“Recruiting is a whole other season for college football fans.”

 

That is what my boss, the headmaster at the school in which I teach, said to me yesterday. I always thought that other season was college basketball, and I thought he might agree since he is a UK grad and avid fan.

 

See the thing about recruiting that bothers me is not the insane pressure we put on coaches, but the insane pressure we put on 18 and 19 year old young men. Even in an age where our youth are growing up faster and stronger, they are also staying at home longer and maturing slower.

 

I think we place too much responsibility on young men in collegiate athletics, especially football, and expect them to show the poise and maturity of a seasoned veteran. It has become quasi-professional.

 

On the other hand, recruiting for a football team is necessary and legal. Athletes perform at high levels in high school so they may have a chance to play at the next level. With this being said, I will give a brief over view of the Florida State recruiting class. And unlike many others, I am not going place a high emphasis on individual recruits.

 

The reasons for this are Lorenzo Booker and Myron Rolle. Both were 5 star recruits, highly touted out of high school and both did not or have not to this point lived up to the hype. I am not blaming them for the hype, nor for not living up to it. For that I blame the coaches.

 

Finally at FSU, I think the coaching staff is at a place it was almost a decade ago. We have coaches who can recruit talent, but more importantly they can develop talent. That was somewhat of a lost art from the Jeff Bowden, Darrell Dickey days in Tallahassee, especially at the quarterback position.

 

The team needed offensive and defensive linemen. Losing seniors on both sides, this year’s class brings depth. Hopefully getting the Freshmen reps early and often will allow the team to bring back the line depth that the Seminoles made famous during their decade and a half run atop the polls.

 

We’ve picked up to key linebackers in Nigel Bradham, Nigel Carr, and Nick Moody. They will help replace the whole left in the linebacking core vacant from the early departure to the NFL by Geno Hayes. We also picked up Terrance Parks as a CB and 6’4”, 245lbs DE Markus White. 

 

On the offensive end, the Noles had an early commit, EJ Manuel. He has been compared to JaMarcus Russell in both stature and arm strength. Most likely redshirting his first year, he will gain experience playing behind now starter Drew Weatherford and RS SO, Christian Ponder, who had only one year of tainted leadership under the previous regime.

 

For skill positions, we signed the bruising, 6’1” 215 lb RB, Tavares Pressley and fellow 4 star 6’5”, 200 lb WR, Corey Surrency.

 

Coach Fisher, referring to Bradham and Manuel,said “The offense and defense are lead by two key players. We feel like we got the best two players at those positions.”

FSU has a top 10-15 class depending at which rankings you look. I think it is a group that gives us exactly what we need and lays a foundation for the coaches to revive a down program.  It is never the recruiting class that wins you a national title, it is the coaching and development of talent.

 

How many first rounders were 5 star recruits? How many Heisman winners? How many Hall of Famers? 

 

It is not the recruits who do the winning—It is the program, the coach, and the system. Just ask Florida State Basketball. We have top recruits every year since Leonard Hamilton has been our coach, but Coach Ham has a real problem turning them into winners.

 

Guess how many NCAA Tournament births we have in the same time frame.

 

That’s right, the same number of BCS games we won with Jeff Bowden as coach.