Todd Butler has coached for more than three decades, including head coaching jobs at McNeese State and Wichita State. He is now the recruiting coordinator at the University of Oklahoma. On Episode 33 of the Baseball Forward Podcast he explained what he is really watching when he evaluates a player. This guide turns it into practical advice for recruits and parents.
Watch the full conversation on YouTube
What does a recruiting coordinator watch at a showcase or summer event?
Butler leaves the team gear at home and stands down the line where nobody is looking for him. He will sit in the stands next to parents, or ask a player on the bench about his own shortstop. That is where he gets the most usable information.
His checklist has little to do with tools:
- Is the hat on correctly, and is he wearing a belt?
- Is he early?
- Does he stretch and play catch properly, and catch the ball cleanly?
- Does he have a routine on deck?
- Does he have presence walking to the plate?
Rankings and video help, but he insists on seeing a player in person.
What to do: assume someone is watching warm-ups and the dugout. Those are the parts of the day players think do not count.
Do grades matter in baseball recruiting?
To Butler, a lot. He checks with a recruit's teachers and high school coaches, because an accountable 3.5 student improves far faster than a 2.2 student with similar tools. Oklahoma's incoming class the year before this conversation averaged better than a 3.5 GPA.
Grades also keep doors open. If you are not sure where you stand, read our NCAA academic eligibility guide.
What does "coachable" really mean to a college coach?
It is not saying yes to everything. Butler listens for whether the instruction is actually landing:
"If I'm giving a player information and he's saying yes sir, yes sir, yes sir after each sentence, he can't hear me."
A player who answers that fast is not mature enough yet to let the words sit and decide what to keep.
He also warns against the opposite problem: freshmen who try to please every coach in the building. The best players, he says, are a little stubborn. They stay with what got them there.
"It's not about impressing everyone around you, because you cannot please everyone."
What to do: when a coach gives you feedback, pause, repeat back what you heard, and ask one good question.
Is recruiting just collecting the best players?
No. Butler's line:
"The biggest key in recruiting is assembling the team, where the team complements each other. It's not recruiting, it's assembling."
That is why a staff might pass on a talented player at one school while another program needs exactly what he does. Fit is real. Spread your search across the right levels and programs, and do not take a single "no" personally.
What should parents do, and not do?
Butler had two pieces of advice:
- Let your son fight his own battles. If you do not want to be the parent who calls the coach, do not be that parent. Your son should go to the coach himself and own his situation.
- Keep demanding while still showing love. Back in the cage after a bad game, around people who know what they are doing. The more rough water a young person crosses, the better off he is.
For vetting the adults around your son, from summer coaches to advisors, he offers a simple test:
"Would I want to do business with this coach? Would I want this coach to come to my house and eat?"
He also asks parents to watch pitching workloads. Two innings on a Tuesday, two more Saturday, two more the next Wednesday adds up fast for an arm that is not strong enough yet.
How much do relationships matter?
Butler calls relationships the biggest thing of all. Knowing a family since a player was in eighth or ninth grade lets him demand more once that player is on campus. He also told the story of recruiting Alec Bohm to Wichita State. He promised Bohm's parents their son would play third base and hit in the middle of the order as a freshman, and that he had a chance to go in the first round if he worked. All of it held, and Bohm went third overall.
Butler's advice for players
- Play with joy and be thankful you are healthy.
- Get stronger. His one playing-days regret is skipping the weight room. He suggests about ten pounds a year as a sound target for a high school player.
- Be where your feet are. "It's not always greener on the other side."
Keep researching
- See the University of Oklahoma program page for location, cost, and roster details.
- Compare notes with another recruiting coordinator in our Dallas Baptist guide.
- Ready to get in front of coaches who fit? Become a Prospect List Member.