College Football Recruiting: What Is a Promise Worth in the SEC?

By its nature, college football recruiting is a shady business.  In college basketball, a verbal commitment raises a white flag and teams usually back off.  In college football, a verbal commitment just lets other teams know who to recruit against. 

While it happens in every conference, the tactics seems particularly cutthroat in the SEC. 

Everyone knows the drill—nothing is official until you get the papers.  Despite the occasional protest, all parties are willing participants.

Last year, SEC coaches voted against an early signing period by a count of 9-3.  This year, the conference commissioners joined the coaches in voting against the proposition.

Today ends the SEC’s second season—recruiting season.  Coaches risk their reputation and job security on convincing 17 and 18-year-old kids to attend their school.

Recruiting season isn’t just trying on the coaches.  Fans suffer through months of anxiety, mood swings, and general paranoia, all feeding the fear of losing their school’s prized recruit to a rival.

Rumors of dirty recruiting, improper tactics and outright lies permeate the message boards.  All schools claim to be the victims; none acknowledge that sometimes they are the aggressor.

State of Affairs

DeAngelo Benton was a Parade All-American WR in 2006 who signed with LSU out of high school.  An academic non-qualifier, LSU has worked with Benton to get him eligible for the past two years.  LSU sent Benton to Hargrave Military Academy, a Virginia prep school that aimed on improving his grades.

In return, Benton has maintained his commitment to LSU since day one.  He signed with the 2007 and 2008 classes.  He went on record to reaffirm his commitment again last night, putting to bed any fears that Benton had eyes for another.

Today, Bayou Bengal fans awoke to the news that Benton had signed with Auburn.

Rumors circulated that the scholarship was pulled Tuesday night, supposedly to ease the fears of top WR recruit Reuben Randle.

A three-year courtship ended based on the fears of an 18-year-old kid.

Later in the day, LSU fans learned another verbal commitment, Kenny Bell, signed with Alabama.

Five-Star recruit Janzen Jackson remained commited to LSU for a little over 11 months.  He delayed his signing by a day in order to tell the world he was attending Tennessee. 

But LSU gives as good as it gets.  Verbal commitments to other schools did not deter LSU's recruiting advances.  LSU actively pursued Trent Richardson, an Alabama commitment.  The Tigers also went after Darrington Sentimore, another Alabama verbal.

Such is the state of affairs in the SEC.

The big boys operate by a simple code—recruit until signing day.  Even if some schools would prefer not to, they can’t run the risk of getting burned by rivals with less demanding consciouses.

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