SEC Recruiting Myths Busted: What Matters To A College Baseball Coach

Summary

Most Valuable Agent with Matt Hannaford

Episode: SEC Recruiting Myths Busted: What Matters To A College Baseball Coach

Date: September 10, 2025
Guest: Brock Bennett (Georgia Recruiting Coordinator, former Alabama player and Giants draftee)
Host: Matt Hannaford

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Episode Overview

This episode provides a deep dive into college baseball recruiting, with a focus on the realities behind recruiting in the SEC. Matt Hannaford sits down with Brock Bennett, the Recruiting Coordinator at the University of Georgia, to bust common myths, discuss the evolving landscape of recruiting, and reveal what truly matters to elite college baseball programs. The conversation traverses topics including what coaches look for in players, the pressures and expectations of playing in the SEC, communication during the recruiting process, and the qualities that make both players and recruiting coordinators successful.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Brock Bennett’s Unique Perspective on Recruiting

[01:10–02:33]

• Bennett draws on his experience at every level—junior college, travel ball, Division I, and professional baseball—to relate to players and families.
• He stresses that not every player will end up at an elite program like Georgia, but there is a "fit for everyone."

  “Not everyone’s going to go to Georgia or in our league, but there’s a fit for everyone.” (Bennett, 01:52)

2. The Culture & Intensity of the SEC

[04:13–07:29]

• The SEC is described as the "Premier League" of college baseball with an environment akin to high-pressure pro markets (Yankees, Red Sox).
• Traits needed: determination, grit, and dedication.
• SEC is compared to Double-A baseball for intensity and talent, with more pressure to win than in minor league pro ball.

  “It’s like playing in the big leagues. It’s like playing pro baseball. Anything that’s challenging—you gotta find a way to fight through it.” (Bennett, 04:19)

3. Trends in National Recruiting

[07:30–08:55]

• More nationwide talent is migrating to the SEC, reversing old trends.
• Exposure from TV, social media, and increased investment have made it the destination nationally.

4. The Shift in Freshman Expectations

[09:00–10:50]

• Players are expected to compete from day one; there is no "wait your turn" culture.
• Maturity, readiness, and the ability to "add value" immediately matter as much as raw tools.

5. Evaluating Talent and Maturity

[10:51–11:26]

• While talent is critical, coaches assess everything: on-field performance, off-field behavior, and interactions.
• Maturity and fit are later-stage evaluations—initial focus is on talent that fits the program's needs.

6. College vs. Pro Scout Evaluations

[11:26–12:10]

• Close collaboration exists between college recruiting and pro scouts—ideas are constantly exchanged, particularly concerning player makeup.

7. Role of the Recruiting Coordinator

[12:09–13:10]

• Primary responsibilities: identify talent, compile and filter prospect lists, prioritize fits based on evaluating needs, and collaborate across the staff.

8. Social Media & Video in Recruiting

[13:11–14:40]

• Coaches do notice videos parents and players post on social media, which can spark further interest or deeper research.
• Social media isn’t everything, but it’s a valuable way to get on a recruiter’s radar.

  “We all scroll through Twitter, you see a swing that looks pretty good… you’ll do a double take and research a little more.” (Bennett, 14:00)

9. Building Target Lists & Filling Needs

[16:04–17:04]

• Wide net cast initially, then narrowed down based on position needs and fit.
• Flexibility is necessary due to draft fluctuations and transfer portal uncertainty.

10. Defining a “Georgia Bulldog” Player

[17:24–18:47]

• Offensive and pitching power are prioritized, driven by both the ballpark and current trends.
• Role players with speed or niche skills are also valued, but power is king.

  “If you look at the overall landscape, it’d be power on both sides of the ball.” (Bennett, 18:41)

11. Navigating Overlapping Recruiting Visits

[21:39–23:00]

• Many players take multiple visits; coaches try to discern genuine mutual interest.
• Honesty and direct communication are encouraged to clarify intentions on both sides.

12. Advice for Families and Recruits

[23:05–24:32]

• Be honest—don’t simply tell coaches what you think they want to hear.
• There’s no shame in not being interested or committing elsewhere.

  “Just be yourself. For me, there’s no hard feelings… Go on your way.” (Bennett, 23:39–23:49)

13. The Changing Nature of Recruiting Commitments

[26:00–27:01]

• Coaching staffs rotate regularly, so players should choose schools (not just coaches).
• The new August 1st rule for juniors helps slow down premature commitments.

14. Effective Communication During Recruitment

[29:36–30:11]

• Direct phone calls help coaches and players build real relationships.
• Text-centric communication can feel less genuine; coaches appreciate proactive, personable contact.

  “I love the phone calls too, because you get a feel for the kid… You know the kid a little better, right?” (Bennett, 30:11)

15. Early Exposure to College Life

[31:56–33:45]

• Incoming freshmen benefit from attending summer school, which helps acclimate them before the season and make informed decisions.

16. Team Versus Individual Development

[34:54–36:10]

• College focuses on team success and collaboration, whereas minor league pro ball is more individualized and cutthroat.

  “How can you literally get as good as you can be so the player beside you [does] the same… Then you do that for the team concept.” (Bennett, 35:26)

17. Facilities, Nutrition, and Player Resources

[37:00–40:12]

• SEC programs often surpass minor league pro teams in nutrition, facilities, and support, aiding performance and comfort.

18. Need for Transparency from Coaches

[41:07–43:38]

• Coaches should guide families through the process, explaining steps and setting expectations, not leaving them to guess.

  “If you just communicate it, it makes it easier and they’re not surprised by anything.” (Bennett, 44:03)

19. Managing Disappointment and Mutual Respect

[44:13–48:28]

• Even for non-priority recruits, clear communication about where they stand helps reputations and relationships on all sides.

20. The Realities and Challenges of Recruiting

[49:23–52:43]

• Public perception is the job is easy, but there’s a great deal of subjective evaluation and personal history affecting recruiting outcomes.
• Parents should remember there are many variables, and scouts see hundreds more players than any family does.

21. Role of Data and Analytics

[54:05–55:24]

• Data is useful, but never the whole story; must be integrated with traditional evaluation and context.

  “It’s a fine mix… of the data, what it looks like while he plays, all the old school stuff mixed with the new school stuff.” (Bennett, 55:04)

22. Case Study: Charlie Condon’s Underdog Story

[56:07–58:20]

• Condon came in as a walk-on and redshirt, almost overlooked, but through determination and seizing opportunity (playing in the Northwoods League), he excelled and ultimately became a high draft pick.

  “He wasn’t on the roster his first year… He came back and had a great year for us…” (Bennett, 57:16–57:22)

23. If He Could Change One Thing About Recruiting

[60:10–61:17]

• Commitments would be binding, meaning a committed player is signed—removing ambiguity and slowing down the recruiting frenzy.

24. Advice for Draft-Eligible High School Players

[62:20–66:24]

• Be open and transparent about draft intentions—there’s no way to guarantee outcomes, but communication helps everyone plan.
• Players should prepare for college as a real option: don’t assume you’ll sign; enjoy the process and only sign if it’s life-changing.

  “Buy into the idea that you’re going to school and if it doesn’t happen, someone is buying you out of that opportunity.” (Hannaford, 66:20)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You just never know when someone’s recruiting timeline might be up.” (Bennett, 46:37)
• “Overcommunication is always better than undercommunication.” (Bennett, 44:03)
• “Honesty is the most important thing.” (Bennett, 27:39)
• “Team success in college is everything—if you’re not happy where you are every day, what’s the point?” (Bennett, 33:24)
• “If you show up at college and you’re disappointed to be there after not signing… for what?” (Hannaford, 66:24)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Unique Perspective from Multi-Level Experience: [01:10–02:33]
• What Defines the SEC: [04:13–07:29]
• National Recruiting Landscape: [07:30–08:55]
• Expectations for Freshmen: [09:00–10:50]
• Talent vs. Maturity in Evaluations: [10:51–11:26]
• Scouting and Collaborating with Pros: [11:26–12:10]
• Role Description of Recruiting Coordinator: [12:09–13:10]
• Social Media & Player Videos: [13:11–14:40]
• Building the Target List: [16:04–17:04]
• Defining a Georgia Bulldog: [17:24–18:47]
• Advice for Recruits and Families: [23:05–24:32]
• Phone vs. Text in Communication: [29:36–30:11]
• Case Study—Charlie Condon: [56:07–58:20]
• Dream Recruiting Rule—Binding Commitments: [60:10–61:17]
• Guidance on Draft Decisions and Planning: [62:20–66:24]

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a must-listen for parents, players, and fans wanting honest, practical insights into what truly matters in SEC and high-level college baseball recruiting. Bennett’s advice about honesty, preparation, and focusing on fit (not just prestige) is invaluable. The conversation makes clear: what separates top programs isn’t just raw talent, but clarity, grit, and open, respectful communication on all sides.

Transcript

[Interviewer]

All right, so today you're joined by kind of the dude.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Call you that. My man is maybe equally as, like, healthy as I am. Maybe more so.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Try to be.

[Interviewer]

Maybe more so.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I used to be more.

[Interviewer]

Okay. No. We're joined by the recruiting coordinator at Georgia, Brock Bennett. Appreciate you coming on.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Thanks for having me.

[Interviewer]

I know for the families and the players listening, I want to jump into kind of like the first thing on their mind, which is you obviously not only are a recruiting coordinator, but you're a recruiting coordinator at one of the best programs in the sec, if not the entire country. From your perspective, obviously, you played. Right. You played at Alabama, you got drafted, you played. Was it the Giants?

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

My boy Dylan, he appreciates that. When you talk to families, like, how much of your perspective do you believe comes from your time as a player, your time as a player in college? Like, do you truly feel like, hey, man, I've been in your shoes. Like, I know what this is like, and so let me kind of, like, help you through this.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Is.

[Interviewer]

Is that an approach you take?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think so. I think I have a unique experience just because I've kind of been in all levels. I've. I've coached at junior college coach, travel ball coach for Team Elite back in the day.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

While I was doing some junior college stuff. So, you know, having that perspective really helps me see what these kids were kind of going through on the ground floor level, because I've been the guy that's trying to get some colleges on them or know what they need to do to get to the next level or know some of the hardships that they're going for. So I feel like I have a unique perspective where I can relate a little bit to that and see kind of what each kid's looking for or, you know, which way to push them or whatever. Because again, like you said, not everyone's going to go to Georgia or in our league, but there's a fit for everyone.

[Interviewer]

You know, what's funny is I. I noticed, as you know, we kind of go on here and we communicate with different coaches and whatnot. Everybody in your conference calls it a league, and I don't know why I've always called it a conference. It's. It's. Is that. Is that a thing?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I don't know. Yeah, it's just kind of what we say, I guess. I've never really thought about it. So you just said it.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Our league, you know, we act like it's our league, but it's game of baseball. You know, and. And Coach Johnson does a good job of just saying, hey, man, have fun. You're playing. You're playing a kid's game, you know, no matter where you go. For sure. Again, it's kind of like I said, you put it on a different logo, but you're. You're the same coach. You evolve as you go, but you just love the game of baseball, whether you're playing or coaching. That's why. That's why we get in this business to help kids and. And help families and.

[Interviewer]

So you were a catcher.

[Brock Bennett]

Yep.

[Interviewer]

Okay. So taking that position, you know, I've always looked at that position as, you know, you're essentially like the quarterback on the baseball field. Do you feel like having played that position for so long that that provided you with maybe a different perspective than maybe just another kid who was just a pitcher, just a po. Or maybe it was even an outfielder, a first baseman? Like, I feel like a catcher. You have to have a dynamic personality. Have you recognized that that's, like, something that's benefited you in the role that you're currently in?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think so. I think being a catcher, obviously, you see everything kind of like quarterback on football, but also I went through a couple coaching changes while I was playing Alabama, Worked for six different head coaches, kind of seeing everything from that lens, but the playing career.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Being the catcher, you're obviously in the bullpen, so you see the pitching side of stuff. You're obviously hitting, so you see the hitting side of stuff. I feel like you get to see all kind of avenues of the game. You get to learn. And. And I didn't really play that much for the first couple years Alabama, so I really sat back and took it all in. You know, I was behind Alex Avila, who obviously had a good, big career.

[Interviewer]

Hey, if you got to be behind somebody, though, it's at least nice that this guy got to the big reason. Like, all right, he's a legit dude.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, exactly. So, you know, when you're sitting on the bench, I just sit over there and try and take everything in, from catching bullpens to. To late work, early work, things like that. Nutrition, like you already talked about.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I love that. If. If you had to describe the sec, because I do believe, as a lot of these families would probably attest to, the SEC is one of those. I mean, it is the Premier League, to use your terms, in all of college baseball. What do you think are some, like, common characteristics for all of the players that eventually come into play in the sec? Like what do they need to possess?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think determination, grit and dedication. You know, I think one of the things is you're going to.

[Brock Bennett]

It's.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

It's like playing in the big leagues. It's like playing pro baseball. It's like anything that's challenging, you got to find a way to fight through it. You know, obviously we've had some talented kids, but we had Charlie Condon who had the red shirt, and, you know, things didn't go his way, right or wrong, but he fought through it and became a better guy on the end.

[Interviewer]

Of it, I would say. So, yeah, it worked out for him.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, exactly. So, you know, the. The people that are just determined to fight through it because again, you know how it is when you're playing. You don't wake up every day excited. You know, you got to find the excitement. There's days you're going to be beat up. There's days you're going to be exhausted. There's days you're not going to want to do it. And you gotta. You gotta find your.

[Interviewer]

Why, like, what would be a parallel, as you think about the sec, as far as talent level? Like, would it be equivalent to, in your opinion, having played pro ball, like, equivalent to high A, double A? Because I do believe it's like you can't comp. Even though it's college baseball, the level of talent in the sec, I mean, it is good. Obviously, when you go to AA in pro ball, it's like, you know, so I know it's not a perfect parallel, but just as far as, like, the best of the best in your league, when you compare to, you know, all those guys who are winning all these awards that we all hear about every single year, it's like, these guys eventually are going to be top picks. Yeah, right. They're going to be the guys that eventually be these superstars in the big league. So what would be, I guess, the closest parallel, you think, as far as the level.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

You know, a lot of people do say double A, like you said. I think that's a good comp. I think, to your point, maybe double A, you know, at the bottom.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, there's more. Yeah, there's more polish in double A than I say the sec, but, like, as far as, like, potential.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah. And I'd say it'd be double A just because at the college level, there's so much pressure to win. Right. Whereas in, you know, in pro ball, it's kind of all about you, you know, what can I do? What?

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Especially in the minor leagues, Right. How can you advance? And, and what do you, what are you working on?

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right where.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

At our, in our game, obviously you're going to develop, you're going to work on your craft, but when it comes down to it, it's all about wins.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. I'm going to get criticized for saying this, but I just bear with me. I feel like if you had to compare it to like these organizations in, in professional baseball, the SEC is like, there's a difference between playing in New York for the Yankees or in Boston for the Red Sox or LA for the Dodgers, Chicago for the Cubs. There's a difference between those organizations and needing to excel when all of the pressure is on, when all of the eyeballs are on. And like the media. Right. All the media is involved to be a good player in those cities, in those environments, it's a different level than being on the Cleveland guardians. And that's no offense to the guardians. It's just the dynamic of like the, the expectation, I think. And so that is something that I think as I personally, you know, deal with a bunch of these families, you know. Yeah. Making sure that if a kid is actually committed to going to an SEC program, it's. This isn't a walk in the park. This is not just, oh, it's just the next step up. It's like. No, no, there is a heightened level of focus that needs to be placed on your preparation. You certainly have to do the little things. Well, like if you're a guy who needs to be reminded to wake up in the morning. Right. Like those aren't lessons that you're going to necessarily. You like, you have to have already learned that lesson by the time you go play with any one of these SEC programs.

[Brock Bennett]

So.

[Interviewer]

And I guess more than anything that's, that's almost a compliment to your guys league because again, I think it's, it's the one that most, most players and, and parents, when they think of their son playing college baseball, I think they, they envision them at a big program like that. Not to mention a trend that I've seen being a guy from California now living on the east coast, but being a guy from California originally, you know, if you go back 20 years ago, you're not pulling kids from Southern California and going to a lot of these places and like know in even Georgia on some level. Right. Like that, that wasn't common. But now, I mean the trend is totally reversed and now kids, again thinking about college baseball, it's like, well, there's no other place I would Want to play. It's almost been what SEC football is. It's almost that way for, if not more than, you know, in baseball now. So. Yeah, it's certainly a unique thing.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think it's trended that way. To your point, I think they're, they're always saying they're a couple, not a couple years behind football. But you follow football.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I think that's what's happening.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think the money, the social media, the TV stuff has really changed the game a little bit. And being nationally televised and everything like that, just all eyes are on you, the pressure, things like that. But. And back to your points, like if you had to be reminded to wake up, those guys get weeded out and it's just not really to your point what's going on at our level.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

You're already kind of past that stuff.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. You know, when I, when I think of one of the first things, I feel like with legit college programs now, the thing that most players are going to see firsthand and again, especially in your guys league is you're gonna have to compete like immediately. There is no, you know, back in the day when we were growing up, I mean, I'm older than you, but when we were growing up, it's like you're picking a college and you're going there for the next three years. And the whole idea is I'm going to probably not play much as a freshman. I'm gonna like learn the ropes, get acclimated, learn the system, learn how it's different. I'm gonna, I'm gonna wait my turn, I'm gonna bide my time. Then the second year it's like, okay, now's my time to show these guys that I'm the guy. And then obviously your junior year is your draft year and then, you know, we'll see you later. Where now it's like, no, no, no, you're coming in and it is. The expectation is so high that you need to come in and compete. And if you do, there's opportunity. But this isn't like, oh yeah, just sit back and like it'll just happen. Like you've got to be motivated, ready to go from day one. Do you think as you like, we're at the area codes, right? So you're obviously here. You're going to look at some players. You have players that I'm sure are here. You have guys that you're going to be looking at that haven't yet committed. As you look at these players, how much of your evaluation is on that stuff, like the maturity level. Does he check those boxes or do you deal with that stuff later? And are you more focused on like, the tools first?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, that's a good question. And back to your point, it's kind of funny because I joke If I was 20 years younger, I wouldn't have been able to play college baseball pretty much because I was that walk on that kind of waiting my turn and then ended up getting a chance. And nowadays, to your point, it's like we tell our kids all the time, you got to add value. You got to be coming ready to play. You know, whether you're a freshman or senior, we don't care the age of the kid. You just, you got to be ready to produce.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And that's kind of what our league's about. But while you're in an event like this, I think you're taking everything in.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Obviously there's got to be a certain talent level that, that the kid has, but you're watching. Everything they do on and off the field, you're watching. But you are mainly evaluating that talent of how it fits kind of in your system.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. If the kid's not like talent physically gifted, like, whether he's mature or not, it's like, all right, he's not an SEC caliber player. So that is something that you're. It almost sounds like you're almost doing both in a sense.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think, I think you try and do both.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think the off the field stuff is kind of harder. Obviously, that's a little bit more maybe over the phone when you get them on campus, things like that. But while you're out here, you just watching how they're interacting with their teammates and you know what they can do in the game.

[Interviewer]

Do you. How often are you talking to, like, pro scouts as far as how they're evaluating, figuring out, like, we should be doing the same stuff because you obviously, you know, the makeup is a big piece of how scouts are actually going to like, watch a game. What they're paying attention to is that stuff that you guys.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, quite a bit. Obviously, all of our area scouts, I'm really tight with. And then obviously with Coach Johnson being in the big leagues for four years, he's. He's close with a lot of cross checkers. We, you know, we're always evaluating how we're doing it, how we're evaluating the players, how we're evaluating anything we're doing on the coaching side or the recruiting side.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

We want to be doing we want to be the first of the party.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

It's kind of what we say. And we don't want to be following someone else's lead. We kind of want to invent our own. Own stuff. And we. We get opinions from everyone, especially the.

[Interviewer]

Pro scouts, I guess. Talk a little bit about your role as a recruiting coordinator. I think a lot of times people don't quite grasp all the responsibilities that you guys have. You know, you're obviously the. In many cases, not every case, but in many cases, kind of the first point of contact with a lot of the players. Like sometimes, obviously the head guy is eventually at these events and reaches out and whatever. What does your role entail?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think obviously we have a great staff, so we all kind of have hands. Hands in it. But identifying the players, right. I think it's coming back with a list and then letting everyone, you know, Coach Johnson or Coach Coggin or Coach Ammo, kind of evaluate the hitters and pitchers on their own. And then we filter through that list kind of that way, if that makes sense. So kind of grabbing the whole. Whole database and then filtering who we think might be a fit, things like that. And then filtering in the guys that, hey, these are. Then we make a priority list, like, these are the top, top kind of targets, and then go from there. Hey, this will be a good fit here. Hey, I really like this about this guy. And then evaluate a little more on that piece through video and things like that.

[Interviewer]

And do you. You bring a video, you know, the parents that they have their son's Instagram account or whatever, and they're, like, managing it, and they're posting video for them or they're getting video of them. Do you rely on, let's just say, the video that the player's providing, or is that more video that you're. You guys are getting? Because I think a lot. The reason I'm asking the question is a lot of parents, and this is probably more for, like, the younger generation, where they're really trying to kind of build a database to provide recruiting coordinators and different individuals in this business looks right. Like. Yeah, I think they think, oh, well, they don't know about my son yet, so let me do things to show them that he's. He's somebody that I should pay attention. Pay attention to. So what video are you referring to?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think so. I think we use it.

[Interviewer Assistant]

All right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

But I think. I think with social media nowadays, like, the parents can be a big help to their kid. There's times on Social media where I've, we all scroll through Twitter, you see a swing that looks pretty good from a side angle maybe. And then you go research the kid a little bit or where if they hadn't taken that video, maybe I don't even. Yeah, exactly. So I, I definitely go through, we all go through Twitter or Instagram or anything. And, and you know, if a swing stands out, if you see something that kind of sticks out, you'll, you'll do a double take and research a little more. Obviously it's not the end all be all, but it might catch your eye. And then if the guy is on our list already and there's more video to look at, whether they posted it or it's on our apps or anything like that, we're, we're looking at pretty much anything and everything we can get our hands on.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. For everybody listening too. I, I think the thing that you have to kind of sit back and realize instead of making all of this so overwhelming, because I think a lot of times they do get overwhelmed, these, these parents. What's important is think about it more like common, sensically.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Right.

[Interviewer]

Like obviously you guys, and you've said it now a couple times, you want information. Like, information is valuable. Yeah, right. There's good information, there's bad information. But you guys would be really shortsighted if you're not paying attention to. And I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna mention the rankings. Not that you're saying, oh, well, this kid's ranked fifth, so this means he's the fifth best player. It's more like, oh, he's on the ranking list. Like if I don't know him, I need to like, get my eyes on him. And if someone writes a report, let's just say with Perfect Game, Baseball America, any one of these other publications or services. Yeah. It's like, it's, it's an opinion. So I would be stupid not to evaluate this information. So I guess let's take a step back a little bit. When you guys are going through. This is more a general question. When you guys are going through putting your, your target list together, I have to imagine, because you don't know before reaching out to him, like, is this a guy who's going to have interest in our program? Is this a guy who'd rather be. If it's a west coast kid, does he want to be close to home? Is he somebody who wants to get away from home?

[Brock Bennett]

Home?

[Interviewer]

How much of the target is. This is a need we have that we need to Fill. Right. We're. We're short on middle infielders.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Right. So let's target middle infielders. Or is it like, look, because we don't know how things are going to shake out with the draft with, you know, other guys we're recruiting. Is it more broad like we need to, you know, I would assume there's probably like levels to the.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

The reaching out. But it's. Do you cast more of a wider net and then kind of like windle it down as you get to know these people?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think so. I think that's a good way to put it. Cast the wide net and then, and then go from there. But as you know, like, there's premium positions that you can always use.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And premium positions can always move around a little bit more. The thing you don't want to get stuck with is I was a catcher. You don't want to get stuck with five, five catchers on a 34 man roster.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So that does play a factor in it. But I think you, you cast the wide net, especially with the new recruiting rules.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

With all the different rankings, you haven't really. Maybe you're just making your list. You're taking everyone's opinion in and then you're going in and going, okay, everyone values something different and we know what we value and then we pick apart those lists, create our own list and see what kind of matches up and then see what we want to go after from there.

[Interviewer]

So describe if you could because this I think would be helpful as much as you feel comfortable talking about it. Like, what is it? What is a bulldog? Like what is a bulldog type player? Is it, you know, power arms? Like you guys obviously like set. I don't know how many records the last couple years with the home runs hit.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Like.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Define what a bulldog is.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Like today. Yeah.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

With the new.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

It's funny you ask because someone used to tell me everyone wants to switch it in Shortstop that runs a six four.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

But that's the first round of the. Doesn't show up.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think at different positions we're looking for different dynamics. But to, to answer your question, I mean we led the nation homers last year. So we're definitely looking for power. You know, I think having power bats is. Is kind of the name of the game now.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So I think and just with our ballpark, um, it's kind of something that we hone in on. And to your point, we, we look for power arms just because of our ballpark as well, right. It's the strikeouts, a premium.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And Coach Johnson does such a good job of. Of teaching the swing and miss and punching guys out that that's what we're looking on for power on both sides of the ball. Now, that doesn't mean, you know, I was the small little guy that could run. That doesn't mean we're not going to get those guys too.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Those guys feel a need and, and they're going to be part of the team and things like that. But for the most part, if you were to look at an overlap overall landscape, it'd be power on both sides of the ball.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. And you guys have an interesting dynamic, too, because, you know, you bring up Coach Johnson, obviously, for everybody watching Wes Johnson, head baseball coach at Georgia, was the pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins in the big leagues before, I guess after that, went to lsu, was the pitching coach at lsu, you know, before getting the job, obviously the head job at Georgia. But he's been around college for a long time. He obviously was at Arkansas for a period of time, I think Mississippi State.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And so what you'll see for everybody listening is a lot of the programs in college, you know, guys do move around. And so, you know, not every coach, like, the, the stories about, you know, like Graham over at Rice, like, he was there for 40, 50 years or whatever, it was like, that's not really common. So you do get a lot of these guys with a pretty vast and, like, dynamic resume when it comes to even like the development piece. Right. Because I think about, like, I think about Wes and there's obviously, you know, just when you talk about pitchers, like, when you coach at the big league level, what that provides you is a view into really how it works up there. What works, what doesn't work. I think everybody, if they had to kind of like, analyze professional baseball and college baseball, it's, you know, there's different levels, obviously. You know, college is above high school, pro balls above, above, above college. But interestingly, the way that the game is set up is speaking about the SEC and again, being like, equivalent to double A. It's like there are parts of minor league baseball, obviously that are going to be below the levels of Georgia. And so in the sec, it's like, if I'm a player, like, and I had the tools to play in the sec, I think one of the things that I would really analyze and try to identify is like, number one, what are my strengths? How can I make those better? Like, what's the potential ceiling? But more Importantly, like, what are the weaknesses? And then who are the people at these programs that I feel like have done, not just could do, but like, have done a really good job of developing and like identify that program. And that obviously helps, you know, find the right, the right fit. So I think a lot of families, when they go through that initial, hey, we're talking to like, you know, 15 schools on August 1st of our junior year. It can get super overwhelming. And naturally, when you hear about these stories of kids taking eight visits to these, to these programs, it's like, how do you even start whittling down? Yeah, like, is this the right program? Is that the right program? Like, have you guys. I mean, I'm assuming you talk about it a lot, but like, how, how big of a challenge is that for you guys when you do have a kid come take a visit and he's going to seven other places?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think, I think it plays a big, big factor in it.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And for the parents out there, I mean, this could be at any level, right. I think you always run into it. It's like, okay, if you're going to take five to 10 visits with our peers, like, how do we know you have a real interest here? How do we know you don't just want to come and, you know, kind of hang out, maybe see a football game or just see the campus, something like that? Like, how do we do our homework on the front end to make sure. Hey, no, it's a real possibility if you have a really good time here. You like how we're developing guys, you like, it feels like home, that you have a real opportunity for us to get a yes, you know, and I think, I think it's kind of hard, right, because from the kids perspective, they're kind of trying to do the same thing, right? And they might not know, you know, they might honestly want to take five plus visits and get a feel for everything. They don't know. They want to see what the campus is like. They want to get a feel in person and things like that. So it is kind of a tough, tough thing there because then you don't want to turn kids away and just go, well, no, if you're going to take that many visits. Because what if they really did like it, right? What if they were talented enough or something like that?

[Interviewer]

What advice would you give to a family who's, who's, you know, it's obviously. What is it? August, August 6th, August 1st just came through. They're a junior right now and they're for the first time. Now, talking to these schools, what advice would you give as far, you know, from your perspective as a college recruiting coordinator? What advice would be helpful for them to hear as far as things to do and also things not to do as you communicate with these colleges?

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think number one is just be honest.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think sometimes in the recruiting process, kids are afraid to tell you no. You know, like, kids are afraid to be like, ah, you know what? I don't want to hurt his feelings. Yeah, exactly.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Or they're scared to tell you that they committed somewhere else. They're scared of these things. They think you're going to be mad.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Or if you're the school they're like dreaming of going to, they're just going to give you all the answers that you, that you think you want to hear. And you don't really find anything out about the kid.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

They might. Hey, they've got their five questions that they wrote down before the phone call. They're sounding super robotic instead of just the casual conversation. I think just be yourself. Right?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Like they're being coached almost.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah. I think at the end of the day, it's like you're going to figure that out one way or another, so it's better to figure out sooner. And for me, there's no hard feelings.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Hey, man, go on your way.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think, I think sometimes we get so caught up and, hey, I want to play at X school, but there's only so many spots at that school.

[Brock Bennett]

There's.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I could coach it, I could want to coach it. You name the school. But A, they have a head coach, B, he might be there for who knows how long, and I might not be the fit with AD or whatever it is.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I think from a player perspective, just taking the pressure off, maybe from the parents taking the pressure off of, oh, I want him to go to this school and this school only and play shortstop.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Just being able to know, like, hey, I could still be the best player I can. I'm giving it my all. But that school might not be the right fit in this timeframe. And maybe it was five years ago, but maybe it's not right now. You know, that's.

[Interviewer]

That's one of the reasons why I do like the new rule with August 1st of the junior year, at least for the D1 and D2s. I think D3 is different. But yeah, I, I do appreciate it because we would hear constantly about these kids at, you know, seventh, eighth grade.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Committing to whether it was Their hometown school or whatever. Like, I've always dreamed of going to, you know, name the place.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And then they commit, and then sure enough, you look into the future. And I saw some stat one time, it was like. Like 25 of the kids that commit if they're, you know, 13 years old. Ever stick with that commitment?

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Either because the player eventually realizes, oh, it's a different staff.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

This isn't, you know, maybe I'm not going to play, or maybe there's something better out there for me. Or the reverse of that is the school or the call or the coach committed you, and now you haven't continued to progress on a level that they were expecting. And so now naturally, they're like, hey, man, you should probably go somewhere else. You're not going to play here.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

To your point earlier, it's. It's so hard, especially in our league. This is my 13th year in the league, and it's. You see all the coaches around the league. There's probably 10 plus of us that have. That have moved around to a different school at some point in time.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And a lot of the head coaches were assistants in the league. And that's what happens when you have some of the best coaches. They get. They keep getting promoted, the better you do.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So I think it's kind of funny. Our entire staff has coached at other places in the league, and we've all ended up now. Now, obviously we're at Georgia, but you'd like to think in the next five years that. That one of the assistants on our staff gets a head job.

[Interviewer]

Sure.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So you just.

[Brock Bennett]

You.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

You committed to somewhere six years prior, like one of those coaches might not be there, and maybe that was the coach you really loved.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So I do think the new rules are helpful.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So obviously you're one of the coaches there. We've talked about Wes, obviously, Will Coggins. He was at Mississippi State. He was at Kentucky.

[Brock Bennett]

Yep.

[Interviewer]

And then he obviously was an agent at one point.

[Brock Bennett]

Y.

[Interviewer]

What about some of the other guys that are there? Like, where. Where have they been?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So then. Then Nick Amarati, who helps him with the hitting, he was at Kentucky with Will.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And then he came over last year.

[Interviewer]

Ammo.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah. Yep.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, Ammo. He does a great job. He was, I think, Southern Miss and Northwestern State before that for a little stint.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And then our director of baseball operations, Cam Shepard was actually a shortstop.

[Interviewer]

Oh, right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

My first year at Georgia, he won the Gold Glove in 2019. Didn't make an error in league Play. So we're fortunate to have him. Oh, man, it's. He's a young, awesome, energetic coach.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And then coach just hired Drew Finley as our player development guy who was with him at LSU and was the pitching coach at Nicholl State last year.

[Interviewer]

Oh, so Finley was. I haven't met him, but Finley was at LSU and Nichols State, you said? Yep.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

This past year he's been one year there and the three previous he was at lsu.

[Interviewer]

Nice.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And he was a, I think a third rounder with the Dodgers out of. Or Yankees out of high school.

[Interviewer]

I know the name. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's great. So we talked about, obviously. All right. These players needed to be honest.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

What else, what else comes to mind?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Pruning process.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

As far as, just.

[Interviewer]

Is there anything else that comes to mind as far as like you would appreciate if they did this as well. And maybe there's not anything. Maybe like honesty is the most important thing.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And then I guess the flip side of that is what shouldn't they do? And obviously it's be dishonest. But is there anything that you think the reason why I bring this up is put yourself in a player's shoes and a parent's shoes. Right. You were in that. But I understand why a 17 year old kid. Yeah. 17 at the time. Who's, who's a junior, potentially younger, has a really hard time. Like I, I oftentimes think about what are other 16 and 17 year old kids having to do at that age that aren't in this position. Right. A lot of times they're not dealing with adults on this level. They, you know, these are, these are some of the hardest decisions they've ever had to make. And they're having to make this decision, really trying to identify, you know, in your guys's case, you know, if, if they're considering Georgia. Like you have the opportunity to go to a lot of fantastic programs. So it's. I want to choose a school that is going to truly help me get to where I want to go.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I can see that being a hard thing. So like them not wanting to make a mistake. Right. And oftentimes if the, you know, if the parent and not this isn't to belittle a parent or tell the parent they're not doing things the right way. But you know, you can tell, I'm sure you do as well. Like you can tell when maybe a parent doesn't hold their, their son accountable to having the hard conversation and instead maybe it's a text message. You know, like, from my perspective, oftentimes I've had players who I've eventually worked with who they don't want to talk on the phone. It's really just text message. And the challenge that I have with that is so much of this business is all about relationships and you really need to get to know the human. And so getting to know a 16 year old kid where there's already this age gap is a challenge. But how are you supposed to do that when the kid isn't comfortable picking up the phone and actually just wanting to get to know you?

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

So, yeah, Is there anything else that comes to mind as far as like, yeah, this is standing out?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think it is difficult, right, trying to figure out how the kid communicates best because there are some kids that still like talking on the phone. But to your point, in the Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram world that we live in, it's like guys would rather just shoot off text, you know, and figuring out how to communicate with them through that the best way possible can be difficult at times.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Because you can't really, you don't know if they're giving you the truth that way.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Because they can always just kind of get an answer and then text you back.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

As opposed to not necessarily being on the spot, but calling them and getting it that way. I love the phone calls too, because you get a feel for the kid.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Like you, hey, coach, I'm about to go hit. Hey, coach, I just got done working out or this or that. Like you feel like you, you know the kid a little better, right?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So I had a kid out of the draft this year who committed to a different SEC program and he, leading up to the draft, decides to go to summer school at the, at the school, Right. That he's committed to. And you know, this is obviously before the draft starts and you know, it's kind of like the first opportunity for the player to really feel like, hey, this is what it would feel like going to school here or, you know, in the weight room or talking to the trainer or taking ground balls or, you know, taking hacks. Do you guys find that valuable for kids that are incoming freshmen to get them into summer school to truly give them a taste of what it's like? Because I think the reason why I liked it is for these pro scouts, for any kid who's being really considered in the draft and has an opportunity to go to the sec, we're talking about like really a small percentage of guys, right? Like the best of the best. Those kids, oftentimes they just spent the last year, you know, they committed the program, the college program well before they spent the last year just seeing scouts at their games. You guys are obviously communicating with them, but like it's all pro ball. Like pro ball's front and center in their mind and so they can see what that looks like really, because it's like they're dreaming about it. But college, it's like, where does college fit in all this? Well, if I don't get what I want, then I'll go to college instead of. Well, do you understand what college is yet? Quite like you should if you were going to turn down money. That's one of the reasons why I think there's value in like the summer school piece. Have you guys found that?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think so. I think, I think it gets them acclimated to the, to, to the college experience too.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Like they can start going to classes, they can see what the dorm life's like. They can hang out with other guys on the team, they can do some voluntary workouts at the field and get to know some of the, some of either the guys coming in that have triggered student athlete status or some of the form. The players that are, maybe they're working out over the summer, things like that. Obviously we can't be there for any of it, but for just for them to, to be able to be around some of their peers.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

To your point, it's like I think sometimes when you do get draft, draft, draft, then you forget what college is like.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And there's not necessarily a right or wrong for, for any particular kid.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think it's a case by case basis. But yeah, I think, I think getting them, anyone to school sooner rather than later just helps them ease the process a little.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Make a more educated decision.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I think the thing for me is always, again, using your line earlier about what's, you know, information is valuable to you, it should also be valuable to the player. Well, that information is this experience. Right. Like that is. What better way to get a real, A real flavor for what college is going to be like other than like, you know, showing up on campus and like.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Seeing what the town is like.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Interviewer]

What's the energy around here?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Because again, to your point, it's like you never really know until you're engulfed in it.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And it's like just because your parents wanted you to go to a certain place or just because you thought it was cool on tv, so you really get there and you're with the people every day. You really don't know if it was the right fit.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I think that's one of the things that people forget is it's a relationship business, like you said. And it's like, man, if you're miserable every day, like, what's the point of it, right? You're not going to be able to work as hard, you're not going to enjoy the process. Whereas if you enjoy. If you enjoy everything, you enjoy your teammates, all you guys are working hard, Everyone wants to keep pushing each other, get better. That's when it becomes fun.

[Interviewer]

So being at a school like Georgia, where it's not just baseball, that's good, obviously, you know, great football program, other sports, obviously fantastic as well. Do the athletic departments all kind of work? And I, I don't mean work together. I just mean, like, do you guys oftentimes cross paths where it's like this family? Like, does it feel like that?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, it does. You know, I think especially at our place, it's. All the athletics are kind of in one facility.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And coach, Coach smart. His kid loves baseball, right. So he's kind of always over there. So it is a good. It is a good thing.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

We try and help each other out however we can. Obviously, they're. They're. They're helping out because they're having great, great years and getting a lot of money for the school.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right?

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

But it. We all help each other, right? And it's. It's kind of a cool, cool working environment.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

To just. Just to do that.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

So being that you played pro ball, what are some of the takeaways for you when you went through that experience? You know, I think about it, I've obviously seen over the last 25 years, like the pro level as an agent, how have you crafted your coaching from having been a professional player?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think, you know, I've gotten a lot of it, honestly, from. From west the last couple years.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think him being with the Twins and then a lot of my buddies that are coaching pro ball, my experience, obviously you realize that it's just. It's a hard game and it's an individual game when you get that level.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

It's. I not necessarily did better with the team concept, but I just. I really couldn't hit enough with a wood bat.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So you don't play for very long and you realize, man, it's a cutthroat business.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Just like everywhere is these days. But I think some of the things that you learn is just the individual development.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I think, hey, it's. How can you literally get as good as you can be so the player beside you, as good as they can be. And then you do that for the team concept, if that makes sense. I think improve yourself to help the team become better.

[Interviewer]

That is something that I do think gets lost certainly in pro ball quickly. Right. You show up in, you know, your first year and I mean, it's, it's. You can't avoid it. It's like, oh, we're all kind of. Even though we're all on the same team.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Guys root against each other. It's all competition as far as, like, oh, the better this guy does, it's affecting me. And that's a natural, I think, thought process when you first go through it. But yeah, college is, I mean, hey, it's win now.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Right. Where you'll get that in the big leagues.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Right. You won't get that in the minor leagues. You know, like, you may be in high A or double A, and like. Yeah. Your manager on some level wants to win, of course, because he's trying to move his way up as well. And that's another interesting dynamic is all of the coaches, they're not content on just, you know, if you're in high A, like, they don't want to be a high A manager for their whole career. They're hoping they, you know, go to double A next year, triple A the year after that, maybe go to the fall league.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And then get to the big leagues at some level on somebody's staff.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And so that is a weird dynamic, for sure.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Not to mention, I think one of the other things that these families. And I guess for every family listening, this is something that is important to know. Every organization at the next level is different.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Right. You're going to have. And. And I'm not talk. Don't think about, like, the big league organizations. I mean, think about the whole organization from top to bottom. There are different resources. Right. Some owners invest differently into their system, you know, and I've always found it funny in pro ball. And this isn't a knock on pro ball. It's just a trend I've noticed, you know, and it's starting to change. But from the nutrition side, Right. You invest all of this money in the draft with these players. And, you know, I would say when I started in this business, you know, these guys would go to spring training, what, or even the season, and it's like, all right, you get A baloney sandwich with one slice of baloney. You pick either a mustard or a mayonnaise packet. Not both.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And like, you get this iceberg wedge salad with no nutrients, and it's like a little small plate. It's like a. I mean, it's like a cafeteria in high school.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So it doesn't make sense.

[Interviewer]

No. And. And it makes you shake your head because the assumption would be, oh, no, we're going to have access to the best. It doesn't matter if it's with the organization, you know, that. That people dream about, like the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, etc, or if it's a different organization, but you assume that everybody, from top to bottom, it's elite at every level. Spare no expense. Not the case. Yeah, it's obviously better now with, you know, the minor league cba. And now guys are getting paid for the housing and the meal plans are completely different now. But with college, you guys actually do have access and I think maybe put more of a priority on the, like, comfort. Like, we want to make you guys feel comfortable because if you're comfortable, then you're going to play better. If you have the food taken care of that you want, if you have a nice living environment, if we have a good clubhouse, if we're providing you guys with the resources, then naturally that's going to pull out, you know, better. Better ability, better talent, better performance. Yeah, it's gotten better, but I still think it's. It's lacking at the pro level compared to, especially the sec. I can't speak for other conferences because I think it's. It's just. It's different. So. Yeah, I don't know if I'm assuming that's an intentional thing that you guys are paying attention to.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think so. I think to your point, it's like we want them to focus, Obviously, you focus on school, you focus on nutrition, things like that, but we want to make it as easy as possible for.

[Interviewer Assistant]

For them.

[Brock Bennett]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Like, if you're worried about. Because again, like we said, we like to eat healthy.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I got super crazy with it a couple years ago. And it'll kind of consume your mind. But if my wife's a dietitian, if you've got her on the side, that's.

[Interviewer]

Why you're so healthy.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Exactly.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

If you've got her on the side kind of saying, hey, just eat this, you don't have to think about it, or you don't have to think about your workout, then your mind can focus on what it needs to Focus on, right? And it's, hey, Friday nights in our league are really tough, and it's going to mentally drain you.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Interviewer]

So, like, the Steve Jobs thing, like, Steve Jobs wore black turtlenecks. And his explanation was like, it's one less thing to think about.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

You don't have to think about it.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And if we have the resources and the manpower to do it, then we want to give the student athletes all every chance they can to succeed.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I think at the pro level and our level, right, it's a little bit of survival of the fittest, but we have our roster for this year, and it's like, hey, we got to get the most out of that roster. And it's not survival of the fittest. Like, okay, if these 10 guys don't make it, so what? It's no, we need everyone to rise to the top.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So I want to give you some advice, actually, from the standpoint of, like, the player, because I, I, and I just thought about this right now as I'm, as I'm hearing. I, I like to think about kind of both ends of the spectrum. We have, from your perspective, what you find valuable with, like, the communication, how you would like it to go, what I will tell you. And it. This would be helpful, and I hope you find this valuable. I think one of the biggest challenges for these players is when you get these phone calls on August 1st and those conversations continue to happen. I think it's also important that you guys be transparent with the players.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And you guys have done a really good job of this. So this is by no means me telling you that, you know, this is something you guys specifically. This is just college coaches in general. I think college coaches need to make sure as much as possible that you guys communicate with the players as far as what your expectation is, too. And I actually think that'd be a valuable exercise. Like, in that initial conversation, the players never done it before, Right. They've never had these conversations, and maybe you're not the very first phone call, but you're one of the first. You know, we'll oftentimes talk to these families and these players and, like, give them an idea of, like, this is what to expect, this is how it goes. But they're, like, not wanting to make a mistake, so they want the experience for you to be really positive in dealing with them. And so I'm sure when you're talking to them, you're like, you sense when they're nervous. Yeah, right. It would be so helpful, I think for the player and the parent. If you guys treat it more as and without saying it, but like guide them through how this is going to go. Right. From your perspective. All right, listen, so we're going to have this initial phone call. I would love to stay in touch. Obviously we're talking to other players and that doesn't diminish our interest in you or if it does, I mean, be transparent. But this is how I see it going, is by this point we would like to at least know are we a place that you're considering? If the answer is yes, when can we get you out there, you know, to it? Whether it's a game or, you know, let's kind of take that next step and really start diving into like this is something that we're have interest in. Is it mutual? Because I think sometimes the players and the parents are like following your guys lead.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And when it's not communicated they're like, I don't, I don't know if, like I'm not sure if they're interested. And so I as, as an advisor, I'm like, hey, so how'd the conversation go? I think it went good.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Like, okay. Why do you think it went good? Well, because this is what they said. Okay, well, that sounds good. Yeah, yeah. What's, what did he share with you kind of what the next steps are? No, no, no. Don't really know. I'm like, okay. And so I think sometimes it's, it's this feeling out process where the coach feels like the player's going to tell me and the player thinks the coach is going to tell me. And so being somebody who's been through it before, I think it'd be super valuable if it's like, hey man, I'm just going to walk you through it. Like this is how it's going to go. All eyes open. Because showing them what being transparent is like and being honest I think is going to get you that honesty in return.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You know what I mean?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah. I think too sometimes it's like in our profession we forget that the kids going through it for the first time.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

You've made so many phone calls over the years that you're like, oh yeah, this is the next step, you know, and again, to your point, if you just communicate it, it makes it easier and you're just, they're not surprised by anything or they're not wondering, oh man, he didn't call me today. Was he supposed to call me? What is it? What does that mean? Hey, he talked to this kid that I know, what does that mean? You know?

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So to your point.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think over communication is always better than under communication. But I think to your points, like, sometimes we forget, like, this is his first phone call, you know, And I.

[Interviewer]

Will say this, too. If you're talking to a player who maybe isn't on the top your list, I'm thinking kind of like a little further down, like playing out this. Not specific example, but I'm trying to create this in my head of, all right, you have a kid who, yeah, isn't like the number one kid at the position in the country. And so you reach out to them, but you're also reaching out to other players at the same position. You're not committing everybody. So you're really like, you've got your own pecking order in your mind of, well, it depends. Because if this guy wants to come, then that changes our situation with you. That's where I would. I would honestly be transparent with. Here's the reality. Because from a player's perspective, as they're dealing with you, what they want to know is, what is this going to be like if you are my coach? Right. And if I can't get a straight answer on the front end, then it's very easy for somebody to assume, am I going to get a straight answer when I'm there? Right. And I know that there are some kids sometimes who. I mean, I've heard these stories where it's like, yeah, I. I called and I texted the coach, and, you know, a week ago, they said to let him know when we're ready to, you know, make these visits. I followed up twice. He hasn't called or texted me back. And it's. I, like, I'm smart enough to know, like, well, that's not a good sign. Yeah, right.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

But instead of the kid wondering because the coach just isn't getting back to him, and then eventually, two weeks later, like, hey, sorry about that, man. Yeah, we're. We're full now. It's like, that's a bad look. Yeah, right. And I've had players really think negatively of programs that I know to be great programs because they didn't follow up properly. And it's the. I, you know, in this specific example, I know the coach. He's a good dude. He is not a bad guy. He's not a manipulator. He's. At least from what I understand him to be, it could have been that he was, like, really busy in the middle of stuff. I have no Idea. But the assumption from the player standpoint was like, that's kind of brutal. And so who do you think that kid talks to? This other player who also is talking to this school? And now it's like, yeah, I don't really like that coach. He never even had the courtesy of, like, texting me back.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Know what I mean?

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah. Well.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And to your point, everyone kind of knows everybody, right? From the kids to the coaches to. To everything. And I think nowadays with the transfer portal, like, you just never know when someone's recruiting timeline might. Might be up.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So I think it is important to your point, like, hey, you know what? This other guy committed. Hey, it's not looking. It's not looking like it. Best of luck to you. Like, maybe. Maybe we'll see you down the road. But if you got something else going on, it'd probably be in your best interest to take it.

[Interviewer]

Well, I just feel like the kids. So the parents aren't super experienced in it unless they've had, you know, like, Matt Holiday obviously had more experience than most, but most parents don't have the experience of going through it. So the kid being the one who. It's his career. He's the one, for the most part, having the majority of the conversations. It would be so valuable for the kid to be like, I feel comfortable here. It doesn't mean I'm going there because they may have interest in another player more, but at least I know there's a mutual respect. Like, he's not pulling. Pulling a fast one on me and, like, gonna, you know, blow me off and. Yeah, because then it's like these guys are making decisions on, all right, what places am I gonna go visit? Don't let them have your place in mind if that's not a place that you guys are actually going to be, you know.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Exactly.

[Interviewer]

Accessible for him.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So to your point, too, I think sometimes kids get scared. Earlier in the conversation, I said, let me know if you're going somewhere else.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think some coaches will get mad at that.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

If they call and they're mad they didn't get the kid and.

[Interviewer]

But this is an opportunity, honestly, if you do it the right way, where the family's going to be like, you.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Know, he handled it the right way.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Like, hey, that's very professional. Yeah, I. I appreciate that. Like, it's actually interesting out of the draft this year. Look, I mean, we've talked, you know, we were very fortunate to represent some really good players. We've talked to players who chose to Go in a different direction. And, like, guess what I did? I texted them after the draft, and I was like, hey, congratulations, man. I'm fired up for you guys. And I got two texts back from two of these families of some legit players, and they're like, hey, first class. Really appreciate the fact that you reached out. No one else did.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And it's like. And it's an easy text. And I genuinely am happy for him.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not like you're trying to get.

[Interviewer]

Him back or you think I'm happy for you.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Like, you know what?

[Interviewer]

Good for you guys. I remember two years ago when this was a dream.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And now it literally just happened. Like, that's awesome. Go celebrate.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You know. So, okay, as you're here at area codes, what is this whole thing like for you? Like, when you're going to the field, how. What's it like? Are you just literally watching every single game? Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

In these events, it's one field.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So I can sit down with my iPad and kind of take notes on everything.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Anything that I want. And kind of go back next week when I'm in the office. Go back and. Or really every night. But then next week, go back through my notes and. And see what kind of stood out, what was different than I thought going in.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Because I do. I do the list before and kind of see where I'm at. And then after the tournament, who played good, what looked good, what didn't go good, things like that. So what do you.

[Interviewer]

What do you think parents get wrong about your job? Like, college coach's job?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I mean, I think everyone thinks it's not necessarily easy.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

But just anyone on the outside of any job, you're like, oh, that should be.

[Interviewer]

You have a dream job. Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah. Correct.

[Interviewer]

I could do that, you know? Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And. And again, it's when you're in our league that we say it's like, hey, you should be able to get these 10 players.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And it's like, well, no, just like, we pick a certain. You know, we have certain values or whatever. Like, these three kids might have grown up and been a fan of a different school solely because their basketball team was good or this or that, or their parents went here, they had a good experience here on a vacation, and it's like, we didn't really have a chance to recruit them. But people on the outside are like, oh, you should be able to get whoever you want.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I think. I think me being in travel, baseball, obviously, when you're in it, you see the kids throughout the whole summer. You kind of know, man, because when you're the parent, you're. You get a little. Not angry, but there's a little jealousy, right? Like, hey, that kid over there, I know he's not good enough to go there. My kid should be going there this or that. But you know how it is being an agent. Like, baseball is different than basketball and football. It's. It's hard. If you don't watch the kid every game in the summer, you really. You really don't know what they are.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I mean, you're hoping, you're projecting. You're thinking this going based off what you've seen, but that's really all you can do. And, you know, I. Obviously people go there. It's ups and downs and it's. It's not as easy as it looks.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right?

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

You know, we don't have it all figured out.

[Interviewer]

No, I'm just gonna say, like, we. So I. I interviewed Michael Garcia Para, who runs gbd, who's obviously the scout with the Cardinals, and he was talking about it like, we had this same conversation where he, you know, he goes, everybody thinks, like, there's this one way of thinking. It's like, we're all different organizations. We're all human beings, too, like, evaluating guys differently. He goes, I remember Kesten Hura when he was at Irvine, like, I would go to the game. He goes, I swear to you, I. I literally saw every single game that this guy got out. He didn't get out much that year, but it was like, I was at every game that he got out. And so naturally, his evaluation is going to look different than someone else who went to the field. And like, every time he was in the lineup, this guy's getting a homer, you know, four for four, and it's like, oh, this guy can't get out.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

So naturally, I think that is a good point. Like, I think one of the assumptions parents make is. Yeah. Like, oh, you committed this guy. Like, what, you don't know enough?

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Or you're wrong. Like, how. What are you seeing? It's like. And my. My point to them all the time is, don't worry about it. Doesn't matter. It's not. That has. That's none of your business. Right. Your journey and your son's journey is unique to him. And that's where, for me, it's, take a step back, parents, let the situation develop. Right. There's a lot of time, even if your kid is draft eligible or going to be a senior or, I'm sorry, going into his freshman year next year, it's 12 months. Like there's still time left. Don't be so quick to. And I think it's the parents care so much. They want to see their son live out his dream.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah, right, right.

[Interviewer]

Whatever that looks like for them. And if they do, I mean, naturally every parent looks at their son and says, my son is different, my son is special. Right. Which is a good thing. But you also, and this is another thing Michael said, he goes, you know, we're area scouts, so I'm seeing everybody in this area. I think the parents would think differently if they had the job of like a director or a national guy. Where you're seeing the whole country.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

There's a lot of players in the United States.

[Brock Bennett]

Right.

[Interviewer]

When you're a right handed high school pitcher, that's a big bucket.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah, right.

[Interviewer]

If you're just seeing kids in the area and he's the best kid in the area, it doesn't mean he's the best kid in the country. God willing, he might be, but it's not a guarantee. So like, that's where it's. If, if for some reason the interest level isn't what you would hope or expect, it's not a conspiracy, like they're not out to get them. The. There could be other things at play. That's why for me, I've always encouraged families as they go to these events. What are other people telling you about your son? Not what you believe about your son. What are they saying? Guys in the industry. Yeah, right. College coaches, scouts, other travel ball coaches, depending on the agenda, like, what are they saying? And if everyone else is telling you that, like, this is different, your son is unique. Yeah, okay, there's something there. But if they're not, it's not like everyone else is stupid. No one gets it. My son should, you know, my son's better than this guy. Just go look at his statistics.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

In this small high school program that isn't playing, you know, the most elite talent. So talk to me a little bit about, like, data. Like we're in a new world in baseball in general. And I look at the pro teams. Obviously everybody, especially in the last like 10 years has gone so data heavy from a college perspective. Is there too much data at some point for you? Like, and this is more generally not like, what does Georgia think? But like, generally for college, is there too much data or is it like.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Again, it's just information for the high school recruiting.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think it's just information, Right. I think you have to take it for what it's worth.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I think, you know, everyone kind of values something different, and then everyone projects something different from it, right? So maybe you have a database where you're like, these big leaguers were this when they were 16. How do these guys match up?

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think the more data points you can have, the better. But to your point, I think it's a. It's a fine mix, right.

[Brock Bennett]

Of.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Of the data, what it looks like while he plays, all the old school stuff mixed with the new school stuff. But to your point, if. If a guy's swinging and missing a lot, hey, what. Why is he swinging and missing? Or, you know, if. If he's got this extension and he's getting a lot of swing and miss as a pitcher and he's doing this, then, hey, these are. These are good characteristics, Right. They kind of just more reassure you than anything.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah. Reassures your opinion of. All right. I had a question about this, and that just told me, like, I'm probably right. Yeah, that makes sense. All right, last two questions, the first of which is, is there a player that you think about that went to Georgia and you're like, I am so proud that this guy, you know, and maybe it's a guy. I. I feel like I know who it is, but it's a guy who. It wasn't a guarantee for him. He had to come in and he had to work his tail off. Not that it's ever a guarantee, but if you look, you know, a year before, two years before, like, it could have gone either way. Yeah, he stuck with the plan. He stuck with the program. He stuck with, you know, what you guys were. Were preaching and coaching, and then look what happened.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Is there a guy that stands out as, like.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, it'd be Charlie.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kind of a layup question.

[Interviewer]

So tell everybody a little bit, because I think sometimes I'm sure all these families are like, oh, yeah, Charlie, Kanye.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Really high draft pick. I understand he was really good, but, like, yeah, I don't think many people know this guy. Wasn't. He wasn't considered that the year before. Right. So, like, share a little bit of that story.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

So, yeah, he came in and it was kind of during the COVID time where he kind of got under. Recruited.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

But I think he was going to D3 to play football and baseball, and, you know, he just wanted to come to Georgia. And again, Times have changed from even then, right. The roster limits, walk ons, things like that. But he came to Georgia and walked on and then he wasn't able to make the team his first year just because of how many guys we had on scholarship coming back, some weird nuances like that. So he went out and played in the Northwoods League. And funny story is I called a couple guys in the Northwoods and I was like, hey, take this guy. And they're like, nah, he's red shirted. We don't, we don't really have room for a corner guy that's red shirted. Probably like the fourth coach took him. I'm like, listen, he's going to be in the middle of our order next year. Like, he's, he's a real player and he took him and obviously he was a Northwoods MVP and came back and had a great year for us.

[Interviewer]

But how many homers did he hit?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

His, his draft year? He hit 37.

[Brock Bennett]

37.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

37 homers.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah.

[Brock Bennett]

So.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And again, he wasn't on the roster his first year. I remember throwing BP to him before team could practice because he couldn't price for the team and, and he was just an awesome kid.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I think his work ethic, his parents came to, to BP to watch him hit in the fall and things like that.

[Brock Bennett]

And.

[Interviewer]

Well, so I guess here's my question. Was it something that, like, obviously you saw something in him, right? Like you, you're. You guys saw something in him. But was it a matter of like, oh, he just needed reps, he needed an opportunity, or was it like. No, there were some holes in his swing. He had to like work on something specific and he did. And then it.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think the first year he just needed reps.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And we went out to Northwoods, got a lot of reps, came back, was a really good player. And I think his junior year he really honed in on his swing through video and things like that. And then his plate discipline got a lot better. Yeah, that was one of the things that really skyrocketed him up draft boards and gave him the opportunity to be, to be the player he is.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Well, I love stories like this too, because I think for I'm a big underdog guy, I just love the stories when there was a player who had some adversity early, he had to prove people wrong. People doubted him. Like the guy that comes to mind. Obviously I'm biased because I went to Long beach, but like Evan Longoria.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah, right.

[Interviewer]

Like Evelyn Goria, you Know, wasn't drafted out of high school, goes to a junior college, does well, gets a scholarship to Long Beach State, is the third overall, you know, pick in the draft.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Now, that wasn't a slam donk. He had to put a lot of work in. He's obviously a talented guy. I mean, look at his. His career in the big leagues. But that was somebody who, you know, you're not gonna turn that guy away in high school. Like, that kid was like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna prove you wrong. Like, that's the only way that goes.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

This way. Right. So I think a. Charlie, you know, I've actually talked to him before this was, you know, before the draft, obviously. And the thing that stuck out to me is super respectful, great family, great communicator. There was zero question of, like, is this guy gonna, like, put in the work?

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Right. And so seeing that his career has panned out the way that it has out of the draft and, you know, that whole thing shaken out, I mean, he was one of the golden spikes, I believe, right?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, pretty much everyone.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. I mean, like, what a great story. Yeah. So that's where I kind of expected that. But I don't know, maybe there was somebody else. Okay, last question. If you could change one thing about college recruiting, what would it be, and how would that change benefit both the college and the player?

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

If you could change one thing, anything.

[Interviewer]

Assume you had a magic wand and you're like, oh, I would. I would change this.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

When a guy commits, he's actually signed with the school.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, there's no.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, there's no real. Well, there's no real verbal. Verbal commit. Things like that.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Like, obviously, if the coach leaves or.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Whatever, you can get out of your sign.

[Interviewer]

But. But the commitment is a commitment.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So there's not as much. Not necessarily wiggle room, but you feel like there's a little more from the kid and the school's perspective.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Hey, this guy's committed, you know, this guy signed.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, that's a good answer.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I don't know how the exact How. How you do it or what it.

[Interviewer]

Is, but beside the point. I think the point is. Is taken. Which is. Yeah, I mean, I. I can understand why from a college, that is certainly real. I think sometimes from players, they probably would say the same thing because it would have to work both ways. Like, yeah, if you commit a kid, there's no amen. Like, it's not going to work out here. And that's tricky, too. Yeah. Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah. I think it would slow everyone down.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Which is what I believe the whole August 1st thing has done.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

It's done pretty well.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Which has been a good thing.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. All right, I lied. I have one more question. Okay. So when you have a kid who's in high school, who's a. Who's like a draft follow for teams, and this kid is now being projected to be taken in the draft, I think one of the biggest frustrations, I imagine, for you guys is this inability to communicate and figure out. Not that you can tell them 100%, meaning the player can tell you 100%, like, I'm signing or I'm not signing, because it depends a lot of the times. Yeah, but what is. What is a message that you would want to tell the. The family and the player about? What would be helpful from your perspective? I think I know what the answer would be if it was me in your shoes. But I'm curious to hear from you because I want to give these families and these players. I don't think any family or player ever wants to mislead a coach.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Or not. Be honest. They're obviously really nervous and, like, don't want to, you know, speak out of turn or mess up something. But what would be helpful for you to.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah, I think you kind of led into it honest and transparent.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

I think, you know, I think the draft, to be drafted out of high school and to have that opportunity is awesome.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

And I think too many people, not too many people, but guys just try and talk people out of the draft. College guys.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Talk them out of the draft just because they want them selfishly for them. But everyone's. Each kid's story is just so different. You never really know.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

But I think just being transparent and. And again, to your point, like, even the scouts don't know, really, if, hey, that we're going to give this guy this number or whatever this number might be, but I think just from the kid. Hey, really? And sometimes the kids don't know, you know, because, again, I was drafted. I know what it's like. Like, you don't know when it really gets to draft day, what that if that number's going to change. Obviously, that's why you're involved, to help the kid through that process. But you know how it is. You've always seen the kid that, hey, I'm going to sign for a million dollars, and it gets drafted, and he's like, man, I really just want to go play. It's cool for my friends to see me get drafted. I know I'm signing for 3:50, you know, or whatever it be. I think just the transparency.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

On that end, that.

[Interviewer]

That makes sense because you guys have to make decisions, too.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Right. And you're counting on. Not that it's 100% guaranteed that the.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Kid is coming black and white.

[Interviewer Assistant]

Right.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

It's not a yes or no. Like, you don't know how the draft's going to go because you're more involved with that than I am. But you know how it is.

[Interviewer]

It changes every second. Yeah. And I do think one of the things that would be helpful for the families for you guys to convey is really, like, something very specific and, and honest, which is you're gonna know the kid's talent level. And like, if you were to tell a kid who's he's okay, if you sign for anything less than $3 million, you're nuts. Like, come on, man.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

But it's being honest. Like, look, if you get what you want, man, more power to you. Like, we're gonna be rooting for you. We're happy for you, but just, like, we just want to know that you're not just not gonna absolutely pull the rip cord. And. Yeah. It's like, just take me and I'll sign for whatever you offer. Because that, that's something I actually, I. I struggle with too. And it's one of the reasons why I spend so much time really trying to assure, you know, the families. Like, when you make this decision, if the first time we're thinking about this is going through the draft, it's way too late.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Because this is such an emotional thing. You can't make this decision for the first time in 15 seconds saying, like, okay, yes, I'll take this or no.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And I know that a lot of the kids. And if you're listening, kids don't go through this journey and say, like, it's a hard thing to think about. So, like, I don't want to deal with it. I'll deal with it then. Not. Not a good path. But also, don't just think about best case scenario. It's easy to think about best case scenario. Oh, best. Would I sign for $5 million?

[Brock Bennett]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

Okay, great. Good job. Would you sign for two?

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Right. I don't know. And so that's what I mean. Like, when they get to a place where, like, I don't know, and then they realize, oh, this doesn't feel good. I don't really want to think about this. That's what you have to think about, because if that happens, you need to know immediately this is my answer. I'm committed to it. Whatever. And I've said to families, go through the draft process buying into this belief that you're going to college because if you don't, it's because some team just gave you life changing money and bought you out of that opportunity and you're fired up. And if you think from that perspective and you end up on campus, you're excited. It's what I always thought it was going to happen. Right. The opposite oftentimes happens, though, which is, I'm signing, man. I just know this is, I'm being, I'm ranked on all these boards. You know, they have me in the top 100.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

This is happening. I don't even got to worry about it. I'm not going to college. I'm not going to need to. And then sure enough, now it's the 11th round and you're banking on a team saving money and overpaying you later. And now all of a sudden you're like, man, I haven't even thought about going to college.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And those are the guys that are like, fine, I'll just sign. They sign and they're pissed.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And so it's like, why were you ever looking at college as though it was a bad opportunity? Like, buy into the idea that you're going to school and if it doesn't happen, someone is buying out of that opportunity. So.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Yeah. Because the worst thing to your point is like, you show up at college and you're, you're disappointed to be there after not signing for like, for what?

[Interviewer]

Right? Especially in the sec at a good program like yours.

[Brock Bennett]

You know what?

[Interviewer]

How is that being misconstrued? So. And again, that's why I always say it just comes back to communication and relationships.

[Brock Bennett]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You know, that's it, brother. I appreciate you coming on, man.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

No, thanks for having me.

[Interviewer]

It's fun.

[Georgia Recruiting Coordinator]

Fun.

[Interviewer]

All right.