It seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Welp, this hasn’t ended well.

A recruit’s decision not to enroll at LSU after signing a financial aid agreement has the football program in some hot water.

LSU is banned from signing early enrollee recruits to financial aid agreements for the next two years, and the program will be stripped of 10 percent of its recruiting evaluation days in 2015, according to public records obtained by The Advocate.

The penalties, handed down by the Southeastern Conference and reported by the school Feb. 3, stem from a violation that occurred this fall involving an unnamed recruit.

The recruit signed a financial aid agreement with LSU intending to enroll early in January, but he decided not to enroll at the school. That makes at least some of LSU’s unlimited contact with the prospect illegal.

That’s per our good friends at the NCAA.

A financial aid agreement doesn’t bind the player to that particular school like a National Letter of Intent does, but it affords coaches of that school unlimited contact with the signee — contact that would normally be considered against NCAA rules.

The NCAA modified the financial aid agreement (FAA) in April. It continued to allowed schools “relaxed recruiting rules” for prospects who signed an financial aid agreement, but it also warned schools that they could be penalized for recruiting violations if that prospect did not eventually enroll in that school.

Les can’t say he wasn’t warned, either.

David Womack, Matt Womack’s father, told The Clarion-Ledger in the fall that LSU coaches were not planning to contact his son on an unlimited basis because Matt wasn’t completely firm on enrolling early or on his commitment to LSU.

“LSU is not using (the FAA) because if Matt was to change his mind they would have to report it,” David Womack told The Clarion-Ledger.

Makes you wonder if Georgia has thought about that in the case of Roquan Smith, no?

Take a chance: early 2016 all-name candidate

It turns out there’s a kid in the next recruiting class named Chauncey Gardner and he’s interested in Georgia (he has an offer).

If he winds up in Athens, I’d like to watch.

Wednesday morning buffet

Let me light the chafing dishes… ah, there.

• Hell is other people, Corch.
• Looks like we’ve got another Year of the SEC Running Back coming up.
• You think Georgia underachieved?  Check out what Bruce Feldman had to say about Miami.
• Eight new defensive coordinators in the SEC this season.  I guess I lost count.
• Mark Richt isn’t digging the prospect of an early signing period.
• Hey, it turns out the WWL can take steps when a broadcaster shows his ass in public.
• Part of me thinks Jim Harbaugh’s a little over the top with this.  But there’s another part of me that kinda knows how he feels.
• How much did losing a head coach or offense/defense coordinator effect a team’s recruiting ranking and class this year?

The problem with “Recruiting rankings matter”…

… is that if you take the concept far enough, Alabama would never lose another SEC Championship game.

Or any conference game, for that matter.

Tuesday morning buffet

A little snow, a little buffet…

• You’d think the one place where they wouldn’t have to dumb down the defense would be Vanderbilt.
• Bill Connelly does all the heavy lifting on Georgia Southern, a Dawg opponent this season, so that you don’t (okay, so I don’t) have to.
• Michigan’s policy for student football tickets now includes need-based discounts.
• “That was an incredible testament to Bobby Petrino.”  Oy.
• What’s in a name:  dual-threat quarterback vs. pocket passer.
• Thomas Brown likes Brian Schottenheimer’s open-mindedness with his assistant coaches.
• Hey, Snapchat and recruiting.  What could go wrong?
• Auburn’s explanation of the two players and the service dog incident?  They may have been dumbasses, but there was no malicious intent.  Hey, it’s Auburn; I can buy that.

Thanks, Delany.

Never underestimate the ability of college coaches to innovate based on new developments.

Freshman ineligibility has only been a topic of conversation for a few days now, but Ohio State head coach Thad Matta is already tired of answering questions about the topic.

“It’s been a nightmare,” Matta said Saturday. “All of our coaches are dealing with it.”

Reports surfaced earlier this week that the Big Ten was looking into the idea of making freshmen ineligible to compete in football and men’s basketball. It’s a far-fetched idea, really, but it appears there’s some serious discussion going on.

Matta, however, said he doesn’t believe freshmen will ever be ruled ineligible to play. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t already been asked about it recently on the recruiting trail.

“I tell you what, I’m dealing with more issues on that in recruiting. We’re getting crushed in this thing,” he said. “It’s not going to happen, but why they linked the Big Ten to it I don’t know. I’ve been dealing with that the last couple days trying to explain if it does happen, which it’s not going to, but if it does it’s not just the Big Ten it will be across college basketball.”

Now, if somebody would start dropping that topic on the football recruiting trail, we might just see Corch’s head explode.

Of all the signees without NLIs Mark Richt knows, Roquan Smith is definitely one of them.

Talk about your awkward interviews.

How did Richt feel about Roquan’s decision to not sign an NLI?

“Well, hmmm …” Richt told the AJC on Friday, before pausing for a few seconds.

The UGA coach then deliberated on that question for a little longer.

“I guess it’s new,” Richt said. “But the main thing was that I was happy he signed his scholarship with Georgia.”

Does Richt think Roquan will be a trendsetter for elite prospects in the future?

“Um, I don’t know … It remains to be seen,” he said. This time, it was me who paused for a few seconds to see if he would expand on his answer. Richt didn’t.

He knows.  But he ain’t sayin’.