Soccer College Recruiting Video Tips

We all know there is a huge difference in talent from a Division 1 college and a Division 3 college. But I bet you didn’t know that when it comes to college recruiting videos, the way the Division 1 college coach/recruiter uses them is entirely different in how a Division 3 college coach may use them.

We recently got to sit down with Wake Forest Men’s Soccer coach Bobby Muuss to get his insight on how his program utilizes highlight footage. If you are not familiar with Coach Muuss here is a recap. In Muuss’s first season at Wake Forest, he engineered one of the most successful seasons the program has seen in guiding the Demon Deacons to a 17-3-2 record to go with a regular-season ACC championship and a run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Championship as the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. At season’s end, Muuss was named the ACC’s Coach of the Year, becoming the fourth coach in conference history to earn the honor in his first season with the team. That being said, it is safe to say, Coach Muuss knows how to build a program.

I asked Coach Muuss how he uses college recruiting videos. He surprised me by saying that he personally likes to visit the players in person. He went on to say that the players at this level are all good and it is just a matter of fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. If cannot get to go to a live game, he looks to see how many highlights are in one game, versus one or two highlights from several games. This tells him that the kid with one highlight from several games is not a dominant player. He said “heck, you or I could get one highlight from a game”. We laughed.

On the contrary, a Division 3 coach typically wants to see the highlights and at least one half of a game. The budgets of a D-3 school is not as large as a D-1, therefore relying more on the film.

Key take-a-ways are that if you are applying to a D-1 school, create a video from a game that you dominated in. It is important to remember, do not send in a game where the opponent was below average. The coaches will see that in a moments notice.

If you send your film to a D-3 school, make sure the plays in the highlight reel are truly “highlights”. The goal is to “wow” the coach. Put your best plays up front and keep the total length of the video to 2-5 minutes max.

Best of Luck!