I don’t know about you, but the first thought that came to mind while reading this story was that Nick Saban has already assigned three of his best people to the job of gaming the new system.
My second thought was that Greg McGarity will sit back, watch how it goes in Tuscaloosa for a year or so and then copy what he likes on the cheap.
My third thought is that Georgia will still be luckier than most places as to that. Haves rule; have-nots drool.
Get The Picture 
The real live-time result of it all will be to further promote the Wild West recruiting ethic, with even Jr. High “kids” getting into the act. Shoot, ESPN already broadcasts Pop Warner little squirt games on its #3 network.Where does it all end, I cry!
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If you watch the video, you understand why Lawson is with Auburn. He wants to get paid.
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My first thought was that the NCAA is ceding ground it cannot enforce, repealing rules because it doesn’t have the manpower. I have trouble understanding why, considering the cash it rakes in.
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The McGarity comment made me laugh.
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These high schoolers heads are going to be even bigger than we think they are now!
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If I was the parent of an athlete. I would be upset with all the contact that bypasses me. I understand why the ncaa is doing this but I would want a way to see what was said to my son.
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Debby are you single and available? I couldn’t resist to ask
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I am very happily married. I have been since 1979.
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Do Alabama’s unlimited “consultants”fit under these rules? If not, they could hire a local homie to carry every 4-5 star recruit’s books to class all year long. There seems to be a lot of effort to expand recruiting when a simple change allowing an early signing period could reduce the drama and costs significantly. Might even allow for the athlete to focus on his studies, God forbid. And while we are on the subject of protecting the student athlete’s interests, can we get a statutory-rape rule which protects HS, and middle school kids until they get a learners license? There is no reason for Little Nicky and Hello Bob showing up on elementary playgrounds around the country.
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Sure Alabama’s nine “consultants” are good to go. They are staff and if the staffers’ can call then Saban has a telemarketing department ready made. The only thing saving the world is the 25 limit.
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it seems like its somewhere in between “what it can’t enforce” and simply increasing the amount effort and energy toward recruiting, which one of its intelligent coaches is expressing seemingly already requires too much effort and energy. From a practical standpoint, its hard not to conclude that those who “work harder” at recruiting will benefit from this. On the other hand, by opening up Juniors, the NCAA is effectively accelerating the process, which means schools are having to offer prospects earlier and make an inexact science even less exact. I have no idea how much less exact it makes it.
Obviously, we live in a free country and a capitalist society so if the Walt Disney Company wants to use TV coverage of high school football, all star games, and ridiculous “hat ceremonies” where prospects announce their choice of college, who am I to say the process is flawed?
That said, I guess the question becomes philosophically, does the NCAA view recruiting in college football as an adjunct spectator sport which they don’t monetize BUT view as a complementary to the sale of their product (i.e., college football) EVEN IF the NCAA is NOT monetizing a single penny on the spectator sport of recruiting. If the answer is yes, my suspicision is that this legislation certainly only further the development of the “commercialization” of recruiting.
On the other hand, I wonder what the implications are for the member schools and prospects as a result? Certainly, the NCAA has the ability to craft legislation that could reduce a LOT of effort around recruiting. If you had an early signing period, coaches would not have to visit “committed” prospects NOR waste any energy on them. One potential result of such MIGHT be fewer early offers for guys who are more “projects” and such recruits might have the decision of taking a sure scholarship from a non-elite school in the early period OR choose to work for an offer from an elite school by having a great senior season.
I know this sounds like a crazy, left wing view crossed with a rant against change….its not intended to be. I love recruiting. It is fun. It is often full of hope and possibility, but I also think it has somehow “jumped the shark” in terms of the sheer volume of it, and it seems like rather than try to address that these proposals will actually making it worse
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Now that was very interesting. Damn I need another beer
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Whereas reading the AJC Recruiting blogs takes any fun out of it. They would have you believe that those who don’t choose your school are putting a stamp of “unsatisfactory” on your school. Don’t believe that horseshit.
Most of the recruiting is already in “other hands” since recruiter agencies make a living off selling the same info to every school buying their services (and they all do). We seem to do allright taking a few that don’t have the stars, but their desire makes them recruitable moreso than many high in the star system. That means to me that we have coaches who spot talent and get w/o relying totally on paid analyses. If Saban’s extra payroll assts are for recruitment, what in hell do they do? One statistician/analyst can use a computer for math and data info already in existence. If they have found another level of analysis that requires so many analysts, we may have a Mathematics Dept forming that is truly revolutionary.
If all this falderal and conjecture leads to coaches spending more time recruiting, then the new paradigm will be concerned with training coaches perfect speech, the art of the sell and how to psyche out a kid into going to your school.
Why don’t we all step back a moment and realize that many recruits have “always wanted to play there or wear their uni” as a reason, “felt like family and Athens felt like home (except for the great nightclub entertainment which just enhances the experience)”, or “they have needs that will have me playing as a Freshman” -all these reasons account for the highest percentage of recruits deciding where to go. Talking them into it seems to take a back seat.
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Damn no early signing period?
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