How To Tell A College Coach You Committed Somewhere Else?

As a recently committed prospect who was considering numerous schools, or has received multiple scholarship offers, you are probably wondering how best to tell college coaches you chose to commit somewhere else.

Telling college coaches you chose to commit elsewhere can be stressful, especially for high schoolers. The most important thing to remember is to be straight forward, considerate, and honest when telling them. Remember that coaches are used to this - they recruit hundreds of players for very limited spots every year.

The period immediately following your commitment is one filled with anticipation, excitement, and happiness. However, there are some procedural things that are significantly less fun - telling other college coaches you chose to commit to a different school is one such thing. To help you focus on the excitement surrounding your commitment, we have provided a guide for informing other coaches that you committed somewhere else below.

Informing College Coaches Of Your Decision

Even though you most likely aren’t excited to tell college coaches you won’t be attending their school, it is something you have to do. They invested considerable effort into recruiting you, so they deserve to be told about your final decision.

Be Professional: Out of respect for other coaches and their programs, you should be as mature and professional as possible when informing them of your decision. One way to do this is to speak to them personally over the phone, rather than sending a generic email to every school who recruited you. Additionally, remember to sincerely thank each coach for inviting you to be a part of their program.

Be Punctual: As we mentioned in the previous section, college coaches prefer to hear about your commitment directly from you. For this reason, it is important that you inform them of your decision as soon as you possibly can. Taking a day to celebrate your commitment with your friends and family is awesome, but the coaches at other schools should be your first calls after that. You want to inform them before they find out about it from a newspaper or your new school’s website.

Don’t Burn Any Bridges: Not all commitments end up working out perfectly. Athletes decommit, or transfer, at a surprisingly high rate. To keep your options open in the case of you transferring or decommitting, make sure not to burn any bridges with the college coaches who recruited you. After all, they would probably be some of your first calls if you chose to attend a different college.

Prospects who do the best job of informing college coaches that they will be playing somewhere else are those who are honest and handle the situation maturely. Coaches will not be angry at you for choosing to attend a different college. However, they will not appreciate prospects who are unprofessional or rude.

Deciding When To Commit

Committing to a college, and informing other coaches of your decision, is obviously a big step. It essentially marks the end of your recruitment. To help you decide when you are ready to commit, we included some things to consider below.

Comfort Level: You should be absolutely certain you want to attend the college you choose before you commit to it. This may sound like common sense, but many prospects commit to a school before they have fully explored their options. There is nothing wrong with prolonging your recruiting process to make sure that you make the best possible decision.

Academic Fit: While it is obviously essential that you fit in well with the specific sports program you are committing to, it is equally as important that you fit into the school as a whole, specifically when it comes to academics. You should consider the school’s academic strengths and how well they match your personal academic interests before committing.

Athletic Fit: Beyond academic fit, make sure you are an excellent fit with the specific sports program you are committing to. This will mostly be determined by the strength of your relationships with the program’s coaches and players. However, it is also important that you consider smaller things like your likelihood for early playing time and the coaches’ track record for developing players.

Think About Timing: There is a reason prospects typically wait until their junior or senior year of high school to commit. A lot can change very quickly, which often leads to prospects decommitting. In order to minimize the chances of this happening, it is normally better to wait until you have really gotten to know the coaching staff at the school you are committing to, which typically doesn’t happen until late into high school.

Following the steps above will greatly improve the chances of your commitment ending well. However, it is also important to remember that there is no punishment for decommitting from a school if you think it is in your best interests.

Telling Coaches That You Want To Transfer/Decommit

If you decide to decommit, or transfer, from a college, there is a process you have to follow. This first step of this process is communicating with various coaches.

Current Coaches: The coaches at your current school have obviously invested a lot of time, and most likely money, into your development as a player. For this reason, they deserve to be a part of your decision to decommit/transfer. You should inform them that you are considering decommitting, and keep them updated throughout the process. If you do decide to move to a different college, follow the same advice as informing college coaches of your decision to commit elsewhere.

Be Prepared To Talk: Because decommitting/transferring is such a big decision, your current coach will want to discuss it with you pretty extensively. Before this conversation, make sure you gather your thoughts. You should be able to explain to your coach why you feel it is in your best interest to change schools, even if the explanation is something as simple as not fitting in with the program’s culture.

Potential Future Coaches: Before officially decommitting, you should make sure that there are other programs out there that have significant interest in you. You can do this by reaching out to coaches at other colleges and informing them of your decision to decommit. When prospects choose to reopen their recruitment, it is most common for them to consider schools that had already established interest in them. This is why it is incredibly important that you do not burn any bridges with other programs when informing them that you are committing elsewhere.

Decommitting/transferring is obviously a huge decision. However, you can handle the process professionally and maturely by being honest and communicating with both your current and potential future coaches.

Things To Keep In Mind

Method Of Communication Matters: You should not inform a college coach that you are committing somewhere else through an email or voicemail. Take the time to speak to each coach personally.

Showing Maturity: Many prospects do not even notify coaches at other programs of their decision to commit. Informing them of your decision, and thanking them for the hours they spent recruiting you, sets you apart from many other prospects and shows real maturity.

Don’t Make Your Parents Do It: Coaches want to hear of your decision from you - not your parents! Coaches will likely lose respect for you if they see that your parents do your dirty work.

Coaches Are Used To It: Most college coaches get turned down by several college recruits every year. They are used to it. This is why they appreciate honesty and sincerity more than anything else.

Be Straight To The Point: Don’t try to delay informing coaches of your decision. Tell them almost immediately after deciding, and they will respect your decision and most likely wish you the best in your college athletics career.