The recruiting process is complex — and most
of it is hidden.

You don't know where your athlete'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 athlete'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 probably not behind. But the families who are ahead of you aren't smarter or better connected. They just started with better information. The recruiting process is genuinely complex — roster caps, scholarship structures, the transfer portal, international recruits — and the landscape shifted significantly in 2025 in ways that even families inside the sport are struggling to keep up with. Most of what matters is never explained to families on the outside.

I'm Jay Johnson. I spent six years as a recruiting coordinator at the University of Colorado — the person inside the room deciding who to recruit and why. I've coached distance runners for over 25 years. And now I'm a parent with a daughter who's a junior and wants to run in college. I've been on both sides of this process. What I've learned is that the confusion families feel isn't a reflection of the effort they've put in. It's a reflection of how much is deliberately kept behind closed doors.

I put together a free guide covering the five recruiting mistakes I've watched families make for over two decades. Every one of them is fixable once you can see it.