The recruiting process isn't complicated. It's just hidden.
What a former D1 recruiting coordinator wants every family to know before they start
You don't know where your kid's times actually put them. You don't know if they're a D1 recruit, a D2 recruit, or a D3 recruit. You don't know when to start reaching out to coaches, what to say when you do, or how involved you're supposed to be as a parent.
You've Googled it. You've looked at Runcruit or TFRRS and come away more confused than when you started. Maybe your kid's high school coach said "don't worry about it yet." Maybe you've already reached out to a few programs and heard nothing back. Either way, you're stuck — and you have this feeling that other families are further along.
You're not behind. The recruiting process isn't complicated. It's just hidden. And the landscape changed in 2025 — roster caps, new scholarship structures, international recruits, the transfer portal — in ways that even families inside the sport are struggling to keep up with.
I'm Jay Johnson. I spent 25 years coaching distance runners, including time as a recruiting coordinator at the University of Colorado — the person evaluating athletes and deciding who to recruit. Now I have a teenage daughter going through this exact process. I've been on both sides. And I can tell you: the families who handle this well aren't smarter or more connected. They just started with better information.
I put together a free guide covering the 5 recruiting mistakes I've watched families make for over two decades. Every one of them is fixable once you see it.
What's in the guide
- 01 The timing mistake that puts families months behind Most families think recruiting is a senior-year activity. By then, some programs have already filled their spots.
- 02 The division trap that costs the most time and opportunity Your kid might be a strong recruit at the D2 or D3 level right now. But if you only know about D1, you'll never find out.
- 03 The email that gets deleted by college coaches There's a specific type of email coaches delete without reading. Most families send exactly that email.
- 04 What most parents get wrong about scholarships The rules changed in 2025. Full rides work differently now, and most families haven't caught up.
- 05 The commitment mistake that undoes months of good work One timing error at the end of the process can undo everything you did right at the beginning.
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Not ready to share your email? Read the first two mistakes every family makes.
Something bigger is coming. In late April I'm launching the Clarity System — a tool that lets you enter your athlete's times and see which programs across every division are a realistic fit, filtered by what your family can actually afford. Real performance standards built from actual college roster data, not what school websites publish. Grab the guide above and you'll be first to hear when it's ready.
I'm Jay Johnson. I spent six years as a Division I recruiting coordinator at the University of Colorado, evaluating athletes and deciding who to recruit. I've coached distance runners for over 25 years — from high school through the professional level. Now I'm a parent with a daughter who's a junior and wants to run in college. I built Next Mile Recruiting because the information families need to do this well shouldn't be this hard to find.