Steps for High Schoolers to Follow when Developing a Highlight Tape

As the high school regular season is nearing the end, it is time for most athletes to start developing their highlight tapes to send out to college coaches. Before you send your tape out it is important to ensure your highlight tape is structured properly to entice coaches. Follow these tips below to ensure your highlight tape accurately represents the player you are.

• Attention Grabber (First 3 plays)

Think of the opening scene to any great movie. The purpose of the opening scene is to set the stage and draw in the audience to sit through the rest of the movie. The same thinking should be used when creating a highlight tape. Your first 3 plays need to be plays that make the audience lean into the screen and want to see more. These do not need to be your longest touchdowns or most important plays. These plays should summarize the type of athlete and football player you are. I would recommend looking at the first few plays of famous high school highlight tapes like Jadevoen Clowny, Tavon Austin, Joe Haden, Stefon Diggs, and other high school standouts for reference.

• Explosive Plays

The next few plays should help the coach maintain the level of excitement he had in the first few plays. This is where you insert the rest of your top level highlights. These would be explosive plays such as big hits, long touchdowns, interceptions, etc. 

• Display Versatility/Athleticism

Make sure your highlights display your versatility and athleticism. Coaches do not want to see you doing the same thing 15 plays in a row. For example, a DB should try to display plays in man and zone, tight ends should show their ability to run routes, catch, and block, pass rushers should show different pass rush techniques, etc.  
Additionally, If you play both defense and offense then make sure that you have highlights included on both sides of the ball. Coaches love players who can do more and it increases your chances of getting recruited. Also include any special teams highlights you may have.

• Leave off “low-lights” (Quality > Quantity)

When creating a highlight tape it is important to remember “quality over quantity.” Meaning, a long highlight tape does not equate to being a good tape. Think of your highlight tape like an “elevator pitch” to a coach. You only have a small time frame to sell yourself to a coach. Typically, after 3 minutes of watching a highlight tape coaches already have a good feel for the type of player you are.

• Edit Order of plays

As mentioned above, most coaches are likely to only watch a select few before they turn the film off so make sure your best plays are not at the end of your highlight tape.

Although having a good highlight tape is important, it is more important to be able to hand a college coach a full game for them to watch. Make sure you are displaying high effort and intensity throughout your games. If you are struggling with identifying the right plays for your highlight tape then I recommend you sign up for  “Perfect Performance Virtual Hudl Review.” Our Virtual Hudl Film Review will be a 45 Minutes session via Zoom for High School Football Players to review their game film with Perfect Performance Coaches. These sessions will be used to assess strengths and weaknesses of the athlete and our Coaches will provide feedback for them to improve their game. Additionally, our coaches will use their knowledge of recruiting to help identify key plays for athletes to include in their highlight film to send to colleges. If interested, view the link below. 
​Virtual Football School | PP NOVA | Northern Virginia

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