Recruiting Might Change

#1
rexvol

rexvol

The Minister of Defense
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Apr 29, 2006
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#1
If more coaches had the guts to do what Paul Johnson did. I highly respect CLK for changing the game up and telling kids that they didnt fit the system no matter how highly ranked they were, but this is taking that to the next level.

Welcome to AJC! | ajc.com

“[Dontae and I] talked about what [commitment] meant,” Johnson told the AJC on signing day. “That commitment means, especially two weeks before signing day, is that we’re through with the recruiting process. … I’m giving you my word you’ve got a scholarship. You’re giving your word you’re coming.”
“I reiterated that to him: ‘Dontae, don’t get on that plane.’ His high school coach told him, ‘Dontae, don’t get on that plane. When he chose to do that, he was telling me, in my mind, he didn’t want to come to Georgia Tech, and so we moved on.”
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#3
#3
“I was mad because I just wanted to go look at Auburn. I just don’t see how they can tell a kid ‘if you go visit another school you’re jeopardizing your scholarship.’ I don’t think that was fair. But I know it’s a business that college coaches have to go out and recruit these kids. Those kids that they are recruiting is their life for four or five years.”
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I totally agree with the recruit on this one. It's the equivalent of the BC AD's approach to his head coach, but this is with a teenager. These guys should be allowed to take their visits. Maybe recruits should simply refrain from committing to any coach who ascribes to this philosophy of yanking schollies if they visit elsewhere after committing (e.g. Saban) and reserve making any committment (soft or hard) until they've taken their visits wherever they want to go.

I've heard an oft-quoted statistic that college students change their majors, on average, 2.5 times. There's a good reason terms like 'soft' and 'hard' are used prior to 'signed LOI' when it comes to commitments.
 
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#6
#6
… I’m giving you my word you’ve got a scholarship. You’re giving your word you’re coming.”
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There's one problem with this. Did Johnson only offer the number of scholarships GT had available?
 
#7
#7
Out of curiosity and knowing nothing of recruiting, are these kids pressured to commit when they visit?
 
#8
#8
Good points... that would be a positive change in recruiting.

I also wonder if we will see a proliferation in clowns like Butler in the future... which would be a negative impact on recruiting... and offset the positive strides in commitment and truthfulness suggested above.
 
#9
#9
warhammer said:
There's one problem with this. Did Johnson only offer the number of scholarships GT had available?
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Good point. He shouldn't make a commitment unless he means it. More importantly, after he made an offer did he try to recruit someone else into that same position?
 
#10
#10
General Jack said:
Good points... that would be a positive change in recruiting.

I also wonder if we will see a proliferation in clowns like Butler in the future... which would be a negative impact on recruiting... and offset the positive strides in commitment and truthfulness suggested above.
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The more these coaches try to coerce these recruits, the more Butlers we'll see. It's a free market until they sign. Those are the rules.
 
#11
#11
I think that Pryor started a trend and you will see more and more players not commit until the last possible day. This will coaches as they prepare for Spring practice. Therefore coaches will really really begin to pressure kids for early commits.
 
#12
#12
utmba93 said:
The more these coaches try to coerce these recruits, the more Butlers we'll see. It's a free market until they sign. Those are the rules.
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IMO only a matter of time until the NCAA attempts to regulate this too... and that actually might not be a bad thing.
 
#13
#13
General Jack said:
IMO only a matter of time until the NCAA attempts to regulate this too... and that actually might not be a bad thing.
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It seems that would be time better spent by the NCAA versus all the time lost on these trivial secondary violations.
 
#14
#14
rexvol said:
I think that Pryor started a trend and you will see more and more players not commit until the last possible day. This will coaches as they prepare for Spring practice. Therefore coaches will really really begin to pressure kids for early commits.
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I agree with that... we'll probably see more and more kids waiting until after signing day for various reasons... depth chart analysis included. Recruiting is becoming even more of a year round process, if thats possible.
 
#16
#16
warhammer said:
There's one problem with this. Did Johnson only offer the number of scholarships GT had available?
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That's irrelevant. The context of the quote is that commitment means GT promised a scholarship and the player promised to attend GT.

Offering scholarships to various players has nothing to do with it.
 
#17
#17
I respect Kiffin for being up front with players and telling them to look elsewhere. Kudos to Paul Johnson for not dealing with the circus of recruiting. Once your commited why look elsewhere. Can you see a man telling his soon to be wife that he is going to look elsewhere before the wedding to make sure she's the one.
Then you have coaches like Saben telling kids to go on visits to waste schools time and to try and talk to other reccruits about AL.
 
#18
#18
I might add, I think you should be able to see other schools once you're committed, but don't expect a warm welcome afterwards. The right decision is the most important, but it isn't very professional as a young athlete to commit before you're ready.
 
#19
#19
The current state of recruiting is simply a result of kids (that aren't always mature) getting thrust into the limelight. The crazy amount of attention that these 17 and 18 year olds get by people like us just fuels the fire... They don't always know what they want and are yanked around like a rag doll by coaches, recruiters, cousins, girlfriends, fans, etc.... but love the fame all the same. Fundamentally, its going to be hard to change as long as fans care about college football. There will continue to be Marlon Browns spreading their love across the country at each stop along the way, milking the attention for all its worth... and I expect an increase in kids waiting until after NSD to sign to hoard the spotlight for themselves for that moment in time. I really hope that we don't see more and more Bryan Butlers... but I fear we very well could.
 
#20
#20
I am so sick of the attention recruiting gives these 17 year olds. Its become too much. Half the time they are overrated. When a player leaves for the NFL, I never remember that kid's press conference and the waffling back and forth with soft commitments to certains schools during recruiting. I think the show that it has become is silly.
 
#21
#21
Good job coach! If the kid wanted to visit other schools then he should not have given his word. Maybe this will send a message to others. The kid had until NSD or later, if he wanted to take more visits he should have done so before committing and tying up a scholarship that could have been given to someone else.
 
#22
#22
I like the thought premise, but we are talking about 17 year old kids here. If things were like this here we would not have been in it for JJ or Nuke. If every coach were like that the recruiting system would be boring and we wouldn't have a whole lot to talk about going into NSD. The system is fine just the way it is right now, IMO.
 
#23
#23
It seems silly to me that, had the kid just not pledged a commitment, then he would have never had his scholarship withdrawn by Tech.

I understand Johnson's anxiety, but I don't agree with it.

To compare this to marriage is ridiculous. College football is not the same thing as marriage.

Concrete is not sand. Blue is not red, a lake is not a mountain, et cetera, et cetera.

The system is flawed, though. You can't expect 17-yr old kids who have never known responsibility or independence to hold up to a gentleman's word. When were these expected values last considered unwritten law? 1950s..1940s..earlier?

The concept of a verbal pledge which is non-commital seems almost completely useless without an early signing period.

It all comes back to the media and people not wanting to look foolish.

I think back to Orwell's essay on shooting an elephant where the young officer doesn't want to shoot an escaped elephant. the elphant has calmed down and is merely grazing, but then 2000 Burmese show up and he doesn't want to look foolish and useless in front of the hungry crowd, so he shoots the elephant anyways.

If we were living in a pre-Rivals/pre-internet world, I don't see this situation happening.

Johnson wanted to make a public statement more than anything and he used this kid to get his message across in my opinion.

For Johnson, the media/fans/public were his 2000 Burmese spectators. It could easily be interpreted that he made this decision in order to not look foolish.

He should've asked the kid if he was still considering taking other visits and if he answered "yes", then he should've said I'll accept your commitment when you're sure. If the kid said no more visits and then scheduled a couple, then you have a man-to-man talk and go from there.
 
#24
#24
There are two sides to this. I don't see how you can fault the coach for playing the same game the kid did. If recruiting is a free market and isn't over until a player is signed, he can drop a scholarship anytime he wants if the player isn't living up to his commitment.

As has been said, a simple way to avoid this would be for a player not to commit until he is actually COMMITTED to going to that school. Words have meaning.
 
#25
#25
Tennessee Jack said:
If we were living in a pre-Rivals/pre-internet world, I don't see this situation happening.
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That's a big IF, and we do live in that world now. It may not be right but a kid switching his commitment last minute doesn't seem right either.

I can't blame a coach for doing this, after all, the coach is still the boss and has to make tough decisions about the future of his program. It sends a message and in the end will probably help the school more as recruits realize they have to mean what they say.

A power shift back into the hands of the coaches, which is where it should be at all times.
 
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