RECRUITING
TURNING VISITS ANGELA KIRKPATRICK’S MULTIFACETED JOB IS DESIGNED
Since joining Carolina football in October, Angela Kirkpatrick estimates that she’s coordinated approximately 200 campus visits for potential Tar Heel football prospects. As the director of on-campus recruiting—a football staff position that didn’t even exist five years ago—she’s constantly thinking about how to leave a good impression and make Carolina a memorable part of a prospect’s recruiting process. We asked the Tennessee graduate, a journalism major who spent six seasons involved with the Vols’ recruiting efforts, to describe some of the most rewarding moments—and some of the challenges—in her job. Photos by Andy Mead and Jeffrey Camarati
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FIRST IMPRESSIONS
“One of the first things to remember about on-campus recruiting is
you only get one shot to make a first impression. When they come to campus, you may not get a second chance to host them, so it has to
be as memorable as possible. You are always, always, always thinking
about customer service. I want Carolina to be the most customer-friendly
school we can possibly create. When someone is here on a visit, we don’t want them to have to worry about anything. This place is amazing, and we want that to come through when we talk to people.”
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BORN & BRED
CONSTANT OUTPUT
“My job is to know everything about a kid before he
gets here. I do a lot of research, and I talk to a lot of kids and families. I know the names of their parents and I know details about them. Our coaches are
talking to them regularly, and they’ll pass on some
of that information. Social media is big, because kids get a chance to tell their whole stories there. I
pay attention to that. That’s also a challenge for us, because kids want to put out things like graphics on social media, so we want to make sure we have a constant output to meet that demand.”