USC Football: Is Lane Kiffin Media Blackout Hurting Recruiting?

In typical Lane Kiffin fashion, news is slow to come out of USC regarding the signing class. News that ESPN broke early this morning is just being released by USC—such as the signing of LB Michael Hutchings out of California’s De La Salle High School.

I was at my laptop before 7:45 a.m. and Hutchings was already being reported as a Trojan by the ESPN broadcast.

For those that follow the USC program, this reticence to relay program news in anything resembling real time is a classic Lane Kiffin move.

But in this situation, on signing day, is the Lane Kiffin media blackout hurting recruiting?

Think about the culture of signing day these last few years. These teenage athletes are pursued like superstars. They are feted by fans of the programs seeking their prodigious talents. Their young out-sized egos are stroked and built up.

And then you add in social media.

It is a maelstrom of attention on these young men and their egos.

Now, take your typical teenage male (or male of any age, or human for that matter) and remove all that hype.

Recruit A signs with Alabama and is immediately embraced by the ‘Bama family.

Recruit B signs with Notre Dame and Twitter explodes in joy, welcoming the newest Domer to the ND family.

Recruit C signs with USC and USC takes six hours (an arbitrary number) to officially announce that they are the newest Trojan.

Well, that’s kind of a massive buzz kill, you know?

Signing day is the biggest day of these kids’ lives to date. I don’t blame the kids for wanting to be celebrated today. They’ve earned it.

Meanwhile, Lane Kiffin continues to hide behind his playbook.

Amy is the lead USC football writer for B/R. Follow her on Twitter at @GridironGoddess