Highlight film that coaches actually watch

A position coach watching recruiting film has a stack of 60 names and an hour. He will give your reel about six plays. If those six don't answer "can this kid play for us?", he doesn't watch the seventh. Build the reel for that viewer.

Rules of the cut

1. Best play first, second-best play second. Not chronological. Not the touchdown with the long run after the catch — the play that shows the trait coaches recruit at your position (see below).
2. Three to five minutes. Twenty-five to forty plays. If you have more good plays than that, make a second reel by category and mention it in your e-mail; don't pad the first one.
3. Spot yourself before every play. A circle or arrow on the freeze frame, then let the play run. Coaches will not hunt for you in a huddle.
4. Full plays, wide angle. Show the snap and the finish. Tight, choppy edits look like you're hiding something.
5. No music, no slow motion, no filters. Coaches watch on mute in an office. Slow motion makes fast players look slow.
6. Put your info on the opening card, for five seconds: name, grad year, position, height/weight, school, GPA, cell, and your coach's name and cell. Then get to football.
7. Label the level of competition if it helps you: a play against a ranked team or a D1 recruit on the other side is worth a caption.

What coaches want to see, by position

• QB: throws from the pocket with pressure, ball placement on the move, decisions on third down. Not fifteen screens.
• RB: contact balance, vision at the line, pass protection (yes, really), and one long run.
• WR / TE: releases against press, catching away from the body, blocking (TEs especially), and yards after contact.
• OL: pad level and hands in pass sets, finish in the run game, movement in space on screens and pulls. Coaches watch OL film twice; make the second view easy with a few full-game clips.
• DL / Edge: get-off, hand usage, effort plays chasing the ball backside, pass-rush plan (not one move ten times).
• LB: run fits and downhill triggers, coverage drops, tackling in space, blitz timing.
• DB: press technique, hips in transition, ball production, and tackling — a corner who won't tackle gets closed on play three.
• Specialists: hang time and distance in game conditions, plus a short session of charted kicks with a visible yard line.

If you play both ways, lead with the side you'll be recruited for. Ask your high-school coach if you're not sure; then ask a college coach on a visit.

When to cut it

• Junior season reel: within seven days of your last game. Coaches are watching junior film in December and January; a reel that arrives in March is a reel that arrives after the board is set.
• Mid-season update: every three to four games in your senior year. New film is the best reason to e-mail a coach again.
• Sophomore reel: short — 12 to 20 plays — and honest. It exists to get you on file, not to get an offer.

Hosting and sharing

Hudl is the default; coaches have accounts and the app. Keep the reel public or shareable by link, title it clearly (Marcus Hill 2027 S Gulfport HS junior film), and send one link. YouTube is fine as a backup. Never send a file attachment.

Mistakes that close the tab

• The reel opens with a team logo animation, then a quote, then music.
• Ten plays of the same thing (ten bubble screens, ten blitzes untouched).
• Poor-quality sideline video with no end-zone angle — ask your coach for the game film, not the parent camera.
• Plays where you're not clearly identified or where the outcome is a team highlight, not yours.
• An eleven-minute reel. The eleventh minute is proof that nobody helped you edit.

Cut it, get one coach to watch it with you and be brutal, cut it again. Then send it.