College Football Recruiting: Sporting News Survey Sheds Light on Hat Dance

The Sporting News gave some of the nation's top recruits a survey and a chance to dish on the recruiting process and some of the sensational portions of the ordeal. They talked about ghost or phantom phone calls, coaches lying to them in extraordinary fashion to get them to campus and of course the ongoing battle between academics and the NFL as a selling point. The players also talked about Oregon being a destination because of Nike and the impact of a coach being a father figure as opposed to a buddy.

However, the real light being shed on the recruiting process was in the players' response to the question about the hat shuffle many recruits run on signing day:

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6. Do you like the signing day "hat dance," when a recruit puts a half-dozen hats in front of him and pulls one from the group to indicate his choice?

Answers

No: 59

Yes: 40

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Pretty interesting responses were given, both in numbers and in the open-ended portions, as some players gave the common response fans give:

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“I hate it. It shows that the recruit didn’t put enough thought into where he was going for the next four years of his life and the recruit is either indecisive or looking for attention.”

“I think it is ridiculous. I think it is too self-aggrandizing, especially when you are going to be back at the bottom of the depth chart when you report to fall camp.”

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Ultimately, and remember these kids are still high schoolers so be fair to them, this is one of the more misguided views surrounding the "hat dance." They're a mere celebration of the process, the last chance to truly be the big chief, before, as the responder mentions, you're at the bottom of the depth chart. Let the kids have their fun. 

The most telling responses were from the kids who took a bit more cerebral approach to the issue:

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“I think it is stupid. The kids lead on three or four other schools and take opportunities away from other players.”

“It’s ridiculous. Make a decision and stick with it. Keeping coaches and other recruits on edge leaves the other program scrambling to fill a spot that they believed they already had. If they are doing that type of crap, they are the ones that are creating and keeping that drama going that stereotypes athletes.”

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These guys are right, in a sense. From their point of view this can boil down to them getting a spot at the school they like the most or being forced to head elsewhere. It would be ideal if everyone had their mind made up early, no one ever flipped and schools were able to get their 25 without worrying about missing out on a kid.

Unfortunately, this is not how it works.

Kids are kids. They are indecisive. They flip-flop. They are not entirely sure about what they want to do, even as the time comes to make a decision. That's the reason coaches don't cross kids off their board, or write them into the class until the fax is in.

It is never easy to hear, but "them's the breaks" as far as recruiting goes. Hat or no hat. Press conference or no press conference. Recruiting is all about juggling numbers, getting the players you want and trying to fill holes when you miss on a target. Coaches hold spots for kids they want, if they miss on a kid, they scramble to fill that spot and it all trickles down from the top to the FCS level.

Their concern makes sense, but ultimately recruiting is about the individual recruit doing what's best for him—not him doing what's best for "random kid he doesn't know from Adam."