Maximizing Your Recruiting: Highlights

Highlight Tape Tips: A Guide for Recruits

Creating an effective highlight tape is crucial in capturing the attention of college coaches. It serves as your first impression, and in the competitive world of football recruiting, a well-structured highlight tape can make all the difference. Here are a few tips on how you can structure your tape to maximize its impact and showcase your skills in the best possible light to coaches.

1. Start with a Strong Intro

The first 5-10 seconds are crucial. Coaches don’t have time to watch every second of a 5-minute video, so you need to grab their attention immediately. Begin with:

• Your name
• Position & Kohl’s Ranking/Rating
• High School & Graduation/Recruiting year
• X (formerly Twitter) handle, email & phone number
• Any accolades – i.e. All-State, 3x All-Conference, etc.

**Pro Tip: Keep this intro short and on-screen for no more than 5 seconds - Coaches are more interested in seeing you play than reading about you and they can always go back and pause it to get the information they need.

2. Put Your Best Plays First

Lead with your most impressive plays right after the intro. Don’t save the best for last—put them upfront. Coaches often make snap judgments, so your first few clips need to show why you stand out, like:

• Game winners or longest FGs (be sure to include all your makes)
• Huge KO (distance/hang time)
• Big punts/downed at the goal line
• Great snaps with a tackle

**Pro Tip: Be sure to add labels of distances (and hang times if you can be accurate). Feel free to add trick plays or onside kicks, but don’t make them the focus.

3. Keep It Short & Sweet

The ideal length for a highlight tape is around 3-5 minutes. Any longer, and you risk losing the coach’s attention. The goal is to provide a glimpse of your talent, enough to get the coach to request full game film for a deeper evaluation.

• Edit out unnecessary filler—don’t need to include double-digit PAT kicks or snaps, or “O.K.” punts that don’t stand out.

**Pro Tip: Ensure your music is appropriate and not offensive. The music isn’t something that will get you interest but it can often be a knock against you

4. Additional Ideas:

Here are some

• Have a title slide preceding each group of film clips like FGs, KOs, Punts (could do full, pooch, etc.), Deep Snaps, Short Snaps, etc.
• If you play another position, a few top highlights from there (touchdowns, tackles, etc.) could be added
• You can include different camera angles (endzone/sideline) of top highlight clips (if the film quality is high enough) – avoid using shaky/blurry phone film from the stands.

Final Thoughts on Utilizing Your Film Clips

Knowing when to send, what to post, and/or who to send it to is often the next challenging aspect in the process for many athletes. Having a target list of schools, the right contacts, and when it’s best to blast out your highlights is just one aspect of how Underdog Recruits + Consulting can help you maximize your recruiting!

Underdog has helped 350+ specialists in their recruiting and 79% have gone on to find their place to play. Reach out today to learn more about how Underdog can be an advantage in your recruiting!

Jake Dombrowski
Founder of Underdog/Kohl’s Kicking Coach
jacobdombrowski@underdogconsultant.com