College Football Recruiting Jobs: How to Land a Successful Career Enlisting Talented Athletes

College football recruiting jobs are highly competitive but are an incredible opportunity to impact the success of a team. It is also good news that the vast majority of sports recruitment positions are in football. 

Typically the primary responsibility of these positions is to assess talent — although field coaching also often comes into play. In smaller programs, recruitment is managed by an assistant coach — in turn reducing their coaching time. You will have to work long hours in this position, but if you perform well, expect it to accelerate your career.

What Does an NCAA Football Recruiter Do?

After discussing general requirements for NCAA recruiting football jobs, we will briefly discuss responsibilities specific to college football recruiting assistant jobs. Here are core job functions for college football recruiting jobs: 

Recruitment

Recruiters meet with players and their parents – traveling to their locations to do so. The primary goal is to get top high school players to agree to join the program and score a scholarship. These professionals present to the athletes their arguments for why their program is the best choice.

Talent Evaluation

Potential can be a very difficult thing to gauge. Recruiters become excerpts by scrutinizing player skillsets. To evaluate athletes, they watch videos, read stories, and travel to attend games.

NCAA Rules Comprehension

High school athlete recruiting is monitored closely by the NCAA, with strict penalties for those who break its rules. The ways in which you interact with these promising athletes and the frequency with which you contact them are both controlled. Recruiters must know these rules.

Academic Tracking

High school players who receive scholarships are college student-athletes. Every NCAA institution has academic standards that its scholarship athletes must meet. Recruiters gather grades and manage an academic accountability system. They submit incoming players to review by the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Character Assessment 

A key responsibility of college football recruiting jobs is to ensure that players have strong character. It is a strong sign if a player’s coach and high school teammates have good things to say about him. Players who are selfish or unruly are avoided.

For an example of a specific job standard for an NCAA football recruitment position, see Boise State’s “Job Standard for Football Recruitment Coordinator.” 

In assistant positions, you will work under the recruiting coordinator and video coordinator, who will assign you tasks. Most importantly, you will be looking for and preparing evaluation materials (such as videos) for football staff review.

How Much Does A College Football Recruiter Make?

One of the top questions related to college football recruiting jobs has to do with pay. There is a huge range for pay in these positions depending on the program, specific duties, and experience. The typical college football recruiting salary ranges from $22,000 to $72,000 per year. NCAA football recruiting assistant jobs will pay less, of course, than higher-level positions: football recruiting assistants typically make $22,000 to $57,000. 

How to Become a College Football Recruiter

Here is, in brief, how to become a college football recruiter:

• Play football. A background in football is invaluable when you are evaluating player capabilities.
• Get a degree. A degree in sports management can be helpful in establishing knowledge of the business of sports. A kinesiology degree is a completely different but highly relevant direction.
• Get an internship. Get your foot in the door.
• Become an assistant coach. Coaching at any level will sharpen your skills and help you demonstrate them to colleges.
• Network. Connect through sports-specific networking channels to accelerate your career. 

Types of College Football Recruiting Jobs Available

Four specific types of college football recruiting jobs are the following:

1. Director of Recruiting – These football recruiting jobs are the most prestigious and highest-paid. Directors manage the logistical and operational processes of recruitment. They also develop year-long recruiting calendars. They collect video and data for prospect evaluation by the coaching staff.
2. Recruiting Coordinator – These professionals oversee all administrative duties related to recruiting. Coordinators also keep the coaching staff abreast of recruiting administration, as well as being in charge of the recruiting budget.
3. Football Recruit – This position is described in the above section, “What Does an NCAA Football Recruiter Do?”
4. Recruiting Assistant – See above for the duties of this position as well.

Scoring College Football Recruiting Jobs

Are you excited about the idea of a career in college football recruiting? At Jobs in Sports, we can help you meet people who can profoundly impact your career – with our network of nearly 15,000 sports industry professionals. Join today for FREE!