Football recruiting --early commits

[Greenhead22]

Yes, they do.

All these early commitments don't mean jack when it comes down to the last 2 months before signing day. Take MSU for example. Their 2 highest tauted recruits were the first two to commitment early, and happened to be the last two to sign with someone else.

UM can send out 500 letters if they want and get 50 "soft" commitments. There's nothing to it. Now, look at Bama for instance. They have zero EC's....but I'd be willing to bet that they sign a top 10 recruiting class before it's all said and done.

[Deltamud77]

Bigwater, many, if not most of these early committments will take official visits to other schools. Some will just use these visits as paid-for vacations while others will actually "re-consider" their earlier committments. Then you have people like Powe at Ole Miss who committ to LSU on national TV because it is the fun thing to do with no intention of every fullfilling this committment. I am in favor of actually signing as opposed to committing. There are people who will always justifiably change their mind. For these people a small informal hearing to get out of the committment may be in order --you can get out of the committment for good reason up to the national official cut off day at which point you have to be released by the univeristy. I think a lot of the early committments would (1) be more serious and (2) be less frequent. Maybe I am too old fashioned and just believe in the honor of a man's word.

[Po Monkey Lounger]

"do most of these recurits who make these ealry committments still go on offical on campus trips to other schools.."

Some do, and some don't is the answer. "Most" would be an overstatement.

Some of these kids will choose not to take any visits. For them, they prefer to skip all the recruiting pressure, calls, visits, etc. because they already have there minds made up.

The ones who decide to take other visits, after committing to a school, are in reality just expressing by their commitment a high preference for that school, but indicating that they will consider other options and welcome continued recruiting by other schools --until they say otherwise. Historically, "most" of these type recruits stick to their original commitment. However, a few don't, and often the ones who don't are high profile players who receive a lot of press due to the drama they create toward the end of the process. Thus, this is why it seems that there are more late decommitments than there really are.

Is all of this recruiting gamesmanship right or wrong? I don't know. But, it is part of the current process. And how a coach works the system is critical to his recruiting success.

I do know this. UM does not have the luxury to just say "let the recruits come to us" . IMO, UM's best strategy is the one being currently implemented ---agresssive and persistent. Such is the only way for UM to work its way out of its current status and into the top of the SEC. Gotta have the players to compete. The "old way" was not working for UM. Whether this new philosopy works better remains to be seen. But, we will know for certain within the next 3 years. It has worked pretty darn well for LSU I would have to say.

[webbmaster]

I just looked up the term "overanalyzed" in the dictionary, and it directed me to this thread.

[Po Monkey Lounger]

thanks for your contribution Webb

I look forward, on the edge of my seat, to your follow up threads about the status/results of the Tide/NCAA/Cottrell litigation ----so, so interesting.

you dislike baseball

you barely tolerate basketball

and you apparently dislike all spring recruiting discussions

looks like its gonna be a long summer for you --- why don't you check back in on us in August --September?

[webbmaster]

Don't get me wrong....one of my favorite things to do is listen to fans of third tier SEC schools analyze a bunch of 17 year olds and where they decide to play college ball. It's funny because no matter how much they break it down, their team still sucks. Keep the faith! I'm sure Coach Shrek has your support!

Everything else you mention pales in comparison.

[Greenhead22]

Coach Shrek........

[Deltamud77]

Po Monk, my overstatement as to "most" may be an overstatement as to all recruits but I still believe that it is accurate with reference to the national recruits. As an LSU grad and fan, we have been very fortunate to be in on a lot of the national recruits the last few years. As any diehard pessimistic LSU fan knows, "this too shall pass." When I say national I am speaking about four and five star guys however arbitrary the rating system may be or guys with 20+ scholarship offers from schools across the country. I would guess that of our early commitments over the last 5 to 6 years, greater than 70% have continued to take official visits to the Texas, Georgias and USCs of the world, some of whom we have lost. Of course this is tendered by the fact that some early commitments commit a week or a day before signing day. Not meaning to take a shot at UM by any means, but a good number (not necessarily a majority, especially not this past year) of your recruits over the last 5 to 6 years are guys who don't have a lot of SEC or nationwide options aside from Ole Miss. They commit and stick because they have no better options. Therefore, maybe "most" with reference to all athletes who commit early is a slight overstatement, but with reference to national recruits I feel that it is very accurate. If nothing else, they like free trips to be wined and dined in LA and Miami.

[Po Monkey Lounger]

Well, I can't argue much with the premise that UM football "sucks" --- at least the last two years.

And some criticism of Coach O is warranted ---primarily the disasterous season last fall, with dissention on the coaching staff contributing to the mess. While a lack of overall talent on the team last season cannot be blamed on Coach O, the coaching mistakes can.

What I cannot understand for the life of me is all the criticism and ridicule of Coach O coming from the other SEC programs, coaches, and their fans. It is somewhat unprecedented ---especially if we are to believe the mantra that Coach O is doomed for failure and insignificant. IF so, then why does anyone else outside of UM even care?

So, as an Ole Miss fan, I move forward, without a lot of pride and no bravado or bragging. No smack from me. I am waiting to see the results on the field before I proclaim any coach to be successful. I can only hope that the changes implemented by Coach O (coaching staff/recruiting/ offense) start making a considerable difference in the results on the field, starting this fall. And if success at UM under Coach O never materializes in the next couple of seasons, then some of you O bashers will have been proven to be correct to some extent.

But, I've got a strong feeling there is going to be a whole LOT of crow being served up and consumed by many of the O bashers before too long. We shall see. That is why we play the games.

[hillhunter]

Don't get me wrong....one of my favorite things to do is listen to fans of third tier SEC schools analyze a bunch of 17 year olds and where they decide to play college ball. It's funny because no matter how much they break it down, their team still sucks. Keep the faith! I'm sure Coach Shrek has your support!

Everything else you mention pales in comparison.

Statements like that are what give your fan base the reputation its famous for ......no matter how much you want to be different from Tennessee, your all just like them except you wear a different color to the games.

[Po Monkey Lounger]

Good points Deltamud. With Coach O now going after more sought after recruits, the retention rate of the early commits could go down from our previous historical stats. But, IMO, that is a good problem to have. I would rather be in the hunt with the elite recruits, than not even on the radar. Land a few every year and the odds are in your favor for success on the field.

[webbmaster]

Don't get me wrong....one of my favorite things to do is listen to fans of third tier SEC schools analyze a bunch of 17 year olds and where they decide to play college ball. It's funny because no matter how much they break it down, their team still sucks. Keep the faith! I'm sure Coach Shrek has your support!

Everything else you mention pales in comparison.

Statements like that are what give your fan base the reputation its famous for ......no matter how much you want to be different from Tennessee, your all just like them except you wear a different color to the games.

Relax Francis.

[bigwater]

i just found out from a reliable source that one kid is listed as an early committment to both miami, ole miss and texas..

hummmm!!!! intresting..

[Deltamud77]

Po Monk, once again you are correct in O going after the big guys. When you land them you not only win games which is key in better recruiting down the line, but you start a snow ball effect in the recruiting process in general. The more big names you land the more other big names want to come or at least show interest. Saban at LSU is a very good example. Lock down your backyard, MS and Memphis for UM, and go after the big names outside your backyard and you will be alright.

[Po Monkey Lounger]

Latest update on early commitment numbers: (as of 5/10/06)

UM 12
MSU 11
LSU 7
UGA 5
UT 5
FL 4
Ark 3
AU 3
SC 2
UK 1
VU 1
Ala 1

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For a coach and fanbase that supposedly does not believe in or place much stock in early commitments, MSU sure seems to be offering a lot of early scholarships and obtaining a lot of early commits. This is too damn funny.

Prediction: now that MSU has jumped on the early commit recruiting bandwagon, I predict that their fans will now say that such is the greatest thing since sliced bread. This type of mindset is a disease that MSU contracted from the Jackal ---- the "whatever I am doing at the time is the thing to do" disease. It apparently still persists widely within the fan base. One example of the early symptoms of this disease was the Jackal's early criticism of Brewer for signing so many JUCOs. Later, when JWS was winning with a lot of JUCOs, he thought JUCOs were the way to go.