2012 NFL Draft: Should Draft Prospects Trust Coaches or Agents More?

For every honest statement a college coach makes in the living room of a recruit's home, he's probably said 10 lies.

Not all coaches are like this and it is unfair to generalize them as such, but the truth of the matter is that college recruiting is a ruthless business. In order to compete at the highest level, some coaches stoop to the lowest.

When it comes time to decide on whether to leave early or stay in school, another war ensues.

Coaches vs. Agents.

We know coaches will do just about anything to get players to commit to them and their program. And we know that agents will do anything to earn the signature of the top prospects.

When players are trying to decide whether to leave their school to enter the NFL, is there anyone they can truly trust?

We certainly want to believe it is their coach—someone who has been by their side for at least three years and who you generally want to believe has the student-athlete's best interests at heart. In most cases, many college coaches have great relationships with NFL coaches and even some scouts.

And there there are those like Wisconsin's Bret Bielema, who told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

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"The part that gets difficult in these times is bad information. Kids get enamored and wowed when agents start throwing out dollar figures. You've got to understand that the one thing an agent does once you hire him is he starts taking your money.

"What we have to do is give them credible information from the people that are making the calls.

"I've reached out to several GMs that I rely on heavily."

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The only bad information coming out right now is coming from Bielema himself. Players don't start paying agents until they are getting paid themselves. In fact, in most cases it is the agents fronting money for the players that actually causes problems.

And if Bielema is getting information on underclassmen, then he is essentially blowing the whistle on NFL GMs as well.

Not only is he falsifying the relationship between agent and player, but he is jeopardizing GMs who may have done nothing of the sort.

Navigating the path to the NFL is never easy, especially if the player is opting to leave college early.

When it comes down to who the players should trust more, there is no easy answer. Coaches like Bielema who are giving out wrong information, or Todd Graham, who just pulled his second one-and-done stint at an NCAA program and told his players he was leaving via text message, don't offer players much reason to trust them.

And agents, well, it is hard to say if they ever have a player's best interest at heart, but they are going to work their hardest to make the most money.

Unfortunately, if and when an underclassman wants to leave for the pros, the only person he can trust is himself.