What A College Coach Looks For In Recruits

Santa Clara University Head Women’s Soccer Coach Jerry Smith (@SCUJerrySmith), a PCA National Advisory Board Member, has established a standard of excellence few can match, ranking as one of the five winningest women’s soccer coaches in NCAA Division I history.

When Smith recruits athletes to play in college, he looks at their verbal and nonverbal behavior. Recruiting positive players, who will spread positive influence among teammates, is crucial to the program's success. Therefore, Smith fully vets a young athlete's personality and work ethic as part of the recruiting process.

He does this by focusing on how they play and what attitude they exhibit on days when the conditions are not ideal. He wants to know how an athlete comes to practice in the “dog days of summer” and after several losses. How hard is that athlete working when times are tough? Hard work and positive attitudes will take an athlete a long way with college coaches and recruiters.