Early Commitment Trend Good To Tide, Gators
By Bamagrad03 on June 7 2009 10:12 PM
If you're a Gator fan, or a 'Bama fan, you're probably enjoying a new trend in college football recruiting: early commitments. Fans of both schools should probably thank Mac Brown. In recent years, Texas has led the way in terms of collecting verbal commitments from guys well before they even take the first snap of their senior high school season. Other teams like Georgia and to a lesser extent, Oklahoma, have joined the early commitment party as well. While getting guys in early can build momentum for the recruiting season, it does present it's own set of concerns.
You've heard the phrase before. "The big dogs walk late." In years past, that statement had a great deal of merit. Certainly, signing day still offers it's share of 11th hour announcement fireworks. (If you have a handler/agent/relative like Bryce Brown, you may not even commit by signing day). However, in the last few years, a trend of kids ending the suspense early with a verbal commitment seems to have gained traction around the country. So much, in fact, that it's prompted votes on whether or not an early signing period is warranted. For now, it looks like schools will have to settle for just the verbal, and continue to wait for the ink until February.
With elite members of the 2010 recruiting class already finding their share of podiums for hat tricks, commitments, and subsequent waffling, Florida and 'Bama are leading the way in both the nation, and the SEC in landing them. The Gators have already landed an astonishing 5 "Rivals 100" players and another 3 who made the cut in the "Rivals 250." Florida has 12 verbal commitments already, 10 of whom are rated 4 star or better by rivals.com. You can add to that list, another "Rivals 250" WR when Solomon Patton commits to the Gators next weekend. This is nothing new for Meyer. Last season, he had over half his verbals commited by mid October.
Nick Saban has been busy as well. Last season, he had 13 players in the fold before the 08 season started. He's snagged 13 already this year, and it's only June. Headlining his early crop are the nations #1 ranked CB, Demarcus Milliner, and the top QB in Phillip Sims.The rest of his lot is littered with "Rivals 250" talent like Craig Sanders and Nick Perry.
Meyer and Saban are both tireless recruiters who really enjoy the game that's involved. But illiciting an early commitment from an 18 year old kid has a potential downside. Asking any one of these guys their favorite food will get you a different answer given different days of the week. So you can imagine the amount of flip-flopping invloved in a high school senior's mind over the course of his final year of school as it relates to what campus he'd like to spend the next four years of his life. Alabama is learning about that first hand with Keiwone Malone's recent comments about the stability (or lack thereof) of his verbal to the Tide. And if you look at Meyer's haul at the DB position, you have to wonder if he's telling all of them that the other ones are being recruited to play linebacker with Tim Tebow. No, that wasn't a typo. Somewhere in Oxford, Jevan Snead is smiling.
In Tuscaloosa and Gainesville, the reigning sentiment seems to be: get 'em commited, worry about the waffling later. Never has the upside of taking an early commitment been evident than was with the signing of Tim Tebow a few years ago. The snowball effect of signing an already celebrity QB in December resulted in a litany of high profile recruits jumping on the Gator bandwagon. Many of those recruits said the potential to play alongside Tebow factored into their decision. Similiarly, the signing of Phillip Simms looks to be paying dividends for Alabama. More than one kid considering the Tide has mentioned that Simms is actively recruiting them. With Simms tearing it up in the camps, it's a better sales pitch than Saban could ever offer.
Recruiting is about two things: momentum and relationships. Signing players early can help with both. But you don't want to end up putting your eggs in the early verbal basket, only to be left holding the bag like UGA was on a few recruits a couple years ago. There's probably no worse feeling than thinking you've got commited talent sewn up at key positions, only to have to scramble just before signing day to replace those guys when they change their minds. It certainly can be a gamble. In Tuscaloosa and Gainsville, it seems as if it's becoming business as usual.
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Tags: Alabama, Florida, Recruiting,Saban,Meyer
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