The Pro Athlete Mindset That Creates World-Class Recruiters

Nov 24, 2025

Jared Watts, a former MLS soccer player and founder of Next Play Search Group, brings his elite athlete mindset to the recruiting arena. He shares how skills like performance tracking and visualization translate into recruiting success. Jared emphasizes the importance of treating recruitment like a sport, discusses negotiating contracts using data, and highlights building trust through generosity. With tips on achieving precise KPI tracking and fostering strong relationships, he inspires recruiters to elevate their game continuously.

01:00:19

forum

Ask episode

web_stories

AI Snips

view_agenda

Chapters

menu_book

Books

auto_awesome

Transcript

info_circle

Episode notes

question_answer

ANECDOTE

Negotiating With Game Tape

Jared negotiated his second MLS contract himself using publicly available performance and salary data.
He used that analysis to argue his worth and secure a better deal.

volunteer_activism

ADVICE

Measure Like An Athlete

Track everything and tie daily activity back to numeric goals like an athlete tracking a scoreboard.
Reverse-engineer annual revenue into average fee, close rate, and pipeline required.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

In-House With Agency Economics

Jared went in-house but structured his compensation to mirror agency upside with commissions on placements.
He charged the investor a discounted flat fee and kept most of the fee while giving the company a small share.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

From MLS Draft Pick to Recruiter

Negotiating His Own MLS Contract

02:32 • 3min

chevron_right

Evaluating Performance Like Game Tape

05:31 • 4min

chevron_right

Translating Athlete Habits to Recruiting

09:12 • 7min

chevron_right

Early Recruiting Wins and Mindset

16:02 • 3min

chevron_right

Winning Rapid Placements at a Boutique Firm

18:59 • 1min

chevron_right

Going In-House to Build Scale

20:13 • 5min

chevron_right

Working with PE/VC and Internal Search Model

Launching Next Play Search Group

29:20 • 59sec

chevron_right

Tracking Metrics Like an Athlete

30:19 • 1min

chevron_right

Studying Negotiation and Reviewing Calls

31:45 • 3min

chevron_right

Give Without Expectation to Scale Relationships

34:17 • 4min

chevron_right

Weekly Outreach: Intros and Free Agency List

37:52 • 1min

chevron_right

Visualization and Treating Clients as Equals

39:11 • 2min

chevron_right

Daily Routine, Calendar Discipline, and Reminders

41:19 • 4min

chevron_right

Why Athletes Make Great Recruiters

45:15 • 1min

chevron_right

Old-School Touches: Handwritten Cards

46:30 • 1min

chevron_right

Advice for New Recruiters: Cut Your Teeth

47:41 • 2min

chevron_right

Tech Stack and Automation Aids

49:15 • 59sec

chevron_right

Biggest Challenge: Saying No and Focus

50:15 • 1min

chevron_right

Reflections: First-Year Lessons

51:27 • 2min

chevron_right

LinkedIn Strategy: Be Real and Tell Your Story

52:58 • 2min

chevron_right

Choose Niches You Enjoy

54:42 • 3min

chevron_right

Where to Follow Jared

• Mentioned in 130 episodes

The hard thing about hard things

building a business when there are no easy answers

Ben Horowitz

In this book, Ben Horowitz shares his personal and often humbling experiences in the tech industry to offer essential advice and practical wisdom. He addresses various hard decisions and challenges that business leaders face, such as firing friends, managing company culture, handling layoffs, and making tough strategic decisions. Horowitz emphasizes the importance of honesty, resilience, and adaptability in leadership, drawing from his experiences with companies like Loudcloud and Andreessen Horowitz.

#29

• Mentioned in 273 episodes

Never Split the Difference

Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

Tahl Raz

Chris Voss

VOSS/RAZ

This book, written by former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss and co-author Tahl Raz, provides a masterclass in influencing others through negotiation. It distills the Voss method, revealing skills such as establishing rapport, creating trust with tactical empathy, and transforming conflict into collaboration. The book is filled with real-life examples from Voss's career, illustrating how these techniques can be applied in both professional and personal life to achieve goals and defuse potential crises.

#59

• Mentioned in 200 episodes

Extreme ownership

How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

Leif Babin

Jocko Willink

This book by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin focuses on the principle of 'Extreme Ownership,' where leaders take full responsibility for their actions and decisions. The authors use their experiences in the U.S. Navy SEALs to illustrate how this mindset can lead to success in any organization. The book covers various principles such as believing in the mission, checking ego, and leading by example. It emphasizes that leaders must own all failures, develop plans to overcome them, and ensure their teams are well-conditioned and aligned with the mission. The authors also stress the importance of humility, discipline, and effective communication in leadership.

The Pro Athlete Mindset That Creates World-Class Recruiters

What happens when a former professional athlete brings elite discipline, visualization, and competitive fire into recruiting? You get a recruiter who treats the desk like a sport—and builds a fast-growing search firm in record time.

In this episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, former pro athlete Jared Watts, founder of Next Play Search Group, reveals how the athlete DNA that took him from youth national teams to the professional level translates directly into high-performance recruiting. From reviewing “game tape,” embracing pressure, and tracking everything like a scoreboard to building trust with PE/VC firms, Jared breaks down the exact mindset and systems behind his rapid rise.

He shares how he structured an in-house role to mimic agency upside, launched his firm intentionally, and built a relationship engine where candidates often become future clients. If you’re looking to grow your desk, strengthen your business development, or operate with more precision and confidence, this conversation will push you to level up.

If you want to:

• Stop guessing and start tracking the right KPIs

• Build a repeatable client engine

• Improve your negotiation and influence skills

• Create a personal operating system that compounds

• Develop the self-belief and discipline of a pro athlete…

This episode will change how you work.

Key Takeaways

• Elite recruiters track like athletes. Jared reverse-engineers every goal using metrics, patterns, and daily habits.

• Relationships scale revenue. Giving without expectation—introductions, notes, referrals—creates a pipeline of repeat PE/VC clients.

• Visualization drives performance. Confidence comes from preparation and treating every conversation like a high-stakes moment.

• Do things that don’t scale. Personal touchpoints create leverage automation can’t match.

• Protect your time. BD, candidates, and high-value conversations come first—everything else waits.

Listen, subscribe, share, and connect with us!

SPONSORS & LINKS

🎯 2026 Sales and BD Recruiter Summit:

https://bd-sales-recruiter-2026.heysummit.com/

🚀 Atlas – AI-first ATS & CRM

Automates admin, syncs resumes/emails, and uses AI to build polished profiles and reports.

Try it free or book a demo → https://recruitwithatlas.com

🌐 Recruiters Websites (10% off for listeners)

High-performance websites built for recruiting agencies.

Mention Elite Recruiter Podcast for 10% off → https://recruiterswebsites.com/

💼 Join the Elite Recruiter Community — Only $49/month

Access ALL Summit Replays, live roundtables, Billers’ Club, and our split space.

Join → https://elite-recruiters.circle.so/checkout/elite-recruiter-community

🧠 Free Trials:

PeopleGPT → https://juicebox.ai/?via=b6912d

Talin AI → https://app.talin.ai/signup?via=recruiter

Pin → https://www.pin.com/

📬 Newsletter Signup:

https://eliterecruiterpodcast.beehiiv.com/subscribe

▶️ YouTube Episode: https://youtu.be/CPI43bV5cgI

🔗 Connect with Jared Watts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-watts-1799339b/

👤 With Host Benjamin Mena (Select Source Solutions):

http://www.selectsourcesolutions.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminmena/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benlmena/

Home Top podcasts Popular guests Top books