt work. Just my personal experience- but same approach was used in the previous position for international building materials manufacturer and training I attended for job at Xerox.
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I think the misconception is that some other schools negative recruit all the time and that Nebraska negative recruits none of the time. Clearly neither is true. Coaches are smart enough to know when it works and when it won’t.
I just don’t like the tweet. It shows weakness and let’s everyone know it bothers Nebraska or at the least the OC.
I just don’t like the tweet. It shows weakness and let’s everyone know it bothers Nebraska or at the least the OC.
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Nebraska recruits none of the time? Thats awful if true
How are we getting recruits if we never recruit?
I dont think that is accurate
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You want to see kids getting attention they have yet to earn? You should see the some of the metro area coaches(one in particular stands out above the rest) and their recruiting of 7th and 8th graders. It's embarassing.
Sales is about going after the competition. You don't have to be negative to sell your product, but much of the time you to have to make comparisons against your competition.
"Ohio State is a very good program. Let me show you how we are going to use you in our offense vs how they would use you in their offense, and how it offers you more opportunities to excel at Nebraska."
Standard college sports fan statements- “We do it the right way, (fill in the blank) does it the wrong way”, “(Fill in the blank) cheats, that’s why they’re successful. We would be just as successful if we did the same way as them.”, “Our coaches care about the players. (Fill in the blank) could care less if they don’t produce.”, “We provide an education, not just playing time.”, “We have the best fans in the world.”
