What Questions Do College Coaches Ask Recruits?

Throughout your recruiting process, you’ll experience a wide variety of communication with college coaches. In these conversations, there are many questions that college coaches might ask, so you’re probably wondering what to expect and how best to prepare.

College coaches look for athletes that could potentially fit their program on a number of different levels, so the questions they ask will usually revolve around the different focuses of recruiting. This might include athletic questions regarding former accomplishments and future plans, academic questions for eligibility purposes, and general personal questions that allow them to get a sense of your character and personality.

It’s important to be aware of the different questions that a coach might ask of you throughout recruiting, because these conversations can have a genuine impact on your opportunities. Knowing what to expect and having the right preparation for these questions can lead to further success in your process.

Athletic Questions

As a recruit, it may seem obvious that coaches will ask about your overall athletic career, your plans for the immediate future, and specifics about your game. However, it’s not always as straightforward as it may seem, and there are some different topics that you should anticipate speaking on.

The following outlines some specific questions that you might be asked by a coach about your game, but it’s helpful to know that there are different variations of these questions, so the important takeaway is to know the basic areas that they might focus on.

Technical/Skill-Specific Questions: These questions are more basic and geared toward understanding the specifics of your game and how you’ve displayed them throughout your career.

What are your strengths and weaknesses as a player?
How might your game fit into our program and our values?
What are your greatest accomplishments as a player?
What is your training and practice routine?

Mindset And Passion: Aside from basic questions about your skill and routine, coaches will ask certain questions that give them an idea of your work ethic, motivation level, and approach to the game.

What are your greatest failures or challenging moments throughout your playing career? How do you handle adversity?
Why do you play? What makes you passionate about the game or inspires you?
What makes you think you’re ready to play at this level?
What are your athletic goals in college?
Do you have plans or dreams of playing beyond college?
What are your plans to get better and improve on your weaknesses?
How do you approach the game mentally? How have you shown mental strength in your game?
How might you impact our program?
How do you feel about winning and losing?
Who is your favorite player and why? Favorite team and why?
How often do you watch (this sport)? How do you learn from watching others?

Remember that these lists don’t cover every potential question a coach might ask, but the main idea is that there is a wide range of ways that coaches can get a sense of your capabilities and aspirations as a player. They’ll want to know not only what skills and strengths you possess, but also how you view yourself as a player, how you motivate, and how you work to improve. Coaches value players that have raw talent in addition to determination and a passionate mindset.

Academic Questions

Academics play a major role in recruiting. Coaches will always ask about grades and test scores because they have serious implications on enrollment eligibility and even scholarship opportunities. In addition, coaches may ask questions that give them an indication as to whether or not the school itself might be the right fit for you.

Eligibility/Grades Questions: There are basic questions that every coach has to ask because they need to know if you’ll even be eligible to enroll in the school, or if you might be able to pursue various scholarship opportunities.

What are your grades like?
Have you taken the SAT or ACT, and if so, what are your scores?
When do you plan to take the SAT or ACT?
Have you registered with the Eligibility Center?
Can you send me a copy of your transcripts?
How do you plan to improve as a student?

Academic Values/School Fit: Coaches have to ask the basics for eligibility purposes, but they’ll likely also want to get a sense of your goals as a student and what you value in an institution.

What are you looking for in a school?
Have you thought about what you might want to major in?
What are your academic and/or career goals?
What interests you about our school in particular?
How do you see yourself as a fit here academically?
Do you think you’re capable of handling the responsibilities of a student-athlete?

At the end of the day, being a student-athlete in college means that you will bear the same academic responsibilities as your peers on top of committing to a team. Coaches need to know that you will not only meet eligibility requirements, but also be motivated to succeed in the classroom with a serious mindset.

Character And Personality Questions

Coaches look for well-rounded players in the recruiting process. There are countless players that possess the athletic talent and/or academic standing to play at the next level, but coaches also place a lot of value on finding players with strong personal character and coachability, so you should expect to receive questions that speak to these qualities.

Do you consider yourself a leader on and off the field? How so?
What are your relationships like with current and former coaches? Have you ever had trouble getting along with a coach?
How do you get along with your teammates?
How do you make the people around you better?
Who are your greatest inspirations as a player? As a person?
What values do you live by? How do you demonstrate these on and off the field?
How do you feel about playing time?
What are your interests or passions outside of sports?

There are many intangible qualities that coaches look for, such as humility, leadership, work ethic, and personability. These types of questions are designed to get a sense of whether or not you possess these qualities and how you can make a positive impact on the program aside from just your skills and talents.

Questions About Your Recruiting Process

Recruiting can be very competitive on both sides of the process. Coaches will often want to know what other opportunities you have, where you stand, and how serious you are about their program. You should expect coaches to be direct in asking about these different aspects of your entire recruiting process.

What other schools are recruiting you? Where are you in the recruiting process? Where do we rank on your list?
What interests you about our program? (This could be geared towards athletics, academics, personnel, or all of the above)
Why here? What makes you think that this program is the right fit for you?
What sets you apart from other recruits?
Do you have any questions for me? (About the school, the process, etc.)

Questions about your recruiting process are usually rather direct and informational. Coaches want to get a genuine sense of where you stand, what your plans are, and how serious you are about the opportunity. You should always try to be as honest as possible when answering these questions, because maintaining transparency will help build stronger relationships and help both you and the program determine if the fit is right.

Things To Keep In Mind

Not Just Athletics: Yes, coaches want to find the best talent that will help their team win, and they’ll ask you plenty of questions to get a sense of how you might benefit their overall performance. However, there’s a lot more that goes into recruiting besides just finding the best players. You should expect coaches to ask deeper questions as they try to get a sense of your overall mindset, your academic track record and goals, and your level of character.

Be Prepared: It’s good to know what coaches might ask you, but you should try to take the next step and be prepared for how you might answer these types of questions. Being prepared to speak to these different aspects of your game and personality will help you land more opportunities and build better relationships