Another college football recruiting period is behind us as National Signing Day, a virtual holiday for college football geeks, has come and gone. For the most part the colleges have secured their incoming freshman class. Since I don’t have the intestinal fortitude to start worrying about what 16-year olds are the next up and coming four star recruits for next year’s signing day, (and I say that as the parent of a high school athlete who turns 16 next month), I was drawn to looking at some of the things that happened last week. It was the aforementioned, “for the most part,” that got me stirring.
It is a long accepted process that college coaches, football in particular, stalk high school athletes for years in an effort to get them to commit to their school. Many of the youngsters will offer a non-binding verbal commitment to a school, prior to the NCAA’s first day they can sign their binding letter of intent. Despite having given this commitment, since they have not signed that binding LOI, these kids often still get pursued by other schools. Some of the players will change their mind multiple times during the process. Others will stick with their original commitment.
But what happens when they stick with their verbal agreement, but their school of choice changes its mind. Or they actually sign the letter that obligates them to that school, but find out the people who recruited them are in no way obligated to the school themselves? It happens every year. This year was perhaps no more egregious than any other year, but it sure felt like it.
At Louisville, head coach Bobby Petrino already has a well-deserved dubious reputation on and off the field. He may have outdone himself this year. Matt Colburn, a running back from Irmo, South Carolina had verbally committed to Louisville eight months prior to signing day. He never took an official trip to another school and never wavered from his commitment. He is “only” a three star recruit though, so as signing day drew closer and Louisville drew interest from more elite high school football players, Petrino had a problem. If he got everyone he wanted, he would surpass the maximum amount of scholarships allowed. What to do? Turn away these elite players? Clearly, stick with Colburn, who stuck with you for eight months, right? Not a chance. Petrino notified Colburn less than 48 hours before signing day, that Louisville would no longer be offering him a scholarship, so as to have enough for the more elite late comers. After turning away recruiters from other schools in order to stick with his commitment, Colburn was left without a chair when the music stopped on signing day. Colburn’s high school coach was so infuriated that he notified the Louisville athletic department that their coaches would never be welcome on his campus again. Fortunately, Colburn has found a home, as Wake Forest offered him a scholarship this week, and he has probably learned that the word commitment has different meaning to different people.
Texas head coach Charlie Strong is determined to teach about commitment. He was surprised when Ryan Newsome, a WR from Aledo, Texas announced a week before signing day that he had chosen UCLA over the Longhorns. His family, however, was not nearly as pleased with the decision, and on signing day, Newsome signed his binding letter with Texas. Since that time, he has been active on social media saying he signed with the Longhorns because it was what his family wanted, but that he still wants to go to UCLA. Strong, however, has said Newsome made a commitment and they expect him to honor it. They will not release him from his LOI. If he wants to leave he will have to transfer and sit out a year by NCAA rules. Strong, on the other hand is free to take a coaching job elsewhere if he wants.
Recruits at Ohio State discovered that while the letter of intent binds them to their chosen school, not much binds the coaches to stay. Mike Weber was a highly sought after high school running back from Detroit. He formed a bond over time with Ohio State running backs coach Stan Drayton, and ultimately chose OSU over Michigan on signing day. The very next day Drayton announced he was leaving Ohio State to become the running backs coach for the Chicago Bears. Weber said this week, he will still go to Ohio State, but he has gone to social media, wearing a Michigan shirt, and making it clear he believes Drayton had to have known well before signing day that he would be leaving for the NFL. He just chose not to say anything until the recruits were signed and committed.
No one blames the coaches for taking a bigger or better opportunity. But the timing of taking that job and when they tell their recruits about it is a viable issue. Roquan Smith, a linebacker from Montezuma, Georgia stunned many on signing day when he announced for UCLA over the University of Georgia. Smith was too busy taking pictures with family and friends to have signed his binding letter. As the cameras were going off, so was Smith’s phone. Word had gotten out that Jeff Ulbrich, the UCLA defensive coordinator, who had spent the better part of a year recruiting Smith, had been offered an assistant coaching job with the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons had just hired Dan Quinn as head coach the day before and he reached out to his old friend, Ulbrich, to ask him to coach the linebackers in Atlanta. Ulbrich did not accept the job for a few more days, but by then, Smith was upset that UCLA had not told him earlier that this coaching change was a possibility. He has yet to sign a LOI with anyone and wisely probably won’t. Friday he is expected to finally choose his school and sign the grant-in-aid packages for his scholarship and show up for school when the summer session starts. Smith will not be held to the terms of a binding letter of agreement this way.
For decades, coaches leaving for greener pastures have justified the transitions by saying the players should be choosing a university and not a coach. They are right of course. The choice should be a compilation of where you want to play, the academics, the social atmosphere, the future teammates. But when you are a 17 or 18-year-old kid and have had one or two college coaches invest a year of their time selling you on the virtues of the coaching staff and the program, it is much easier said than done. It is overdue for the cartel known as the NCAA to give these kids a mulligan. Sign the letter, but if your head coach or position coach leaves within a month from that, we will release you from your commitment so that you can go elsewhere if you want. The coaches have the freedom of movement with little ramification. In the process of growing these youngsters into adults, can’t we give them one chance at the same thing?
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