Bleacher Report - Articles by David Logan Schroeder

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

David Logan Schroeder — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:51:51 -0500

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.

Therefore the current situation begs the question: How good is a promise worth in the SEC?

The question goes beyond commitments from high school kids; it goes to the very core of the SEC’s marketing slogan, “75 years of Character.”

Take Lance Thompson for example. Formerly the linebackers coach at Alabama, Thompson took a $125,000 pay raise and headed north to join Lane Kiffin and the Vols.

The problem is that weeks earlier, Thompson had told one of the Tide’s top recruits, A.J. McCarron, “You better not go to Tennessee of all places.”

Lance Thompson failed to heed his own warning.

Speaking about the incident, McCarron stated, “Not Tennessee, and then he ends up at Tennessee. And he knows the history from his time here as a player, how Alabama hates Tennessee. But Money talks, I guess."

Interesting take from an 18-year-old.

Tennessee Athletic Director Mike Hamilton took the high road and mandated that Tennessee would honor all of Phil Fulmer’s scholarship offers. Of course, this came with the tangent that Kiffin was telling the same kids that they wouldn’t fit in the Vols' new system and encouraged them to look elsewhere.

The SEC is a competitive league that demands victories. With the importation of aggressive new coaches, the old style is done. On the other hand, you cannot expect players to keep their commitments when coaches don’t.

Alabama came under fire for over-recruiting last year. Alabama's bad press didn't deter Ole Miss, who signed 37 players this year. Arkansas joined suit in signing 30.

These high numbers usually mean that a prior recruit will lose a scholarship in order to accomodate the new class.

Sometimes it happens naturally due to academic problems or injuries. Sometimes it does not.

There are still flashes of character in the SEC

The whisperings around Tigerland are that former LSU co-defensive coordinator Dale Peveto turned down a 200 percent pay increase from Nick Saban and the Tide. Instead, Peveto choose to stand by his word and fulfill his contract to become the head coach at Northwestern State.

The same can be said of Georgia assistant Rodney Garner, who turned down a $150,000 pay raise from the Vols in order to stay with Mark Richt.

But the main point is that we cannot expect more out of 17-year-olds than we do of our coaches.

When coaches spend time downgrading rival schools instead of selling their own, players take notice. When coaches change allegiances in a heartbeat, kids pick up on the business aspect of the game.

In today’s competitive SEC environment, promises do not seem to go as far as they used to.

LSU's Final Recruiting Push: Heading into Rival Territory

David Logan Schroeder — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:18:09 -0500

Never a national recruiting powerhouse, LSU has maintained a limited regional appeal for most of its history. LSU football rises and falls with the high school classes in Louisiana, East Texas and South Mississippi.

Even during the reign of slick Nick Saban, LSU’s recruiting coups came from signing local talent and occasionally plucking a plum four or five-star recruit from South Florida or Alabama.

LSU has always had a scattering of national talent on its teams. However, that talent has either come from personal relationships with the staff or from areas LSU consistently recruits. Rarely has LSU been able to commit a recruit from an area where they do not have a continuing presence.

Despite the recruiting success over the past decade, LSU had not reached the point where they could simply send a letter and gain instant credibility. Cold-calling the top recruits in the nation had not yielded consistent success. While such recruits had flirted with LSU in the past, the courtship always seemed forced and insincere.

This year things are slightly different. While the majority of the talent that will eventually sign with LSU will be from Louisiana, LSU has made inroads in states without a strong historical presence. Venturing out into rival SEC country, LSU is successfully recruiting in Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina.

This year, those out-of-state players who formally held only nominal interest in LSU are starting to commit.

The reasons are twofold: First, coming off a national championship last year, LSU gained some momentum and national exposure.

Secondly, the state of Louisiana had a banner crop of recruits this year. While it may seem contradictory to pump-up out of state recruiting with in-state talent, it is not. Talent wants to go where it will win.

LSU received some early commitments from extraordinary players from Louisiana and East Texas. These early commitments gave way to a waterfall of press, hype and interest.

The top high school prospects know each other. They meet at camps, all-star games and banquets. Word spreads and the self-fulfilling prophecy that is college football recruiting continues.

Immediate Impact Commitments

The driving force behind this year’s signing class is Russell Shepard, a five-star all-everything QB from Houston. One of the best prospects in the nation, Shepard will see immediate action on the field next fall. Shepard will be used to spell Jordan Jefferson at QB, likely utilizing his quickness in a pistol formation. As a true freshman, the extent of Shepard’s impact on the field is unknown. Shepard’s impact on the recruiting trail however, has already paid dividends.

One of LSU’s earliest commitments of note, Shepard singlehandedly put LSU in the running for top recruiting class. While at the Under-Armour High School All-Star game last month, Shepard relentlessly pushed LSU to his fellow players. He made sure they had all seen LSU’s dismantling of Georgia Tech in the Peach Bowl and understood there were more victories to come.

A more direct impact comes from Dominque Allen, an under the radar three star Fullback from Paris, Tennessee. LSU currently has only one fullback on the roster, Steven Ridley. Ridley measures out at 6’0”, 215 and has been converted from Running Back to Fullback.

The 6’0” 250 Allen will be used to spell Ridley at first, but then will gradually allow Ridley to return to his natural position of RB. LSU was in need of a big short yardage fullback and Allen fits the mold.

Recruiting Wish List

Defense

LSU needs defensive play-makers. New Defensive Coordinator John Chavis’ system demands speed and discipline, traits the Tigers did not display in any remarkable quantity last year. LSU has historically produced great speed rushing Defensive Ends.

Production from that position has dropped noticeably over the last few years, culminating with last year’s weak pass defense. LSU finished 74th in pass defense last season, two spots ahead of cross state rival University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Any one of the three defensive studs would be a welcome addition to the Tiger’s Box defense, putting needed pressure on the quarterback and freeing up the DB’s to make more plays. Jarvis Jones and Sam Montgomery both hail from rival SEC country, leaving LSU fans’ hoping the out-of-state trend continues.

Barkvivios Mingo—LB/DE, Monroe, Louisiana

Jarvis Jones—LB/DE, Columbus, Georgia

Sam Montgomery—DE, Greenwood, South Carolina

Offense

LSU’s offense was surprisingly decent last year. With the emergency of Jordan Jefferson at QB halfway through the season, the retention of Charles Scott and the return of Brandon Lafell from the NFL Draft, the Tigers have few pressing weaknesses. That being said, Rueben Randle—WR, Bastrop, La. is such an extraordinary playmaker that LSU fans all anxiously awaiting his decision.

The recruitment of Randle is drawing intense speculation for many reasons. First and foremost, he is one of the best high school players in the nation, ranked as the top overall player by many recruiting services.

Secondly, he is from the state of Louisiana. It’s understood that if LSU wants to become a true national recruiting force, it has to shore up its own state. But the fan bases’ interest in Randle goes far beyond that. First, LSU lost out on Louisiana native and No. 1 high school player Joe McKnight in 2007. That loss still burns the Tiger faithful, who hope that Randle will stay in-state.

More importantly, Randle is also considering Alabama. Besides being the home of Nick Saban, Alabama is a strong football team that will compete for the SEC West crown for years to come. Randle, besides being a point of pride, is an excellent football player. LSU fans don’t want to lose out on Randle, but they certainly don’t want to lose him to rival Alabama.

LSU fans are also keeping a skeptical eye on all-world RB Trent Richardson from Pensacola, FL. Richardson possesses elite size and speed, making him a threat to pound inside the tackles or cut outside and go the distance.

Committed to Alabama, Richardson has shown signs of infidelity, entertaining the company of both LSU and Florida. LSU fans are hesitant to invest too much in Richardson, as recruiting battles against the Tide and Gators don’t historically favor the Bayou Bangles.

His recruitment then, is somewhat of a litmus test of how far LSU has come. The fact that they are still in the conversation is a sign of progress, but fans that have seen the bad times are keeping a foot on the floor.

Tigers coach Les Miles has publicly stated that the 2009 recruiting class has the opportunity to compete for multiple national championships. While that statement must be taken with a grain of salt considering it was said in the heat of recruiting, perhaps the mad hatter knows something we don’t.