Newsletter #7 - November

THE RECRUITING INBOX IS QUIET. YOUR PLAN SHOULDN’T BE.

What college coaches are actually doing this month, what recruiting silence really means, and how to use November to get a head start for winter.

⚽ Know another parent navigating the college recruiting maze?

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📝 Founder’s Monthly Note

A teammate posts a commitment graphic. Another parent mentions an offer. Your player checks their email again. Nothing.

I see this every fall, and I get why it’s frustrating. Families are spending real time, money, and emotion trying to figure out a process that doesn’t come with a playbook. A college coach says, “We want to see you play,” and then three weeks go by. What exactly are you supposed to do with that?

After 16 years as an NCAA head coach, I can tell you this: the quietest recruiting weeks are often when a smart family can make the most progress. But that doesn’t mean sitting around waiting for a coach to call.

Right now, as a coach, I am thinking about training, game preparation, video, our players, our opponents, postseason possibilities, and, yes, recruiting. Recruiting never disappears. The urgency just shifts when we’re in the thick of the college season.

Families who understand that calendar know when to reach out, which schools to pursue, and how to make the most of a coach’s limited evaluation time, and that advantage has nothing to do with how many followers their player has or which logo is on their jersey.

That’s what we’re going to work on this month. Not vague encouragement. A plan.

My goal with the Elite College Insider is pretty simple: for $10 a month, I want you to get more than $10 of value from every issue. If one idea saves you from registering for the wrong camp, helps you identify a better-fit college, or gets an email in front of the right coach at the right time, we’re doing our job. Or, if you just like knowing exactly what's going on and want to be the go-to parent on your team, here's your cheat code.

Let’s get to work.

Keeping It Interactive! You get to drive the conversation. Submit your toughest recruiting question through “Ask Coach.” If we feature it in an upcoming brief, your family gets the answer, other parents learn from it, and your player gets free Elite Merchandise.

🙋‍♂️ Have a question for next month?

Submit Your Question Here And Be Featured Next Newsletter

🤔 Here’s Our Question Of The Month

My daughter is a junior. Three college coaches told her at a summer camp they wanted to see her play live this fall. None of them showed up, and now they aren’t answering her emails. Some teammates are already committing. Did we miss our opportunity?

The complete answer is at the bottom of the newsletter, plus a bonus answer to the question every club parent eventually asks: should my son switch clubs to play MLS NEXT or ECNL?

⏱️ The Five-Minute Game Plan

If you’re short on time, here are the six things I want you to know in November:

🔕 Silence is not always rejection, but it isn’t an offer, either. When a coach’s season ends, send one short, specific update with current film and your winter schedule. If the pattern doesn’t change, broaden your list.

✍️ November 11 is not the last day to be recruited. It is the initial fall signing date for many Division I and II sports. Programs across every division continue to recruit afterward, on different timelines.

🧮 The Division I roster conversation needs context. The 28-player limit applies at schools participating in the House settlement, subject to exceptions. There are 1,849 NCAA men’s and women’s soccer teams projected for 2026-27, and hundreds more opportunities outside the NCAA.

🎟️ Don’t choose a showcase because its marketing says “exposure.” Choose it because the right coaches will be there, your player will get meaningful minutes, and you have a plan to contact those coaches before and afterward.

📺 Watch college soccer with your player this month. Not just highlights. Playoff season is the clearest look your family will ever get at the level your player is chasing. Watch the players at your child’s position and be objective about speed of play, decision-making, defending, and physical demands.

📞 The unseen evaluation matters. When I call a club coach about a prospect, I’m asking about far more than goals and assists. Training habits, how they respond to adversity, and their willingness to be coached can change the entire conversation.

🎯 Your challenge: By Thanksgiving, make sure your player has a realistic school list, three useful pieces of game film, and a winter event plan built around actual target programs. How to create your list will be below.

What This Is (And Is Not): This membership is a comprehensive educational playbook, not an individualized recruiting service. We do not provide one-on-one placement consulting, player evaluations, scouting rankings, or direct marketing to college coaches. Our goal is to give your family the foundational education, honest industry data, and structural tools you need to manage the college soccer landscape with absolute confidence.

📰 Missed October? Here It Is In 60 Seconds

October was our biggest month yet, with a full issue and a breaking-news bonus edition:

💸 The $600 Line. Division I recruits must report third-party NIL deals of $600 or more going back to the first day of junior year (or July 1, 2025, whichever is later). Members got the NIL Folder Audit to stay protected.

🎠 The Coaching Carousel. A verbal commitment is a handshake with a coach’s plan. When the coach leaves, the plan often leaves with them. Choose the school, not just the coach.

🗓️ Breaking: The Year-Round Season. The Division I Cabinet affirmed a plan to move D1 men’s soccer to a fall-and-spring season. (Update below.)

📸 The Recruiting Instagram. Coaches use social media as a character check, not an evaluation tool. Build it clean, consistent, and real.

If you’re a member and missed them, both October editions and their downloads are waiting in your library.

📅 Key Dates This Month

📌 Early November: The 30-day rescission window on the year-round D1 men’s season closes.

🎓 November 1 and November 15: Common Early Decision and Early Action deadlines. Dates vary by school, so check every one on your list.

✍️ November 11: Initial fall signing date for many Division I and II sports.

📺 Monday, November 16: Division I men’s and women’s NCAA brackets announced on NCAA.com.

⚽ November 20 to 22: D1 women’s first round. Second and third rounds follow November 26 to 29.

🦃 Thanksgiving week: Most college seasons are over. Coaching staffs shift into full recruiting mode, and winter event season begins.

🏆 Early December: Division II championships in Kansas City and Division III championships in Columbus, Ohio.

🏟️ December 11 to 14: Men’s and Women’s College Cups in Cary, North Carolina.

📡 The Radar: What To Know This Month

This section turns national college soccer news into actionable parent takeaways to help families ask better questions and plan smarter.

👇 What We Are Breaking Down Below:

😰 The Big Question: “My player hasn’t heard from anyone. Are we running out of time?” The honest answer, plus the Recruiting Interest Decoder, what different divisions mean for timing, and a 30-day recruiting reset.

📡 What Changed This Fall: The year-round D1 men’s season, the November signing date, what a “dead period” actually means, the 28-player roster limit in context, the NCAA’s new transfer penalties, and a bigger men’s tournament seeding format.

🏆 The College Game Fit Test And Where To Watch: Every place to watch and follow playoff games across all divisions, why the next six weeks matter so much, and the exercise that stops families from guessing what level their player belongs at.

💰 Before You Buy Another ID Camp: A coach’s five-question filter, the three event formats, and the red flags.

🔎 Inside The Coach’s Notebook: What actually happens at a winter showcase, what coaches write down, and three copy-and-paste emails your player can use this month.

🤝 How To Say No To A College Coach: The timing, the script, and the order that matters on commitment day.

💡 And in “Why Don’t They Tell Us This Stuff?” The phone call about your player that you may never hear.

Article 1: 😰 The Big Question: “My Player Hasn’t Heard From Anyone. Are We Running Out Of Time?”

First, separate two completely different questions: “Is it too late to play college soccer?” and “Is it too late to be recruited by the five schools we’ve been chasing?”

The answer to the first is often no. The answer to the second might be yes, or it might just not be yet. The trick is knowing the difference.

Here’s what happens from my side of the recruiting process. Some players are on a staff’s priority list. Some are on a secondary list. Some are names and video links we haven’t had time to fully evaluate, and some are good players who just aren’t the fit we need. Every program works differently, but those distinctions are real.

When the college season is in full swing, a short email might get saved for a later conversation. That same message might have received an immediate response in January. But let’s be clear: the calendar explains some silence. It does not explain all of it.

So how do you tell the difference?