I mentioned the other day that Jim Harbaugh cut loose a commit, a move straight out of the SEC’s recruiting playbook. Evidently, that’s just the start.
Again, how familiar sounding is that to us down here in the ruthless South?
My point here isn’t to condemn Harbaugh. He’s simply following a path that is well trod, mainly because it’s effective. And based on current national recruiting rankings, it’s clearly paying off.
No, I’m just amused at the silence emanating from the Big Ten, which routinely used to pat itself on the back for its superior, nobler approach to recruiting, compared with those lowlifes in the SEC. My guess is that Ohio State’s success in recruiting and its rapid return to national prominence under Meyer quieted the critics. All Harbaugh’s done is open his own sausage factory. I doubt Michigan fans are going to turn their noses up at the final product.
Welcome, guys.
Get The Picture 
If a kid committed to school X and then announced 7 months later that he was switching to better school Y and that school X was just his plan B all along, the kid would be widely considered to be the biggest POS ever. You would think we’d hold the adults to higher standards than 17 year olds but we don’t.
At least the kid put out a full statement on it. I hope his HS coach is next. HS coaches should get together and ban programs that do this sort of thing from recruiting at their schools. That would put an end to this crap and quick.
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Yeah but when you’re talking about banning schools, that’s a fine line to walk. On the one hand, you’re taking a stand out of principle. On the other hand, you may be limiting opportunities for future kids coming through your programs, if certain schools aren’t allowed to come evaluate them. I think that’s why anytime you see a HS coach “ban” certain schools, that “ban” is always resolved within a few short weeks.
Plus……..just look at our own RB coach, who “banned” us at one point. If he had stuck to that “ban”, maybe he doesn’t have the job that he has today. At the end of the day, HS coaches really don’t want a bad relationship with the major universities in their region.
Really, truly, the only way to do away with this is Andy Staples’ recommendation of doing away with signing day. Let them sign anytime. Then, if a school offers you but won’t actually let you sign, then you know you’re being jerked around. On the flip side, once signed, the coach can’t then have a change of heart. That’s really the only way to do away with this stuff.
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Certainly HS coaches don’t want bad relationships with any university. Actually, who wants bad relationships with anyone? But coaches should be irate and protect their young men from schools that have shortchanged athletes before. If nothing else, have a printed warning of past actions by that school to give to anyone getting contact, or a visit, from that school. It isn’t like they are punishing the athlete, if he is talented enough to attract attention from top schools, he will have plenty of options. It also isn’t the 1960s where a player needed to go to large schools to not be overlooked by NFL scouts. I don’t buy that only a Michigan or ohio can provide a great opportunity to succeed. Better to let them know when con men are in the area, the choice is still theirs to make.
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I don’t disagree with your sentiments – but I’m just referencing human nature. Most HS coaches would love to make it to the college level one day, specifically to the top programs, just like their players. Again, I point you to our current RB coach, if he had stuck to his guns and considered UGA to be a banned school all this time, you can just about guarantee that he wouldn’t be coaching at UGA right now. He’d probably be stuck at Tulane, assuming he followed the staff out there. Instead, he got a nice fat raise to stay in his home state and coach at the top program in the state.
HS coaches (in general) are gonna look out for their kids, but not to the extent that it potentially damages or limits their own future. That’s just human nature. We can sit here and say what they should or shouldn’t do all day, but the reality is that the only way to fix these situations, as I referenced above, is Staples’ plan. Relying on humans to put their own best interests aside just isn’t a plan that’s gonna work over the long haul. It’s unfortunate, but also undeniable.
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I don’t see that with kids flipping, it is rather not surprising. A few even do it as late as national signing day. Sure the jilted fan base and team may have him circled, but it isn’t a major deal. A UGA to UT flip comes to mind.
He sounds like a kid with his act together, I hope he continues to do so, signs and gets playing time. Also one of the recruiting sites listed Bama as one of his potential school, which brings up the question will UGA go after him?
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I too think it is a trashy way for a University to handle kids.
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In the meantime the new staff is making friends at Mays High School: http://dogbytesonline.com/uga-wr-commitment-heading-elsewhere-because-he-didnt-know-where-he-stood-with-new-staff/
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Good kid and good ball player. Hope some are not asking in a couple years, how did we let that kid get away to South Carolina.
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When the coaches aren’t contacting you, you should know where you stand.
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If the day comes where the players are paid, this will become the norm. Once the players are pure employees of the football program, the program will have no real obligation to stick with a player until the kid signs the actual papers. Kids will have to accept that even though they committed, the program will continue to look for a better player and if one comes around, will offer him and pull the first kid’s offer.
I don’t have a problem with this at all. Kids commit, de commit, flip, re open recruiting, etc. why shouldn’t the program be able to have a change of heart as to whether a kid is one they really want? These kids want to play the big shot game, hold a press conference, do the stupid hat thing on tv, bitch and whine that a school didn’t “show them the love” they expected. They need to realize that coin has two sides, they aren’t the only player out there.
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LMAO.
The players are already being paid. The people who argue most strenuously for amateurism are also the first to argue that the players are being compensated fairly with tuition, room and board. Toss in the COA stipend on top of that and all we’re arguing about now is how much.
As for your “norm”, that’s been going on for years. Maybe you’ve missed out on Saban’s tactics, but take a peek at the archives here if you need to.
The horse isn’t just out of the barn here. He’s in the next county and the barn’s burned down. But thanks for the warning.
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I think the difference will be, you won’t be posting anything about offers being pulled by coaches, it will be so commonplace as to not merit mentioning. Today, it’s rare enough that people are “outraged” and think it’s some sort of dirty tactic. Once players are paid employees, it will be a pure business decision and no one will look twice at it. You won’t have any articles about it in your archive to look at.
I’m one of those who think the players are more than fairly compensated. By and large, I think the players get a great deal and the value of the scholarship is much greater than most realize.
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Only reason I mentioned this one is because of the Big Ten’s previous holier-than-thou attitude about recruiting.
And for the record, I’m neither outraged nor consider it a dirty tactic any more. This stuff’s been going on down in our neck of the woods so long, I’m long past the stage you’re predicting for me.
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Nobody is saying people can’t change their minds. What’s important is honesty and being forthright. I’m fine if the new staff doesn’t want a kid CMR recruited. Just tell him. I’m fine if a kid changes his mind, just tell the coaching staff. There is no reason to wait until the last minute to tell a kid the truth nor is there any good reason just to stop calling.
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This kid obviously is not the kind of kid you reference in your letter. MIchigan treated him like shit. I think it stinks.
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I have always believed that the teams that play us with their hair on fire were full of Georgia guys who play that way to show us what we missed. Think about it, even Vandy and Ga Southern play over their heads against us.
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From a historical standpoint, I’d throw SC in that mix as well. Spurrier went through a good run for a few years there with SC recruits leading the way (Clowney, Lattimore, Alshon, Gilmore, etc). But historically they’ve relied on a lot of GA recruits who maybe weren’t offered by UGA, and we all know how tough they’ve always played us, even when we were clearly the better team.
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The chickens view us as their second biggest rival, right behind Clemson. That is the main reason they play us so tough. We, on the other hand, historically view them as little more than another team in the East.
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+1 and it burns them up so much when we just ignore them….. They REALLY want to feel relevant…
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If you look at it that way, Clemson won the ACC in ’91, and did not win so much as a division until ’09. Georiga has always been a major recruiting target for Auburn, Clemson, and South Carolina, and as such they need to play UGA or the SEC and win. Yes they will play above their level.
’91 was when the UGA/CLemson series ended. ’07 Clemson played Auburn in the Peach, opened ’08 against Bama in the Chik-fil-a kick off classic and started attempting to schedule the SEC. Playing the SEC opens up SEC recruits to their program and of course Georgia is the closest SEC state with talent. I don’t think their scheduling and return to prominence is unrelated. SC joining the SEC rising to actually creating a winning streak over Clemson, and winning their 1st bowl game is much the same.
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It comes down to when they find out they’re a Plan B, doesn’t it?
If Smart tells a kid in June that he’s got a spot IF…, then that’s different than telling him on January 26, isn’t it?
I’m loving the silence from MGo on this.
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Yes timing is everything waiting until a week before signing day is wrong. I think the Staples plan is better. This is a game played with real people not Madden football.
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Richt seemingly did something like that with Tae Crowder
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Meanwhile, at Georgia, we’re almost to open tryouts for receiver…
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And to think that up north they consider us “behind times”.
Remember UM getting criticized (when he showed up as the HC at Ohio State) for saying, or actually indicating that he would not honor the gentlemen’s agreement the other coaches subscribed to…”I won’t recruit a kid that another school in this conf i talking to”. That was when the other coaches looked into their kitchen drawers and made sure they owned a long knife. Now the long knives are coming out. If JH is going to do this to kids, then other schools should absolutely recruit his recruits..
Now about that kid that just flipped to Ole Miss…..
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