Annual Day of the Insane

Today is the day I dubbed "The Annual Day of the Insane". Yep it's national signing day, the only day of the year where fax machines are still relevant, where recruits can send their letter of intent to whatever school they choose. I've written about this day before twice now. Well here's a third time.

I've talked about the allure of recruits and why fans get excited about this day, today I'm going to talk about the fans themselves and how they should react to this day and how their team does in terms of recruiting.

Number 1, Don't Stalk, Throw Verbal Abuses, or Complain why a recruit didn't choose your school: I remember when Keenan Allen choose Cal, Alabama fans were pissed. You see before Allen became a great receiver, Bama recruited him as a defensive back. He didn't want to be a defensive back and Cal offered him the opportunity to be a receiver. He choose Cal. Bama fans complained, threw insults at him, and stalked him on Twitter. Don't do this folks.

Remember these are kids that are 17 or 18 years old. Most of them are still in high school from tiny schools. Remember how undecided you were when you were that age? And remember they're choosing what's best for them. Keenan Allen choose the receiver and Cal route over Bama and secondary because that was best for him. And after judging his season in San Diego I'm guessing he made the right decision.

The Annual Day Of The Insane

If this post looks familiar it's because I wrote a post like it last year with the same exact title. Yep today is signing day for future college football players. Fans, coaches, and analysts wait on the whim of a 17 or 18-year old kid to fax in his letter of intent to their future school.

Last year I looked at why people are insane enough to follow the whims of a kid. It's insanity was my conclusion. This year I want to look at why I've always taken today with a grain of salt.

Player Development In College Is Just As Hard as The Pros: SB Nation had a round table discussion of their favorite recruiting stories and each player mentioned, except Desean Jackson and surprisingly Bryce Brown*, flamed out in college. Besides a couple of those players getting in trouble with the law the rest of them flamed out spectacularly at their original choice of school. Why? Because these players have to be developed just like rookies in all leagues. Recruiting is easy for some coaches (see Ron Zook) it's the development and coaching part that is the hardest. This is why I believe college coaching is a little bit more stressful than the NFL. Not only do you have to have recruiting chops, but you also have to know how to coach. It's the reason why so many coaches fail. I take today with a grain of salt because you just don't know who is going to flame out or not.

*I put an asterisk next to Brown because in reality his college career did flame out but he somehow carved out a nice little niche for himself with the Philadelphia Eagles last season. 

The Annual Day Of the Insane

Today is the annual day of the insane commonly known as Signing Day in college football. Millions of college football fans get excited over 17 to 18-year old high school kids faxing their letter of intent to their favorite schools. And when a certain player doesn't go to their school, fans get angry over those teenagers.

It's insane that anyone would get upset over where a kid decides to attend college. I can't say that I haven't been upset this year especially since Cal was embroiled in the Tosh Lupoi-to-Washington saga that saw most of Cal's top recruit flee Berkeley to Seattle. That was a bitter pill to swallow but as Yahoo's Mike Silver pointed out, Silver is also a Cal grad, the two best players on Cal's best team in the past 10 years, Aaron Rodgers and JJ Arrington, were both JUCO players.

Then you look at coaches and schools who seem to pull in top ranked recruiting classes year after year and do nothing with those players (Cue to Illinois fans crying). So why do we as fans follow this day so closely and invest so much time? I have a few theories .

Promise: Like drafts in the professional leagues, recruiting classes bring promise to your school. The promise of new blood either continuing a winning tradition or starting a whole new tradition. Promise is also a very dangerous recipe. When those players don't pan out for one reason or the other, the situation for your school/team can become very toxic. But being a sports fan is being a rube and promise is a poisonous apple we can't resist eating.

Rankings: Much like how the NFL has Mel Kiper and the NBA has Chad Ford, we have Rivals.com and Scouts.com in college telling us who had a great recruiting class or who didn't have a great recruiting class. Like how Kiper or Ford sucks us into believing our team had a great or bad draft, recruiting websites do the same damn thing. Once again sports fans are rubes and we actually fall into the trap of believing our school just had a great or bad recruiting class when no of that matters unless you have a great coaching staff actually teaching these kids how to play.

In the end does rankings and promise get you anything? Absolutely not. There are only a few coaches who are both great salesman (recruiters) and great teachers (coaching). Ron Zook is a tremendous salesman who cannot coach to save his life. Then you look at Chris Petersen at Boise State who doesn't bring in high ranking recruiting classes every single year and yet Boise State is constantly in the top 10.

At the end of the day coaching matters in football. Coaching matters more in football than any other sport. I witnessed the 49ers go from a mediocre team from a team that was a fumble away from the Super Bowl in one year and the only major change the 49ers made to their team was bringing in a new head coach. Football teams need great coaching as much if not more than talented players.

So enjoy recruiting day, worry about which high school senior has sent his fax to your school, and go crazy when someone breaks a verbal agreement and goes to your rival school. And while you're at it, mark down February 1st on your calendars for the next 50 years to remember the annual day of the insane.

I Might Have To Change My Views On Recruiting

Last week I talked about my loathing of college recruiting. Well I might have to take it all back after watching this recruitment video by Benedictine University.



Now if all colleges produced a recruitment video like that I would be more interested in recruiting. I mean what could you ask for that's not in that video? Want to see a hurdler jump over mountains? You got it! Want to see the moon explode after being hit by a baseball? You got it! Benedictine University is a small catholic school in a suburb of Chicago and I'm seriously thinking of going back to school all because of that video. Nicely done Benedictine University.  

(Via Deadspin)

You Gotta Love Recruiting

This is the busiest part of the year for college football coaches. It's recruiting season which also means it's the silly season in college football. I've always avoided following the recruiting season because I can use my time better than keeping track of 18-year old kids trying to decided where they want to go to college.

The other reason why I don't follow the recruiting season is because half of these kids never pan out. And by not following the recruiting season I don't get too emotional if these kids never pan out like I do when someone on one of my favorite professional teams doesn't pan out.

Another emotional reason why I don't follow recruiting season is because 18-year old kids change their minds all the time. I didn't go to the college I originally wanted to go to. I changed my mind at the last second before deciding to go to school where I did and I know I'm not alone there.

If I followed college football recruiting closely though I would probably be in outrage over stories like this. Gunner Kiel, an 18-year old highly touted QB from Indiana, had now decommitted from two schools. First he decommitted from Indiana and chose to go to LSU. Now he's decommitted from LSU and will most likely be headed to Notre Dame. That's two schools now that Kiel had decommitted from.

Predictably LSU fans aren't reacting well. In this post about why Kiel choose to go to Notre Dame because his mom wanted him too an LSU fan had this to say: "What a joke. He has decommitted from two schools now. At this point, why would you even want him on your team?"

Yes let's get angry and furious over where an 18-year old kid goes to school! It's not like no one has ever changed their minds as to where they are going to go to school. It's not like anyone has chosen to go to school near home to be near their parents or family.

And that's why folks I've never became too emotionally invested in college recruiting for either football or basketball. I know I would probably act the same way if I did follow recruiting closely. I don't want to get mad at a kid trying to decide where he's going to attend college. Add to the fact that it's highly unlikely Kiel is ever going to amount to anything and you have a combination of why I don't follow college recruiting.

I'll pour all my outrage into the Sacramento Kings at the moment.

Are You Smarter Than Lane Kiffin?

True or False: Coaches may provide transportation for a recruit to attend a home athletics contest during an unofficial visit?

True or False: When observing a recruit’s high school practice session, the college coach may direct a high school coach to conduct specific physical activities to test the player’s strength, speed and agility?

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is trying to figure out if you are smarter than Lane Kiffin. The Star-Telegram posted an online quiz of 20 questions relating to college recruiting. Take the quiz and see if you know more about college recruiting than Lane Kiffin.

Rap Sheet: John Wall Arrested

You may be wondering who John Wall is? Well John Wall is a 6-foot-4 basketball super recruit. He has been requited by everyone but he finally has narrowed his list. The Eight schools remaining on his list are Duke, N.C. State, Kentucky, Kansas, Florida, Baylor, Miami and Memphis.

Well some of these teams might be backing off recruiting Wall after he was arrested for breaking and entering. Wall and two other people were charged with misdemeanor charge of breaking and entering.

It will be interesting to see if any teams will back off the recruitment of Wall. I can't see Kentucky or John Callipari backing off. Wall is a perfect player for Callipari. I could see Coach K and Duke backing off. We will see in the coming weeks what will happen.

John Wall charged with breaking, entering(News&Observer)

Calipari to Kentucky?

The rumors have flied today about Memphis coach John Calipari talking to Kentucky about their coaching vacancy. I have one question about this possible move, why?

Calipari is a great coach, who took both small-time schools UMASS and Memphis to the final four's. If the Tigers could hit their free throws last season, they would have been National Champions.

He is also a great recruiter, who has pulled great talent from around the nation and convinced them to go to Memphis.

I think it's a win-win situation for Calipari if he leaves Memphis for Kentucky. He won't have to answer questions about playing in a lesser conference. He won't have to work as hard anymore to recruit players. Kentucky basketball is a brand onto itself, their name brings people to that school. He is also a hard person not to dislike. He will do pretty much any type of interview and he lets you into is mind. He would be perfect for Kentucky. So what's the problem you ask?

Kentucky has a long history of getting into trouble with the NCAA. They were given the NCAA 'Death Penalty' for the 1952-1953 season. They were almost given the 'death penalty' again during the Eddie Sutton era. This school has always had a problem with going over the edge when it comes to the NCAA rule book.

And don't forget, Calipari and UMASS were stripped of their final four appearance because Marcus Camby accepted some gifts that he shouldn't of.

Also there has been lingering questions about how Calipari has been able to pull such great talent to these small schools. His first major recruit to Memphis was DeJuan Wagner. Back in 2001, Wagner decided to attend Memphis. Coincidentally his father was hired as the Coordinator of Basketball Operations. While no sanctions have been brought upon Calipari and Memphis there has always been this lingering question.

Add this to Kentucky's past and you could have a recipe for disaster. It will be interesting to see though if Calipari excepts the Kentucky job. And it would also be interesting to see the battles he would have with Rick Pitino, because neither of these two particularly like each other.

National Signing Day Is A Joke

Tomorrow is national signing day in college football. And this day has become the biggest joke of all time.

ESPN will cover the day, when top high school prospects decided what school they will attend next year.

A lot of things have turned this day into a joke besides the coverage from ESPN. Internet sites like Rivals and message boards have turned a simple thing, into an overblown event. It has almost in some respects became almost as big as the NFL Draft. And as we have found out in the past, most of these kids are average players in college.

We have turned 18 year old kids into stars by putting camera's and microphones in their faces. And when they don't have the college career that was expected, we call them a bust. Most of them are just not as talented in college as they were in high school. Or they get in some sort of trouble at school, or they just don't get the grades required to stay with a team.

We all need to back off of them, and not pressure them while in college.

Recruiters Vs. Head Coaches

Ed. Note: I have written some columns and stories for the local paper that I wanted to share.

With college football at a fever pitch and head coaches losing jobs left and right, I thought it was time to explain the difference between recruiters and head coaches.

There are very few head coaches who can do it all. They recruit well and coach even better. There isn’t too many Bob Stoops, Nick Saban’s, Urban Meyer’s, Pete Carroll’s, Mack Brown’s or Jim Tressel’s.

They get the best players in the nation out of high school and make them great in college. These guys are rarity’s. This is also the reason why all these guys have national championships on their mantles.

These guys are also great recruiters because they also coach in areas where football talent comes in a truck load. They hold down the fort though and make sure none of the talent in their state’s leaves for other schools. It’s the Howard Schnellenberger theory.

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When Howard Schnellenberger arrived at the University of Miami in 1979, the school was thinking about shutting down the program.

Schnellenberger realized that the best talent in the country was right there in South Florida. He built the proverbial “fence around Miami” and recruiting only the “State of South Florida”. His eye for talent lead the nation in recognizing south Florida as a talent rich area.

By 1983, Schnellenberger had Miami in the national championship game, which they beat Nebraska. Schnellenberger built Miami from the ground up and laid down the foundation that both Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson used to also win national championships at Miami.

This was the point when coaches A) realized the amount of talent in Florida B) that if you are going to be successful in college football you have to recruit your state well and the states around you well.

Phil Fulmer is stepping down from Tennessee because of this. Fulmer at one time was one of the best recruiters in the nation. He could find talent all around the country during the late 90’s.

But when the likes of Carroll, Brown, Stoops, Meyer came to the threshold, they shut down their borders. And with very few talented football players coming out of the state of Tennessee.

Fulmer was not able to keep up with the likes of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, LSU, and Auburn, Tennessee started to fall of the national power radar. And this is why the Volunteers are looking for a new coach.

Head coaches though can’t recruit all by themselves though.

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Great coaches surround themselves with great assistants. Bill Walsh and Bill Billichick didn’t win three Super Bowls all by themselves. They had great assistants.

College football coaches are no exception. They have to surround themselves with great assistants to keep the ship above water.

With the recruiting regulations, head coaches can only visit a recruit a few times before signing day. This is where assistants come in.

The assistants go all across their area or the nation and try and find the best players that fit their teams philosophy and chemistry. Then they have to sell themselves and their programs. While doing this they have to make sure another recruiter from a different school doesn’t come in and steel their recruit away.

They are the backbone of the programs. They have to make sure to replenish the talent and others leave. That is why some programs continue to win each year. They may have a down year, but that is because they had to play a lot of that talent right away.

A lot of these recruiters go on to become head coaches because of their success as recruiters. A program looks at what these guys were able to accomplish and say “Why can’t we do, what they are doing.”

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Ole Miss took a chance on Ed Orgeron because he was one of the best recruiters in the nation.

In 2001, Pete Carroll named Orgeron the recruiting coordinator at USC. The Trojans went on to share a national championship and win one outright in back to back years.

Orgeron was the one who found Matt Leinhart, Reggie Bush, Mike Patterson, LenDale White and the other players who were key in the Trojans success.

In 2005, Orgeron moved on to Ole Miss because they thought his success as a recruiter would translate into success as a head coach. They were wrong.

While Orgeron did bring in a lot of talent into Ole Miss, he wasn’t a very good coach. His overall record at Ole Miss was 10-25 with no wins SEC play last year. He was fired after last season.

Orgeron’s problem at Ole Miss was that he didn’t know how to make decisions on the field like his mentor Pete Carroll. This plagues a lot of great recruiters who try their luck at head coaching.

They become decisive and often second guess their own decisions. Last year Orgeron didn’t know what quarterback to start, and by the time he made the right decision, it was too late.

Orgeron’s failures go right up there with the Greg Robinsons, Chuck Amato’s, and other failed recruiters turned head coaches.

Then there are the coaches you hear about who cannot recruit.

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Tyrone Willingham is stepping down from his job in Washington after this season. The Huskies are one of the worst teams in FBS this season, and a lot of critics are pointing to Willingham’s lack of great recruiting classes. Willingham has never been a great recruiter and many point to this as the reason why Willingham was fired at Norte Dame and now Washington.

Look not every coach in America is going to have a great recruiting class every year. Especially coaching in Washington. But a sup par recruiting class over a three year span can hinder the growth of a program. Washington’s growth has been stunted and many Willingham critics say Norte Dame is still recovering.

Some coaches are just not good recruiters. They don’t supply themselves with great assistants who weave a network, that supplies a program with top notch recruits. Carroll wouldn’t have two national championships on his mantle without Oregeron.

Willingham’s unbelievable loyalty to his assistants going back to his Stanford days, were Willingham’s downfall. Good for Tyrone for being loyal to people who helped him recruit Stanford players, but they had no clue, and tried to recruit Stanford players at Norte Dame then at Washington and now look at them. All of them are now looking for a job at the end of the season.

Other coaches just don’t have the charisma to close a deal. Nick Saban is definitely a surly unlikable guy, but he oozes charisma to close the deal on a recruit. Phil Fulmer just didn’t have it, in this department.

In the end recruiters vs. head coaches is a fine line. Fail in one department and the next thing you know you are out of work and working as an assistant at another school. Recruiting makes or breaks guys(Willingham, Fulmer) and making the right decisions on the field makes or breaks guys(Orgeron, Robinson). There are plenty of assistants on national championship contending teams out there and it is there turn to fail or succeed as head coaches.