I can’t believe it, but I totally support Paul Johnson on something:
… What I’d like to see happen, but I’m probably by myself: if you have 85 scholarships, and you can sign 25 a year or however many you have. When they commit, they sign the papers and you stop. It would stop all the verbal commitments and all the hats. The guys who weren’t ready wouldn’t commit. You’d call their bluff. They couldn’t make their reservation. We’ll talk to kids all the time, juniors right now, who are committing. We’ll say ‘Are you sure you want to do that?’
“Oh coach, I’m open.”
In my mind that’s not committed. That’s saying I’m going to hold this in my back pocket and I’m going to shop it around.
The only thing I’d add is that would cut off a lot of crap coaches pull, too.
Get The Picture 
You have to have all of the hatswitchers and attentionwhores to win in today’s game. But, oh how I wish coaches would blackball those types of kids. I can’t stand the sissy stuff. Just pick your school, everybody get excited and get ready to play ball. Its as if these kids feel like they are doing the school a favor by signing at that school. Instead, it should be the other way around. If I ever have a child who is good enough to be recruited he or she will hopefully not be as full of him or herself as some of these recruits. I am a grumpy young man I know but this world would be a little better off without all of this hype.
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There would be some value in this, sure.
But, you’d have a lot more remorseful kids. This tantamount to saying a guy should go with his first impression. I think PJ is a bag who doesn’t have the personality to close.
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I respectfully disagree. The kids have to make a decision in either scenario – one that they will ultimately have to live with. And these kids have their minds made up well in advance of signing day in the great majority of instances. If Johnson’s suggestion came to fruition, they would be able to sign at the moment of their decision, rather than wait months, weeks, or days until signing day. I’m with Johnson on this one.
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Don’t forget the flip side of this. The coaches would have to be much, much more careful about putting an offer on the table, because once it’s accepted that slot is gone (unless the player doesn’t qualify).
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I guess theoretically that would be true, and theoretically that would help Georgia’s recruiting if you go by Richt’s quote yesterday.
I still don’t think it would actually do anything though. Guys like Saban would still come in offering schollys like crazy, just maybe not on paper. I guess that would give a recruit more insight on his true intentions, but I think Saban would be able to work around it. As long as he never gives a written offer his hands are clean.
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It would be easy to call Saban’s bluff. It doesn’t take long to fill in a recruit’s name on the LOI and fax/email it over. And if Saban (or whatever coach) isn’t willing to throw down an offer in writing, but Richt (or whatever other coach) is, then it gives the recruit something concrete to consider.
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Also, the trend would swing in the direction of signing early. And so when GT calls and says, “Look, we really need you to sign now or else we’re going with Dave who is ready to sign.” Undue pressure on a high school senior in my humble opinion.
For some reason, I picture a real estate agent, “I have another couple who is making an offer tomorrow…”
AND the end result would be most kids would sign at the very first opportunity creating, in effect, another signing day.
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The sheer proposal of the idea that any coach would adopt such a practice is MADNESS!
Oh wait…
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Not to mention, that recruit poaching would almost cease to exist à la Stephon Tuitt, for example.
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As would this.
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Gah, that guy makes me sick. The utter smarminess of that makes me shudder.
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Kiffin also has fallen in love with a young quarterback before.
Gross.
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PJ’s idea would give the coaches more power over most recruits. A coach could offer a scholarship and tell the recruit that unless he signed a letter of intent RIGHT NOW, the offer would be withdrawn and not extended again. It’s easy to see why PJ would like this. He could jump on a recruit early and use this hard sell technique to lock in a kid,even if the kid wasn’t a 100 percent ready to commit. You would have kids commiting to a program they may not be crazy about (like Tech), out of a fear that they won’t receive any better offers.
And just as it’s almost never in a consumer’s interest to make a purchase based upon a concern about missing out on a “limited time offer”, it is would not be in the best interests to sign a binding commitment under similar pressures from a coach. PJ doesn’t want this reform because of a distaste for all the hoopla surrounding recruiting, he wants it because it would be good for Paul Johnson-at the expense of recruits.
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I also can see how the above technique by PJ could backfire with the better players, too. GT shows up first with a scholly and says take it or else it’s withdrawn. The kid might even consider Tech but is not ready to commit right then. PJ pulls the offer. GT is now out of the running. A good way to shoot yourself in the foot. Plus, if I were a good young ballplayer and a coach tried to pull that on me I would get pissed off.
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One problem is that the non-superstar players, prior to be ranked their senior year, have little idea as to how to accurately project their value in the marketplace of potential scholarship offers. The college coaches would have a much better idea than the recruits as to the recruit’s value. And such a knowledge difference in the marketplace would give the coaches a distinct advantage.
On signing day, Bobo was talking about how much more difficult recruiting is today for coaches because recruits can easily check depth charts, other offers at the recruit’s position, and which other recruits have commited. In other words, recruiting has become more difficult for coaches because recruits have been able to close the information gap and better gauge their value.
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The only thing I would add is if they did that, via an early signing period, or signing on the spot, whatever, is that if the head coach gets fired or leaves before the student enrolls, there would be a way to get out of the NLI. I know, I know, in theory the kids are committing to the school, not the coaching staff. But the reality is that for the most part, it’s the other way around. So I would like to see a rule that protects both the school and the kid in that scenario. I would propose that in the case of a head coaching change, the NLI is binding up until the new coach is hired. That keeps the kids around long enough to give the school a chance to show them who they’re going to bring in (that’s the part that protects the school). But once the new head coach is announced, the player would have a 14 day window to rescind their NLI. That gives enough time for the new coach to reach out to whatever commitments they have and sell their vision for the future (my assumption is that the recruits would wait to at least talk to the new head coach before backing out). But if the commit doesn’t like the vision, they can get out of it, and still have time to open up their recruiting again (this would all likely be wrapped up by mid-January, since most new coaches are in place before the end of December). This protects the school though by giving them time to get a new coach and giving him time to sell his vision, but also protects the kid in case he’s not comfortable with the new staff.
The complication to this would be the “head coach in waiting scenario”, I’m not sure how that would be handled if a kid tried to get out of the NLI in the transition from the old head coach to the new one.
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Preach on Brotha Blutarsky!
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1. Need an early signing date in December so commitments get firmed up. If you are committed and do not sign then everyone knows you are open.
2. Stops Saban from offering a full and then coming back wtih a Gray shirt or worse.
3. Teams can focus on what is left more than continuing to recruit commitments for over a year.
An early signing period the week after Championship Games would alleviate a lot of these problems that are becoming huge problems.
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I have to say that I also agree with the idea that you should not say you are committed to a school until you really are. You want to make all your visits? Great! Travel around by all means. Take a long look at everybody. Go spend some time at a variety of schools. Do your research. But do not commit until you mean it. If you ‘commit’ and keep shopping you aren’t committed. Having said that, I do believe it is totally unfair that an NLI obligates a prospect for four years while the school only has to offer a scholarship for one.
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I love this idea.
Stops oversigning cold.
The problem is that the current system generates revenue for WWL-Scouts, Rivals, etc. I realize it’s a NCAA decision but money has been known to talk.
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How does this stop oversigning? Is this even about oversigning?
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“Oversigning” is really only stopped with a guaranteed 4 or 5 year scholarship, right?
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Rather than limit the total scholarships to 85, put a hard limit of 22 scholarships per year, period. No carry-overs, no consideration for the 4 guys that left early for the NFL, no grayshirting allowed. That forces coaches to be very careful about who they sign. Kid can’t qualify, gets kicked out of school or whatever, the program is short that slot.
In addition to cleaning up oversigning, it might curtail committment flopping. Teams couldn’t risk holding a slot for someone who is uncommitted.
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Something tells me if guys were committing to uga to reserve a scholly and then switching to tech that he’d have a different perspective. The fact is that tech is the ugly girl that gets asked to the prom just until a better opportunity presents itself. We don’t need to change world bc tech sucks. It’s a burden they’ll have to bear.
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You don’t hear this stuff from coaches who are good recruiters or who have a good product to sell. I’d be all for an early signing period like the other sports have, but just having players signing all throughout the year wouldn’t do anybody any favors, other than douchebags like Paul Johnson. Johnson can get a kid in there early, before they’ve seen better programs with better campuses and actual, you know, girls and he can sign them. Well, that kid’s going to regret it. Johnson’s problem is that he bleeds recruits all throughout the year because they see that life is better other places than the Institute. So, screw him.
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One of the most misunderstood things about college in the State of Georgia is how much tail there is at Georgia Tech. Lemme tell you there is PLENTY. Mostly Atlanta townies. Ever heard of ” bird-dogging?” That is standing by the curb at a major campus street in the early ( sometimes late) evening and waiting for chicks to drive by and stop to talk to you. More tail has been gotten by Tech guys at the curb “bird-dogging” than ever was gotten at all the frat parties ever held at UGA combined. HS girls, stewardesses, fashion college students, you name it. They would have a procession down Fowler Street at 1 mile and would stop to talk in a heartbeat. If they liked you, you got in and the rest was history. The only problem was some of those Tech guys fell in love and actually married those low-rents.
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I personally don’t care or mind the hat switching, etc. Who cares? Let them have their fun with it.
How about setting a deadline prior to signing day for pulling a scholarship, either medical or otherwise. So say as of Dec 31 you’re set with who you have less who is graduating. The difference between that number and 85 is exactly the maximum a school is allowed to sign on NDS. If someone later in the year blows out their knee then he stays on the athletic scholarship until you take him off the after the season. Or if later in the year they quit the team, get thrown off or fail out, you’re just left with that many less kids on scholarship with the team.
This way, if coaches “encouraged” players to transfer or take a medical scholarship, they’d have to do it up front prior to signing day as opposed to signing as many kids as they can, then make room for the extras later. And believe me, Saban and the other oversigners know exactly who on their current roster is targeted to go. They’re just waiting to see how the numbers fall before doing the deed.
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Not only does Saban know, but I believe the players also know what’s on the line.
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It’s never going to happen. Right now there is too much money involved in the business of recruiting. The CPJ recruitin proposal takes all of the drama away. When the drama leaves so does the $.
You really think everyone’s favorite tv partner really wants to eliminate drama and storylines from one of their networks? How much of ESPNU’s programming is directly or indirectly tied to recruitin? I would guess 50%+.
Throw in the espn.com/recruiting site traffic and drama free recruiting seasons will drive off advertisers and sponsors.
Not saying it is not a good idea, but it’s kind of a pipe dream … like a Div. 1-A football playoff.
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I like the idea, but I agree w/ others’ concerns re: pressurized situations.
I think you’d have to build in some kind of window between extending and accepting – at least a week. Let the kid get off campus, tell other coaches about the offer, discuss w/ his family etc.
The second limitation I’d like to see would be a period where the coach could not revoke. This would need to be at least two months. This allows the kid to take other visits without a fear that the coach will yank his offer.
Thus, if CPJ offers some kid June 1, that kid can’t accept (even if he wants to) for at least a week. If he wants to see other schools, think it over, etc., he knows the offer is secure until August 1, unless he accepts somewhere else in between.
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I say just do like other sports, have an early signing period of say a week late in their junior year. If a guy was 100% he could sign then and be done with it. If they weren’t 100% then they would have another 9 months or so to make up their minds. Coaches basically would be making a statement to recruits about who was their top priorities. But then again you get guys who elevate themselves during their senior season and they might miss playing for their dream school. Say a guy has always wanted to play for Texas but is a borderline 3/4 star guy going into his senior season. He plays lights out and by the end of the year he is a top recruit in the country and Texas were to offer him. Those type guys could miss out if say he commits to Baylor early because they were his only offer that time of year. I do think there are benefits and negatives to it no matter how you do it.
As for Johnson he seems to try to have it both ways, he will continue to recruit a kid that is committed elsewhere but if a kid continues to take his trips elsewhere after committing to Tech he drops them.
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PJ’s hypocrisy on this point is literally palpable.
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