About Total Sports Recruiting

Why we exist

Most executive search firms treat athletics as a side desk on a corporate practice. A brief comes in, a generalist recruiter runs a database search, and a stack of resumes lands on the athletic director’s desk with candidates who have never worked inside an athletic department, never coordinated an NCAA compliance file, never coached inside a Power 5 travel schedule. The search stalls, the timeline slips, and the AD quietly starts calling their own network.

Total Sports Recruiting was set up to do the opposite. We are a specialist athletics search firm. Coaching, athletic administration, sports medicine, S&C, sports operations and pro-franchise front offices. Nothing else. Every partner on our desk has run programmes, sat in athletic-department leadership or worked front-office roles inside pro sports. We screen on the actual context of the job, not on keywords.

What we do, plainly

We place athletic staff and sports-organisation executives for US clients. Head coaches, position and assistant coaches, athletic directors, associate ADs, S&C leadership, athletic trainers, sports medicine, sports information, compliance and academics, facilities and operations, sports nutrition and general managers. Retained model, partner-led, with a written engagement letter and a contractually committed timeline on every mandate.

How we vet

Every candidate on a shortlist has been assessed against the same standard before an introduction to your programme:

• Programme-level track record calibrated to the division, conference and operating context of your brief
• Credential and licensure verification: BOC, CSCS, RD, CSSD and state licensure where applicable
• NCAA compliance history clean where the role sits inside the athletic department
• Compensation package broken down: base, incentives, buyout clauses, contract remaining and non-compete
• Reference and back-channel readiness confirmed before shortlist presentation
• NDA on file at first contact. No candidate is approached without one.

Who we work with

Our clients include NCAA D1 through D3 athletic departments, NAIA programmes, JUCO conferences, high school athletic departments and independent school leagues, pro franchises across the major and minor leagues, and independent sports organisations. Athletic directors, ownership groups, university presidents, hiring committees and search subcommittees who value a written retained engagement over the transactional alternative.

How we think about a placement

A placement is not a signed employment agreement. It is the moment 24 months later when the coach has delivered against the operating plan, the AD is not thinking about backup plans, the roster is retained, and the programme has moved forward. That is the outcome we measure ourselves against.

Our standards

• Retained model only. Every engagement is written, scoped and committed.
• Partner-led every search. The partner who wins the mandate runs the mandate.
• Confidentiality by default. NDAs at first contact. Client identity withheld until you say otherwise.
• Committed timeline. Shortlist by day 90, contractually committed.
• 12-month replacement. Standard on every retained search.

Want to talk?

Use the contact form and we will come back within one business day. We are available Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm.