Episode #97: Venus Taylor on Recruiting

🥎 Inside a College Coach’s Playbook: Recruiting Secrets with Venus Taylor 

North Central College Head Softball Coach and Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) Operations Coordinator, Venus Taylor, has recruited at every level of the game — from JUCO to Division I. In this episode of the Significant Recruiting Podcast, she shares what truly matters when coaches evaluate athletes, the right role for parents during the recruiting process, and why character, effort, and presence can outweigh stats.

We also dive into how social media impacts recruiting, the benefits of multi-sport participation, and the traits that separate athletes who thrive in college from those who struggle. Venus’ experience as a professional athlete, championship-winning coach, and mentor gives her a perspective every family needs to hear.

Whether you’re just starting your recruiting journey or you’re deep in the process, this episode is packed with practical takeaways to help you find the right fit and make the most of your opportunities.

📍 Learn more about recruiting resources, my book Significant Recruiting: The Playbook for Prospective College Athletes, and The Softball Recruit’s Journal at coachmattrogers.com.

Transcript

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We look for those things, because we want the intangibles, we want the great athlete, we want the competitor. We want somebody with some, passion and energy and hustling, and people that you know it's like anything else. Energy's contagious. So if you have good energy out there, you know you want that for your team, you want those people that can come in and be culture builders for you as well. Welcome back to Significant Coaching. I'm your host, Matt Rogers. You just heard North Central College head softball coach and former professional athlete, Venus Taylor, sharing her passion for helping athletes navigate the recruiting process. In this conversation, we get into the qualities that really matter when coaches are evaluating players, the role parents should play, and how social media, multi-sport participation and personal character all factor into a recruit's future. Coach Taylor is recruited at every level and brings a unique perspective on what separates the athletes who thrive in college from those who struggle. And if you're looking for more recruiting resources and support, you can learn more@coachmattrogers.com after the show. All right. Here's part two of my conversation with Coach Venus Taylor. Okay. Coach, you've done it all. You've coached at every level. It's crazy. You've been at every level and done really well at every level. Thank you. When you're recruiting, how do you help athletes understand where they truly fit? Right now versus where they hope they can play someday? Oh, that's a great question. However, I am someone who is always gonna give you an honest assessment, but I am not a dream killer. So I really do believe that if somebody feels like they can go out and be a division one athlete and they have. The drive and the work ethic and the ambition and the foresight and all that stuff to do it. I'm certainly not gonna tell'em they can't. I will tell them what it's gonna take to get there from where they're at. You know what I mean? So I really just think everything's a process. I would never tell somebody they couldn't do something. It's more along the lines of, okay, here's what I see now. Here's what you would have to be able to do better, and here's how you can close that gap and go out and be anything you wanna be. You know what I mean? So I'm always going to approach it from a motivational standpoint, but an honest standpoint, yeah I love it. How much do you get into understanding their value? In terms of if you wanna play at Western or Bradley or Georgia Tech where you've coached and played compared to a North Central or a Maryville where I coached at the D two level. How much do we talk about, Hey you've been a starter for three years in high school. You've been the best player in your club. You gotta think about what that playing time's gonna look at each level. And can you handle sitting on the bench? Can you handle waiting your term? Is that a part of. Of your recruiting conversation. Yes and no. So I look at it and I say, okay, what are you trying to study? Because first and foremost, whatever you're going to school for is going to be the main reason why you go there most likely. Now, you could be a really high level athlete that you wanna go for the combination of both. You're going to go there for a certain major, but you're also going there because it's the most competitive program and they're national champions or whatever, and that's where you wanna go. However, I would say. What you major in can dictate some things for you as well. Like at the D three level, I always try to tell people that you can get a competitive experience, but you're gonna travel less. You're gonna have better balance in the sense of, you're not on the road as much, you don't play as many games, but you still get that sisterhood. You still get to compete in a game you've loved your whole entire life and that you're used to having part of being a part of your life. And no matter what, when you go to college, whether it's D one, D two, D three, you're still top three to 5% of athletes in the entire country that get the opportunity to go do that. I look at it like all levels matter. It just really depends on what the athlete's looking for. Some athletes are looking for the big school, some are looking for a smaller school, smaller classrooms. Some are looking to stay closer to home. Some are looking for, a less rigorous schedule. And all those things help you in the process, figure out. Where do I really wanna play and what works for me? Because there are athletes that wanna be fully committed every day, all the time, and want that higher level. And there's other athletes that are like, I still wanna play and I still wanna compete to the best of my ability during the time I'm out there. But I would like to scale it back a little bit from a time perspective because I need this time to really focus on my studies, and that's just who I am and what I need. That's a great perspective. You've recruited at the highest levels of the game. What's the first thing you notice about a recruit before they even step in the batter's box or before they throw that first pitch? Is there something that catch your attention? Yeah, hustle. I really like players that, run out there with some passion and hustle, to first base or whatever they're doing, if you're just walking lethargic out there, I'm probably irritated from the minute I see it. You know what I mean? So I look for hustle. I look for grit. I love grit. I love players that are just gonna get out there and get after it. If the ball's anywhere near'em, they're going for it. You know what I mean? I love players like that. I just, I love passion, so if I see passion, grit. Hustling, then those three things right there stand out to me when I'm watching someone, whether they get a hit or not, or whether they make the play or not, it just shows me the level of determination that they have and the desire to wanna be great. And, I think you can work with that. You can coach that really well. Obviously you look for athleticism, athleticism and how they compete. I want somebody that's. Looking like they wanna compete all the time and believing in themselves. When a pitcher's out on the mound, you can tell if they pick themselves over the batter or if they're intimidated to throw to a certain batter, so I like that confidence style athlete who picks them, who's very athletic, but also I wanna see those other intangibles, in addition to just being a great teammate and, having a good attitude. All those things, they kinda all coexist for me. It's such a big part of how coaches think. I can't tell you how many fields and gyms I've walked out of before even really watching the kid play. I was just so frustrated at how they warmed up and how they prepared for the game. I was like, this kid, I'm gonna pull my hair out. It's gonna be two years before I can help them figure out how to play the game the right way. There's too many other kids to look at. For you to think that way, for sure. And and I think that's what they gotta understand too, is even if I don't go three for three, or I don't strike everybody out because that's not really realistic. The coach is coming and they see everything. You know what I mean? So every little thing that you do, every rep matters how you carry yourself, your body language. Are you cheering on your teammates? I'm not saying you have to be a rah person. But you have to be engaged in the game, you have to high five the teammate that just came off that, maybe struck out or was having a bad day, or you're picking them up. We look for those things, because we want the intangibles, we want the great athlete, we want the competitor. We want somebody with some, passion and energy and hustling, and people that you know it's like anything else. Energy's contagious. So if you have good energy out there, you know you want that for your team, you want those people that can come in and be culture builders for you as well. It's a great lesson for the young softball players out there that, yeah, flash is great if you can hit a bomb and you can make that great play at third, but if the next three plays, you're not down in the stance, you're not ready, you don't take good swings every at bat. You're not creating an energy for your teammates and supporting them. It doesn't matter how much flash you have, if you're not consistent with that energy. And it goes back to what you were talking about before with consistency and routine. Yeah, for sure. And I just think that a lot of athletes will leave the field and they're like, oh, I didn't do that'cause they may have gotten nervous or whatever when a college coach was in attendance. I look at it and go. Think all the things that you could have influenced the coach with. You know what I mean? And that's what they don't probably think about. And I wish they would, I wish they would think about that because like I said, it's a culmination of everything out there. It's, all the things that I mentioned, it's the athlete that you are, it's how you hold yourself. It's your body language, it's your hustle. It's how you react to adversity and failure, how you pick up a teammate. It's all those things we're looking at. So if you. Went one for four on the day, but you were able to do eight out 10 things in that, in those, in that list, we're probably still interested in you. Yeah. So don't go home and beat yourself up. That's right. If you're a center fielder and a coach watches 20 pitches in an inning and you don't ever get a ball hit to you, that's still 20 pitches that coach was watching. Were you prepared? Were you moving? Were you adjusting? Did you know where the pitch was gonna be thrown? I love that stuff. Just love it. Yeah. And then on the flip side though, it's also but it is performance based. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. You do have to compete, you have to do, you have to learn from your previous at bat. So if you go in and you do the same thing. Next time, it's we hope that you learn from your previous at bat. We hope that you look your coach in the eye and take their feedback so the next time you get in that position, you know you're coachable and you can respond, and make that quick adjustment. But, no one has to be perfect. They don't have to be perfect at that age, but you have to be competitive and you have to be out there wanting to win and showing us, like I said, some separation from everybody else. I love it. So many athletes focus on stats. How much do stats really matter? And compared to the body language and the effort and the coachability and the athleticism what role does stats play in your world in recruiting? That's a tough one because everybody keeps stats differently, so I never I would never go out and look at a stat sheet, and that's how I choose a player, right? Yeah. Right now, when you're within your own system, you look at it and go, okay the numbers don't lie, but the numbers don't tell everything. You know what I mean? So if there's a player that's on my team that can greatly influence everybody around'em is the best defensive player out there is battling every time they get up to bat, even if they're batting averages a little bit lower. If I like all those other things, they're making the lineup. You know what I mean? But with that said, if somebody else is hitting way better than them, or pitching way better than them, you're gonna lean and there is a pecking order. You know what I mean? I'm not gonna sit here and say, oh, everybody gets to play. And especially at the collegiate level, you have to choose who you feel are the best nine at that time. And that can alter throughout the season. You know what I mean? Some people are really hot at the beginning of season. Some people are really hot at the end of the season. But at the end of the day, it comes down to the intangibles that are in between. That help you decide when it's close? Yeah, absolutely. Let's talk about building your roster. Let's say you got a senior as a junior. She hit 12 home runs, 60 rbis batted three 90, you're losing her next year. How are you going about recruiting third base a year ahead now? What are you looking for that power hitter? Or are you looking just for the best player at that position? How do you go about that when you're building out your roster from year to year? Yeah. I really like a combination of speed and power myself. But I go for the best athlete and the most competitive because one thing I like is versatility. I like to be, I don't go with just oh, I know like corners or catchers, sometimes they can only place a pitcher. Sometimes they're po only. But at times you also find other players that can pitch and play for space or catch and play for space, or I have middle and fielders that I can turn into outfielders. So for us, we're really looking for highly competitive athletes that we feel that we can plug in where we need'em. You know what I mean? And then you adjust as a coach based on the style. Then you know, if you don't have as much power. You're gonna run more, you're gonna hit and run more. Going to take an extra base every time you can. Things like that. Yeah I'd like to have both. Like I said, yeah, I like the beginning and the end of my order to be quicker, faster capabilities of stealing bases, opportunity to steal bases and things like that. Because I feel like in this game, it's a fast game and you can run on people and put pressure on, you have a really good chance to win. Although with one swing of the bat, if you hit the ball over the fence, you don't have to manufacture all that. You know what? That's right. What I mean, so I really do like a combination of both, and I would never have one or the other. My philosophy is I want both. I want those big bumpers in the middle of a lineup or throughout my lineup. But I also want the players who, hey, when this pitch iss tough to hit, and I can just put a bunt down or slap it or whatever, and beat it out just by getting it on the ground pretty much. Yes, please. I'll take those too, because hitting ly is difficult and there's a lot of great pitchers out there, so whatever way, whatever it takes to manufacture the runs, to get the wins. I love it. What's one thing you wish every high school athlete knew about the recruiting process before they ever sent that first email to you? What do you want them to know ahead of time? I think one of the biggest things for me is just, make it personal. A lot of times, you can tell like something's copy and pasted or sent out to everybody, I think it's really important to make it personal. I also think it's really important to include your schedule. And any video that you might have, because that kind of like the minute that, coaches get a lot of emails, the, and the minute they get to look at that information, you wanna make it readily available for them so that way they can tap in and watch you and see your best stuff. And it doesn't have to be perfect. So send what you have with reps, so if you're taking 30 ground balls, you're gonna boot two of'em or whatever. That's okay. We don't need 30. Perfect. Fielded balls, we wanna see everything. We wanna see the mistakes too so that we can see what we're working with. But put as much information on there to make it readily available and include like your social media as well, because that's something that's ongoing. So then we can follow you and we can see as you keep up with that, we can follow you.'cause we can't be everywhere, right? It's really difficult for us to see everybody that writes. I think social media has been great for the opportunity to see. People outside of a game setting. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. And I love how you described it'cause you're not necessarily recruiting through social media, but you're following and tracking those recruits that you like. And being able to keep up with them and see their development. So I love that. That's a great message. I want to talk a little bit about parents here. They can be their recruit's biggest advocate. They can be their sometimes recruit's biggest obstacle. What's the right role for a parent during this process? I think you're dealing with you're not dealing with the adults, so I think there has to be some parental involvement. Any time that you can teach your child to speak for themselves, they should, because that shows their maturity being able to look coaches in the eyes and things like that. Like it just shows where they're at, from a maturity standpoint. But I think it's good for parents to be involved because they're older. They can make the, they can help make. Decisions and things like that, and they know the athlete better than you do at this point. So I think some involvement's very important, but I also think letting your child and your athlete have a voice themselves and learn that learn to mature in the process is important as well. How would you feel if you got an email from a mom or a dad endorsing their kid to recruit instead of from the kid? I think it needs to come from the kid for sure. Okay. Yeah, I think that coaches will take to that much better than the parent, but it isn't like when we receive a parental email that we're like, oh, absolutely not. But we know that every parent is biased towards their own kid. And I also think that if it's coming from the, I don't even know if it's kid, but student athlete, it just puts a more personal touch on it. It's not to say one's wrong or one's right, but I think it means more coming from the athlete and just puts a little bit more personal touch on it. I'm always worried is the, does the mom and dad want this more than the kid? You know what I mean? Yeah. I think it says a lot that the kid's saying, I want this. I'm gonna, I'm gonna send an email to Coach Taylor. I'm gonna, I'm gonna be the one to call her and ask her, she'll evaluate me. So for sure I need the answer to that, but I wanted you to say it. I think it's a better route to go to center yourself. Absolutely. But it's good to get guidance from your parent on, Hey, does this, does this sound good? What are your thoughts? Should I include anything else? Because, they're doing it for the first time too, and so sometimes they just need some guidance. Absolutely. Yeah. Help'em with it. Yeah. Let's talk about multi-sport athletes. I get so much feedback from parents. They're so worried that if their daughter doesn't play club softball, they're not gonna get recruited. They're not gonna have to chance to play at the best schools, but the kid is a. Great basketball player, great volleyball player, three sports stud, and they love playing all three, so it's really hard to play club softball. Where are you at from a recruiting standpoint with those type of kids? Personally, I'm a big believer in multi-sport athletes, and I believe that you should play multi-sport if you can when you're younger. Just the wear and tear it puts on your body to do one thing over and over again. When you're a, one dimensional player is probably not the best thing. And I know some people probably will hate hearing that from me, but I think it's great when you're a multi-sport athlete and I'm in full support of that. I do think, however, that the club level is really important from an exposure standpoint. I think if anything, I see more of the other way around where people don't participate in high school. But they stay in club, but I think that if you're willing to find the right club team that will work with you as a basketball player, and you're also a standout basketball player, I think there's somebody out there that's gonna work with you to be able to do that. You don't have to shut your dreams down and be one specific sport if you're not ready to, it's. I probably until late in my career was between basketball and softball. You know what I mean? I just got more exposure in softball because I didn't play a u. Now, if I had played a u maybe I would've been a basketball player. You know what I mean? So it's really just about each individual's journey. But I do think that playing club level's important. However, you don't have to do it all year long and, give up everything else. Yeah. You talked about a kid emailing you and you like the individuality that they know your program. It's obviously, they've done the research, it's clear in that email, they're writing that email to you. If a kid leaves you a voicemail what do you like to hear? If they send you a message and if call you. Yeah, that's a great question. I just like to hear them. Tell me, why they're choosing our school or why they're interested and what position they play, what year they graduate, and what they're looking for in a school and the reason why they're calling. And where, a lot of times they'll just say, if you don't have the opportunity to talk, can I just, I'm gonna shoot you an email and provide my schedule. And with a little bit of detail and a heads up, I think that's great. You know what I mean? They don't have to leave a long elaborate message, but I think just. It shows me a lot of courage from someone to call that's younger and leave a voicemail and be organized about it and personal about it, I think. I think that's special. I think that says something about. I agree. I agree. I think courage is the right word. I use that all the time. Very few kids have the courage to not only send an email, to pick up the phone and say, coach Taylor I'd love to go to North Central. I'd love to be evaluated by you. Love to get your feedback. I think it says so much about their character, so I love hearing that. Yeah. Last piece of advice for high school coach, club director, parent. Student athlete, just about the recruiting process in general. What advice do you give all those people about making sure great kids that wanna play at the next level get that opportunity? Yeah, I think just utilizing your network is really important. Anybody that you know in the sport that you think can be an advocate for you, don't be afraid to reach out to'em. Because I think there's so many people in this great sport that we play that are just really about helping others and are great people. People might think, oh, I don't know if they have time. Everybody has time to help somebody. So if you know somebody that can help advocate for your daughter that can help give you some advice, reach out to'em, because usually everybody's gonna be willing to help. Coach, you're a rockstar. Thank you for containing to be a leader and a role model and somebody that cares about these young people. North Central's lucky to have you, and we've been lucky to have you on the podcast. Thank you. Thank you so much. And that's a wrap on another great episode. Talking with Coach Taylor reminds us that recruiting isn't all about finding a roster spot. It's about finding the right place to grow as a player and as a person. Her insights into coach valuations, the role of parents and the importance of character are lessons every family can put into action. If you're ready to take ownership of your recruiting journey, I've created resources to help you do exactly that. My book, significant Recruiting, the Playbook for prospective college athletes gives you a step-by-step roadmap for navigating the recruiting process. With confidence and the softball recruits journal is your week by week planner to set goals, track communication with coaches, and keep your recruiting organized from start to finish. You can find both books along with more recruiting tips and resources. At coach matt rogers.com and if you haven't heard part one of my conversation with Coach Taylor on the significant coaching podcast, go back and check it out. It's a great look at our coaching journey and leadership philosophy. Hey, thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on the Significant Recruiting Podcast.