College Recruiting Weekly Podcast

Coach Kristen Dowling has gone through it all as a young college coach. And in this episode, she shares her basketball coaching journey - and her lessons learned - for everyone in our College Recruiting Weekly audience. She started as a rising assistant coach, and then got her dream job as a head coach at a Division I program. After four years, she was fired. It crushed her. But she returned to coaching, and came back to win a championship. What did she learn through those experiences? How did her recruiting change along the way? And, what is her advice for coaches who go through the same type of professional journey she has gone through? All that and more in today's edition. If you want to reach out and ask follow-up questions of Coach Kristen Dowling, email her at kdowling@whittier.edu. Questions for the host? Email him at dan@dantudor.com. Thanks for listening, and make sure to leave us a great review and recommend us to your fellow coaches on your staff!

On this episode of the College Recruiting Weekly podcast, we bring in three of our experts at Tudor Collegiate Strategies to join Dan Tudor answering four great questions that came in from our text message coaching group. Dan and the team talked in detail about the answers to those questions, and provided some great insights into how coaches can build better strategies for their programs. This episode is also being shown on video on our Honey Badger Recruiting page. So if you want to watch instead of listen, visit here: https://dantudor.substack.com/p/team-of-experts-q-and-a-building To get the book 'The E-Myth Revisited' that Dan mentioned in one of his answer, you can order it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/?bestFormat=true&k=e-myth&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_de_k0_1_6&crid=2UQMVGULQEGQY&sprefix=e-myth To contact Dan, email us at dan@dantudor.com. Thanks for listening, Coach!

At the start of the 2025 NFL Playoffs, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was caught reading a book while sitting on the bench. The book was "Inner Excellence" by Jim Murphy. If you followed the story you know that it was what everyone in the sports world was talking about for several weeks, including before, during and after the Eagles' Super Bowl win over the Chiefs. For the author, Jim Murphy, it was a viral whirlwind that launched him into interview after interview as his book rocketed to #1 on Amazon overnight. So, what's all the hype about? Is this book worthy of bringing to a NFL team's sideline during the game? And if it is, what is it teaching athletes, coaches, business professionals and everyday people about their approach to their personal and professional life? On this episode, Jim sits down with Dan Tudor to talk about the book, the newfound attention it's getting years after it was published, and how it just may help college coaches change their outlook on their career, and help them redefine success as they move forward in their profession. This is one of the most interesting and insightful conversations we've had, and we can't wait for you to listen to it! To contact Jim about the book, speaking at your college, or working with your team, email him at jim@innerexcellence.com or visit the website at InnerExcellence.com. You can follow him on X at @innerexcellence, too. To order either of the books discussed on the show, go to:https://innerexcellence.com/jim-murphys-books/ To reach Dan Tudor, follow or message on X at @dantudor or email him at dan@dantudor.com. Thanks for listening, Coach!

On this episode of the College Recruiting Weekly podcast, we dive into the data to discover the top decision making factor used by the Class of 2024 to make their decision on which college, program and coach was right for them. We're joined by Dan Christensen, a former college coach who now heads up research and communications for us here at Tudor Collegiate Strategies, and oversees our massive annual focus group study of new college freshmen, and how they went about making their final decisions and choosing a college. It's fascinating research that will help any coach craft a better strategy, and win the best recruits in their next class! To contact Dan Christensen with any follow-up questions on this or any other research we've done, email him at danchristensen@dantudor.com. To talk to the host, email us at dan@dantudor.com. And, visit the website to get more information about any of the resources we've mentioned in this episode. Thanks for listening, Coach! Tell the rest of your department about the podcast, and don't forget to take a second to give us a 5-star review.

Are you feeling like you're being overrun with new technology and tools in your coaching life? You haven't seen anything yet! The next few years are going to usher in wholesale changes in the ways you recruit prospects, evaluate talent, and coach your team - and most of those changes are going to center around AI, artificial intelligence, in your daily life. To bring us up to speed on what the future holds, Dan Tudor talks with tech entrepreneur and Managing Partner of Olive Group, Vin McCaffrey. He is a former college basketball player, and longtime technology business leader who heads up the college sports tech firm Tactix AI, a next-gen computer vision AI and 3D digital twin technology platform built to analyze, predict, and transform the way teams compete, delivering real-time insights and data-driven decisions faster than ever. It's a fascinating conversation that will give you a peek into your future, which is coming fast. To read the insightful article Vin McCaffrey authored about the coming AI revolution in college athletics, go here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-learned-afca-ai-revolution-football-vin-mccaffrey-oat4f/?trackingId=sLOUJAilQq6WwGARBn5SKw%3D%3D You can follow him on X at @vinmccaffrey and connect with him on LinkedIn to keep up with the fascinating tools he and his company are launching for college coaches. You can contact Dan Tudor at dan@dantudor.com or on X at @dantudor, as well as LinkedIn. Thanks for listening, Coach!

When it comes to developing and building your program as a college coach, there is no greater potential helper than your athletic director. And in recruiting, when coaches can make a solid connection with a high school athletic director, it can be a great source of information as you scout and search for prospects. In this episode, we talk to Jake von Scherrer, a Certified Master Athletic Administrator, who has over 50 years of Championship experience as an Athlete, a Coach, a Teacher, and as an Athletic Director. He is the founder of Victory Educational Athletics, where he offers valuable resources to the athletic director and coaching community. We talked to him about how to help your AD on your campus, what their struggles are, how to maximize your relationship with them, and also how to approach and utilize high school athletic directors in your career as a college coach. For information on Jake and his organization, visit https://www.victoryeducationalathletics.com/ To contact the host, email us at dan@dantudor.com. Thanks for listening, Coach!

The Transfer Portal has become a behemoth in the recruiting and roster creation world of college coaches. But does that result in developing a winner? More often than not, the answer - according to analytics - is, surprisingly, no. One analyst that has researched this Evan Miyakawa, a former NBA consultant who now focuses on college basketball, and studying the statistical trends. He's a rising star in the college analytics world, and joined us on the podcast to talk about an article that he published in December 2024 which came to the conclusion that rosters with high turnovers resulted in programs that failed to win. It's a fascinating conversation that applies to every coach in every sport across division levels - especially those struggling to define how to use the Transfer Portal. To follow Evan's great research and insights, go to www.EvanMiya.com. To read the article this episode talks about, go to https://blog.evanmiya.com/p/teams-with-roster-turnover-are-struggling Questions for the host? Email him at dan@dantudor.com. Don't forget to rate the show and give us 5-stars, and tell at least 75 fellow coaches about the podcast today. Seriously. Thanks for listening, Coach!

On this episode, listen in to the talk Dan Tudor presented at the 2024 American Volleyball Coaches Association convention to a group of Division I head coaches and assistant coaches. The discussion centered around the challenges so many coaches and their programs are working through with all the new rule changes and new options athletes and prospects have in determining where they compete. This talk went over some proven solutions for how college coaches can better manage those changes, and still successfully build their program. Coaches outside of the Division I level can also learn from this talk, as many of the principles apply to Division II, Division III and NAIA coaching staffs, as well. Want to contact the host? Email him at dan@dantudor.com. Like the podcast? GREAT! Make sure to subscribe, and take a minute to rate the show (hopefully 5-stars!). And, tell other coaches in your athletic department about College Recruiting Weekly. Thanks, Coach!

Inevitably, like it or not, you're going to run into a prospect (or their parents) who is leaning away from the idea of committing to you. I know, shocking. But it does happen once in a while. And when it does, the reaction you should have shouldn't be to 'give up' or 'stop talking'. Especially when an objection happens early on, your job as a recruiter is to make your case. Define why they should see you differently. Change their mind. That's what today's show is all about! Join Dan as he speaks at the USTFCCCA track and field coaches about the topic. You're going to learn a step by step strategy on how to approach your prospects the next time you run into one of them who has seemingly decided you aren't looking like the right fit. Questions? Follow-up with our host at dan@dantudor.com. And, make sure to check out the website to see how we work one-on-one with coaching staffs, and how to access all of our other tools and techniques for building your program. Thanks for listening, Coach!

Are you recruiting international prospects? Do you want to, but just don't know how? What's the secret to being successful? On this episode, we're going to dig deep into the topic with the help from Division I Coach Danny Acosta, Head Baseball Coach at University of Maryland - Eastern Shore. Coach Acosta is from Puerto Rico, and has recruited globally for his 30 year coaching career, as well as helping rising athletes find a place collegiately in the U.S. He brings a unique perspective to the conversation, and you're going to learn a LOT about what international families really want as they go through the process, what you need to make sure your school can do in the process, and how easy it is to actually get started. Want to contact Coach Acosta with questions? He'd love to help give you advice, no matter what your sport or division level! Email him at dacostalaureano@umes.edu, and click here for more info: https://umeshawksports.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/danny-acosta/2444 Questions for the host? Email him at dan@dantudor.com. Thanks for listening, Coach! Make sure to subscribe and tell at least 1,000 fellow coaches about the show this coming week. Thanks in advance for that, by the way.