AJC recruiting expert Michael Carvell has a fantastic blog post today. Following up on his report that Steve Spurrier offered a scholarship to a local middle school player, Carvell compiles the answers of Spurrier and six other prominent coaches to his question: "How early is too early to recruit a kid?"
I recommend you read their answers. The coaches reveal a lot in the way they talk about this issue.
Notice the coaches don’t talk about the appropriateness of wooing kids so young. They don’t fret that it’s bit sleazy for them to pursue 13-years old (and younger?) and pressure them with a sales pitch.
Almost without exception the recruits are discussed dispassionately. They are subjects in a cost/benefit analysis that does not factor in their interests. This does not surprise me but it's striking how the coaches don't seem to notice how they sound.
Les Miles talks exclusively about whether it's possible to properly evaluate the football potential of kids so young. That’s also the general theme for Bob Stoops, Mike Gundy and Butch Jones: Can these kids help me?
(Al Golden says he’s not sure if offering kids so young is legal under NCAA rules. Ignorance of NCAA regulations probably is not a good thing for a head coach to admit.)
I should mention Hugh Freeze is an exception. He says recruits would benefit from a rule prohibiting offers before junior year, so at least he’s thinking of them. Freeze admits that he participates in a practice he wishes were outlawed but having a conscience is a start.
It’s no surprise that Spurrier was the coach to just come out and say it straight. Spurrier says a coach can get a commitment from a middle school recruit and, if the kid doesn’t pan out, "find some reason" to break it. Thanks for being honest, I guess?
I hope Mookie Blaylock and other parents know Spurrier’s views on this issue. They should know that Spurrier is just the one coach honest enough to say the kids are only worth a commitment as long as they can do something for Coach.
To those who rage against recruits for “decommitting” or some other such atrocity: read what these coaches say and reconsider who’s really getting screwed in this system.
About the Author
