Stop Panicking — Why Not Being Committed Yet Doesn’t Mean You’re Behind with Coach Mindy McCord, USF WLax Head Coach

If you are still uncommitted after September 1st, the first thing I want you to hear — really hear — is this:

You are not late. You are just still in the middle. – Coach Mindy McCord shared.

September 1st has become this artificial finish line that convinces athletes something is “wrong” with them if they didn’t get the call. I hear the same lines over and over:

“Everyone is already committed.”

“Coaches must be done.”

“I missed my chance.”

“If they wanted me, they would have reached out.”

Those statements feel true because emotionally, they sound like logic. But they are not actually reality. Reality is far less dramatic than your panic makes it.

What September 1st Actually Means

September 1st is simply the day Division I coaches are allowed to start responding directly. It is not the day they finish recruiting. It is the first day of one phase of recruiting, not the last day of the entire process.

What still happens after Sept 1st every single year:

• New names get added to boards

• Fall tournaments change opinions

• Players get discovered late

• Spots open when athletes decommit

• Injuries change roster needs

• Transfers open unexpected holes

• Coaches miss people in summer and find them in October/November

You are not behind — you are just in a phase that isn’t instant-gratification.

You Feel Behind Because You’re Comparing Timelines

The stress you’re feeling often isn’t about your own recruiting reality — it’s about watching everyone else’s unfold online.

It’s not always that you don’t have a home yet — it’s the feeling of seeing others announce theirs before you and wondering what that means for you.

Comparison rewrites the scoreboard in your head. It convinces you that:

• someone else’s timing defines your worth

• someone else’s commitment eliminates your possibility

• someone else’s celebration equals your failure

That is not how recruiting works. Someone else getting recruited does not steal your chair — there are hundreds of chairs.

The Most Dangerous Mistake Athletes Make Right Now

When panic sets in, athletes stop doing the right things and start doing reactive things:

• They stop emailing because “what’s the point”

• They shrink their list instead of expanding it

• They obsess over one school instead of working several

• They let discouragement become inactivity

• They assume silence = “no”

• They retreat instead of re-engaging

When you panic, you stop competing.

Recruiting rewards the athletes who stay engaged after the others emotionally quit.

The Truth: You Can Still Change Your Outcome

A single fall tournament where you show up differently can flip your trajectory.

A single piece of film can move you up a board.

A single roster change can reopen a door.

A single follow-up email can trigger a response.

You don’t need 50 coaches to want you.

You need one.

And that “one” may not have even experienced the moment that puts you on their radar yet. The moment that changes your story could still be ahead of you — and statistically, for many athletes, it is shares Coach Mindy McCord.

Your Job Right Now

Your job is not to predict the outcome.

Your job is not to panic-evaluate what every coach thinks.

Your job is not to match someone else’s pace.

Your job is:

• to keep emailing

• to keep improving

• to keep getting seen

• to keep staying in front of coaches

• to keep positioning yourself for timing to work in your favor

Coaches do not stop recruiting just because you start doubting.

The Only Way You Actually “Fall Behind”

You don’t fall behind because you’re uncommitted.

You fall behind when you:

• stop trying

• stop communicating

• stop refining

• stop believing you are still in this

Most people emotionally tap out long before they are actually eliminated.

If you are still working, you are not behind — you are competing in the same race on a different lap.

You Are Not Late — You Are Early In Your Story

Recruiting does not reward the girl who finishes first.

It rewards the girl who finishes well.

You don’t need to be first.

You don’t need to go fast.

You need to still be in it when the right door opens.

You are not behind.

You are still becoming.

And that is exactly where you are supposed to be right now. 

“You got this” – Coach Mindy McCord