David Shaw (@CoachDavidShaw) is the current Head Football Coach at Stanford University. Shaw has set records as the third-fastest active coach, one of three coaches to lead his team to BCS bowls in his first 3 years as head coach, and he helped Stanford become the only team to earn four consecutive BCS bowl bids during the Bowl Championship Series Era. Shaw is also a two-time recipient of the PAC-12 Coach of the Year Award.

Here, Shaw explains how technology has changed the way college athletic teams recruit and perceive athletes. College teams are worth a lot of money, which means they want to know exactly who they will be investing in. He used his own experience at Stanford as an example: on scouting pro day all the recruits are required to give their social media information to all the scouts. Shaw also discusses how even though children from this generation feel close to their smartphones and feel invincible on social media, they have to be constantly reminded about the material they post. Everybody is watching how athletes behave off the field as if they are future employers, therefore it is especially critical for athletes to understand the information they choose to share.

Avoid other recruiting pitfalls by reading about the 4 Common Mistakes Athletes Make In The Recruiting Process.