Decommit U

The problem is that coaches still pester a kid who has made a ‘commitment’ that, at the end of the day, carries the same weight as if they had said ’I’m going to be in the Pro Bowl some day’…

Would whoever is closest to Lemming please reach over and punch him in the back of the head?

You want to know what I think makes a mockery of College Football? Stroking the ego of a kid who already thinks he’s worthy of pulling up to the Hall of Fame in a limo to announce his intention to go to Notre Dame.

I’ll get on board with the idea supported by Kevin and iblogforcookies/Brian, but do we really need to formalize something like that? Honestly, I think part of the recruiting process should be the life lesson of manning up and telling a coach ‘look, I appreciate the interest, but I’ve made up my mind and I’m going somewhere else’; and part of being a good coach should be respecting a kid’s decision.

somebody with some Photoshop skills really needs to invert JoePa’s hand in that picture.

since there’s a recession going on, I think it would help all involved to move Christmas up to June 25th this year. Stimulating the economy and all….

I like that he points this out:

The reality is Texas, FSU or USC could land the same kid as VT and the likelihood is if he’s with one of the glamour schools he has a better shot of getting labeled as a 4-star than if he’s chased by the Hokies. Looking back over the years, Darryl Tapp was a 3-star guy; Duane Brown was a 3-star guy; Noland Burchette was a 2-star; DB Jimmy Williams a 3-star; and David Clowney a 2-star.

They push for the early commitments to give themselves recruiting momentum. Sign up a few four star guys in February and other four star guys are more likely to give you a look. They tell these kids they have to commit now or else they’re going to offer some other kid who will commit on the spot.

From the kid’s perspective, they see their peers committing left and right and coaches are telling them spots are running out fast. So they verbal to the nearest BCS schools to “hold their spot”. Then they look around to see what else is out there. If something better comes along they decommit. Is it unethical? Maybe. But you can’t blame the kid for looking out for himself when these college coaches are doing the same thing.

College football has become a big money business. And when big money is involved ruthless decisions will be made and people are going to get hurt. That’s just the way it is.

Yes it is important for kids to learn that their word should mean something. However, if not contract (letter of intent) is signed, then there is no problem here. If coaches are afraid of losing kids, they should continue to sway them even after a verbal committ. Many times after a verbal, recruiters move on to the next kid.

Maybe this is also another way for a player to stick it to a coach, just like when a coach leaves for another school after making all of these glorious promises to a kid.

“The [USC] coaches kept fighting for me all the way until the end,” Moore told Rivals.com, offering a glimpse into his motivation — wanting to be wanted.

If that’s really his motivation, methinks that unless he turns into a superduper star (Leinart/Bush), he’s gonna feel underappreciated, just like a few guys did this past year

and I think Brian @ MGoBlog & iblogforcookies have a decent idea. An early signing date would be a terrible idea, and it isn’t like kids don’t verbal early already, all an earlier signing date would mean would be that verbals would get pushed even earlier. But if there was a “nonbinding letter of intent” (which could be cancelled at any time), and strictly enforced NCAA sanctions for other programs contacting such a kid, this seems like it would help the issue a lot.

Plus I think it would cut down on the number of early “verbal” (or I suppose I should say “nonbinding letter of inent”) commits, since only the kids who really mean it would be signing them, since they wouldn’t be allowed to take any (official) visits to other schools or meet with other coaches/recruiters/boosters. Then a school would know what they really have during the recruiting process and wouldn’t have to waste time still trying to sell your program to a kid who already committed just to make sure he doesn’t change his mind and go somewhere else after that guy in a wizard had comes and tries to sell some snake oil.

next you’re going to tell me that schools use hot young ’tang to influence recruits!
Unbelievable!

Really, the recruiting process is very much like an MTV dating show. Except instead of some hot bi-sexual asian chick it’s an old dude in kahki’s. Like the post said — creepy.

If Pete Caroll or Tressel had their way, they’d just sign contracts with school districts that stated if Ohio State or USC want you to play, you have to play there. It’s all about what these old guys want and it’s always at the expense of the kid’s and their futures.

There’s this huge push lately to make NCAAF more like NFL, there’s a reason: $$$. There’s also a reason I hate the NFL: $$$. The more things become all about the money, the less they’re about football — until eventually it’s WWF Football.