To no one’s surprise at all…

Michael Carvell goes the extra mile and asks for the NCAA’s reaction to the Roquan Smith signing news.  It’s a beaut.

“This really places that athletics team in a bad position for planning for the upcoming year if there is no binding agreement. This results in no accountability on the student’s behalf but the institution is accountable for providing the athletics aid.

“Contrary to what some people report, the NLI is a two-way agreement between the student and the institution and there is a release process if the NLI signee chooses to request it. Hopefully because a parent or legal guardian has to sign the NLI with the prospective student-athlete if under the age of 21, that individual is assisting the student in understanding what making a commitment means.”

We’ll skip past that whole “assisting the student” nonsense there, and head straight to the two-way agreement.  Say what?

… But then I asked this — Isn’t it fair to say the same about the colleges, who put the (recruit) in a “bad position” with college coaches that leave for another job the day after signing day — as if they deceived and tricked a kid into signing the NLI?

“Yes, that is a fair statement and that is why I say it is a two-way agreement,” Peal said. “Both parties are making a commitment, not just one. As for deceiving a kid into signing, this is something that institution needs to deal with and if the NLI signee asks for a release due to this reason, the institution should consider the circumstances.”

Hey, that’s exactly what Urban Meyer did!

Oh, and by the way,  Ms. Peal did let one thing slip about the early signing day proposal:  “…there is no exception for a coaching change with any of the signing periods…”

If there’s something in the NCAA regs that truly favors the student-athlete, it’s probably an oversight.

A decided schematic disadvantage

Charlie Weis says it's "highly doubtful" that he'll return to coaching. http://t.co/WGs8k9RBUq pic.twitter.com/87tzO7m2kG

— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) February 13, 2015

Don’t make promises you can’t keep, dude.

“They get it. So I guess the buzz is going around.”

Per Roquan Smith’s high school coach,

“The UGA coaches were fine with Roquan not signing an NLI — actually one of the coaches said that if their son is good enough, they’re not going to let him sign an NLI either,” Macon County coach Larry Harold told the AJC.

“I’m not going to say which UGA coach it was. You’re going to have to ask them. He was like ‘Coach, if my son is good enough and is in the same position as Roquan, I’m not going to let him sign an NLI. I understand exactly why you’re doing this.’

Sounds like this may be escalating more quickly than we might have expected.  From a meme to a sales pitch, in one year?

This is the nearest you’ll get to closing the borders.

#UGA landed 8 of the state of Georgia's top 11 players for 2015.

That is nearly impossible to do.

— Radi Nabulsi (@RadiNabulsi) February 13, 2015

That ain’t too shabby, in my humble opinion.

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UPDATE:  More specifically,

When Jeremy Pruitt came to #Georgia, he wanted to lock down the state. He just landed the top 7 defensive players in the state.

— Trent Smallwood (@SmallwoodTrent) February 13, 2015

Roquan Smith: our long national nightmare is finally over.

He’s coming to Athens!  With no signed NLI!  Yay!

Thank you, Jeff Ulbrich.  (And to whomever leaked the Falcons job info, thank you, too.)

Can we all get along now?

By the way, if you read that Bud Elliott linked piece, check out this bit of analysis:

Where Smith will likely make his money in college is at the Will linebacker position in a 4-3 defense. There, Smith will be protected by defensive linemen who will eat up blocks, and allow him to chase down plays and make a ton of tackles. He’ll also be asked to cover backs in the flat, and receivers at times as well. Smith shows good hips in some of his highlights, suggesting he could be a very valuable coverage player; particularly as teams continue to throw the football more and more.

An ILB who’s a legit cover guy?  Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

He gone.

Georgia WR Tony Ball confirms he is leaving to accept position on staff at LSU.

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) February 13, 2015

The question I’d like to know the answer to here is whether Georgia had the opportunity to match whatever LSU offered Coach Ball.  If not, I assume Ball wanted out of Athens.  If yes, given the way the coffers at Butts-Mehre have been opened of late, Ball’s departure may be an indication that Richt was ready to go in a different direction.

In any event, I guess some of you can drop the “nobody wants Richt’s coaches” bullshit now.

“Let’s think about this no signing day deal. Maybe it makes more sense than we all realize.”

Rich Rodriguez, you go, girl.

Between this and Smith’s no-NLI (possible) trend, we could stick a knife in the heart of what sucks about signing day – the preening, the overdone media hype, etc.  Plus, it would make the process more honest, which should make for more fairness for the recruits.

No-brainer, then, right?  Right?  Ah, who am I kidding?  It’ll never happen.

Georgia recruits well, but does Georgia recruit well enough?

It may seem obvious to say this:  “Having more raw talent than a particular team only matters if you actually play that team, and it only really matters if you play that team frequently.”

But it doesn’t make it any less true.

Georgia had another solid year recruiting – top ten finish, maybe moving higher if Roquan Smith decides to come on board – but when you analyze it in the context of how the rest of the programs in the SEC did, the Dawgs only enjoy the 37th-best class.  Four SEC teams rank higher.

Perhaps that explains some of the good, but not great, results we keep experiencing.  Just something to consider.

”That’s not the way football was meant to be played.”

It sounds like illegal man downfield is the new black 10-second substitution rule.

I bet Bert keeps his head down for this one, though.

“We have to go to a wedding that weekend.”

Wouldn’t it just be easier to wait until the spring?

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UPDATE:  Here’s the SEC version.  If you’re interested, my advice would be not to admit that here.