The Recruiting Secrets College Football Coaches Don't Tell Athletes

Most families think recruiting is about being talented enough to get noticed. It is not. I sat down with Coach CJ Scarpa, Head College Football Coach at Bentley University, who has coached at every level from the NFL with the New England Patriots to D1, the Ivy League at Harvard, and now as a D2 head coach outside Boston. What he shared about what coaches actually see when they watch your film will change how you approach the process.

This is not theory. This is what happens in the film room before a coach ever picks up the phone.

The First Thing Every Coach Looks for on Film Is Not What You Think

Coach Scarpa was barely two minutes into our conversation before he said it: violence.

Not size. Not speed. Not how far a quarterback throws. Violence.

What does that mean practically? It means playing low to high at the line of scrimmage. Like an airplane taking off, not nose-diving into the ground. It means running your feet on contact instead of stopping your motor the moment a defender touches you. It means finishing plays six to seven seconds after the ball is snapped, even when the play is over.

Here is why coaches weight this so heavily. Violence on film is controllable. A player who plays low to high, who drives his feet through a block, who finishes every rep. That player made a choice to do that. And choices you make at 17 in a Friday night game tell coaches everything about the choices you will make at 21 in a game that matters.

I always tell families: coaches are not just evaluating talent. They are evaluating character through the lens of effort. Coach Scarpa confirmed exactly that. He said his staff looks for players whose effort pops off the tape. Guys who treat every play like it counts because for them, it does.

You cannot control your height. You cannot manufacture elite speed overnight. But you can play low to high on every single snap starting today.

Position-Specific Film Tips That Separate Good Players from Recruited Players

Knowing what coaches want in general is one thing. Knowing what they want to see at your exact position is another.

Coach Scarpa broke it down:

Offensive linemen: Pancakes. Finishing blocks into the ground. If a defender is going backwards because you drove your feet through contact, coaches notice. One pancake clip in your highlight reel does more than five clips of you getting a decent push.

Defensive linemen: Shock, shed, rip. Get off the ball, absorb the block, and get to the quarterback. Coaches want to see the sequence executed with aggression. Not just the sack, but the technique that created it.

Wide receivers: This is where most players leave points on the table. Perimeter blocking with violent hands. Feet within the framework of your body. No calming hands that just catch a defender and hold on. Violent hands that get into a block and finish it. On routes, dip and rip through linebackers trying to reroute you. Swim technique over the top when a defender is in your path. And making tough catches over the middle. Hands out front, absorbing contact, not alligator-arming anything.

Coach Scarpa coached receivers at Bentley for two years before taking the head job. He knows exactly what he is looking for at that position, and it is not just separation speed. It is the player who does the dirty work when the ball is not coming his way.

One tip that does not get talked about enough: if you are a ball carrier with something going down the sideline, run through the defender instead of stepping out of bounds. Unless you are in a two-minute drill or protecting a lead, coaches want to see you finish. Running out of bounds when you have an angle on a defender is a missed opportunity to show violence on film.

How to Communicate with College Coaches the Right Way

Most players reach out to coaches the same way. Generic email, generic DM, maybe a text. The coach sees fifty of those a week and responds to none of them.

Coach Scarpa gave me the first concrete step that almost nobody takes seriously enough: fill out the questionnaire first.

Not after you reach out. Before. Complete it, and when you send your first message, put in the PS line that you have already done it.

Here is why this matters. When Coach Scarpa tells a recruit to fill out the questionnaire and that recruit does not do it, the evaluation is already over. He told me directly: I know right away that kid is not coachable. That is not just a missed form. That is a failed audition.

After the questionnaire, the communication strategy is straightforward but most families still get it wrong because they go too passive. Continued contact with the position coach or area coach via text, DMs, phone calls, and FaceTime. Keep coaches posted on how workouts are going. Shoot a random update. Ask to jump on a Zoom call and lead that conversation.

That last part is critical at schools like Bentley. Because Bentley is a business school, the coaching staff uses how a recruit handles a video call as evidence for admissions. If you can lead a conversation, ask smart questions, and come across like someone the university wants, coaches can go to bat for you with the admissions office. At private schools, that advocacy matters. A lot.

The questions that make coaches want to recruit you are not "what offense do you run?" They are questions like: what does the alumni network look like for someone who wants to start a business? Are Bentley alums coming back and hiring players from the program? What does four years here set me up to do? Those questions tell a coach you are thinking beyond just playing time. That is exactly who they want in their building.

The Truth About Balancing Your High School Coach and College Recruiting

This is a question I get all the time from families, and Coach Scarpa gave the most honest answer I have heard from a coach.

What if your high school coach is teaching you something different from what college coaches want to see on film?

His answer: be upfront with your high school coach about what college programs are looking for. Have that conversation. Show that you are invested in football at the next level. But at the end of the day, do what your high school coach says, because he controls your playing time. No playing time means no film. No film means the conversation is over.

I respect that answer because it is real. College coaches are not in your high school film room. Your high school coach is. And while it can be frustrating to know there is a gap between what you are being taught and what college coaches want, the way to close that gap is communication, not conflict.

Talk ball with the college coaches you are in contact with. Ask them directly what they want to see at your position. Take that back to your high school coach. Frame it as investment, not correction. Most coaches, according to Scarpa, will adapt if they understand why. It shows both coaches that you are serious about your future.

Academics and Admissions: What Private D2 Schools Actually Require

Here is what families do not fully understand until it is too late: at private D2 schools, admissions has the final say. Always.

A coach can want a player badly. Can advocate for him. Can tell the admissions office this is a priority recruit. And admissions can still say no. That is the reality at schools like Bentley, and it changes how you have to approach the process.

Coach Scarpa walked me through what Bentley requires. A minimum 3.0 GPA is the floor. If you want to qualify for merit aid, the benchmark is a 30 ACT or 1300 SAT. Test scores are optional, but if you have them and they hit those numbers, submitting them can unlock financial packages that make the school significantly more affordable.

The pre-read process typically happens at the end of junior year. The coaching staff submits your transcript and test scores to admissions and gets a preliminary answer on whether you would be accepted. That is not your acceptance letter. But it is a signal that lets both you and the program invest more confidently in each other.

Bottom line: if you are targeting private D2 schools, your GPA and your academic engagement are not separate from your recruiting process. They are part of it. A player who shows up on a Zoom call, asks smart questions about business opportunities and alumni networks, and has solid grades is a player a coach can actually go to bat for. A player who checks those boxes only on the field is a player admissions can reject, and there is nothing the coach can do about it.

What a Campus Visit to a D2 Program Actually Looks Like

Most families have no idea what to expect when they show up for a college football recruiting visit. Walking in without knowing the structure puts you behind before you say a word.

At Bentley, Coach Scarpa laid out exactly how it works. If you come during the week in the spring, you start by watching morning practice from 7 to 9am. That alone tells you something about the culture. A morning program runs differently than an afternoon program, and seeing how the coaches coach and how the players work before most people are even awake is a real signal.

After practice, one coach or one player takes you on a campus tour. The tour runs about 40 to 45 minutes. Classrooms, facilities, the whole picture. Then you come back to the football building for a position meeting where the coaches go through film with you. What they like about your game, and what they think you can improve. That transparency is not a formality. It is the coaching staff evaluating whether you can receive coaching.

After the position meeting, you sit down with Coach Scarpa directly to talk about next steps.

How do you get that invite? The evaluation chain goes: area coach evaluates your film first, passes it to the position coach, position coach passes it to the coordinator, coordinator to the head coach. You do not need all four to love your film to get an invite. You need to clear the area coach and the coordinator. The rest of the staff will see your film when you show up.

For 2027 prospects, right now is the window. Find the Bentley area coach for your region. Fill out the questionnaire. Reach out via email or X and tell them why you want to be there. Not just that you want to be recruited. Why Bentley specifically. What the business school means to your goals. What you want to build after football. That is the message that moves up the evaluation chain.