- Think high school players choose colleges based on the heartstrings pull of ol' State U.
- Think high school players choose colleges based on who wins and who loses.
- Think high school players choose colleges based on anything other than developing a relationship with a specific coach who they believe can get them to the NFL as quickly as possible.
MORE: NSD: Winners & Losers
"We all might like to think differently, but (the NFL) is clearly at the forefront," says USC coach Steve Sarkisian.
Now maybe it's time to act that way.
Instead of feigning surprise when an elite recruit publicly questions his choice of schools after a coach takes another job before the ink is dry on National Signing Day, maybe the NCAA should take steps to fix the broken process.
Since we're already knee-deep into seismic change within the process of the NCAA governing big time college football (see: fox, meet henhouse), why not capitulate completely? Only this time, considering the changing landscape of the sport and how the NCAA has been forced to become increasingly player-friendly, this move would actually make sense.
If a player signs with a team and the coach (assistant or head coach) who recruited him leaves by choice for another job within 30 days of National Signing Day, the player is automatically released from his scholarship and can sign with any team if he chooses.
That will eliminate the nonsense of waiting until after NSD to announce staff changes. That will prevent Ohio State, Florida, LSU and Miami (and a few other Power 5 teams) from signing players last week then revealing days (or hours) after that their position coach has decided to leave for the NFL.
That will put an end to cases like Mike Weber , an elite recruit from Detroit who got kicked in the gut by the process when Ohio State running backs coach Stan Drayton left for the NFL less than 24 hours after NSD. Weber went public on Twitter to express his feelings about the coach he trusted, the coach he wanted to play for at Ohio State - and how he felt betrayed.
This is news because it's Ohio State; because the Buckeyes are the defending national champions and because coach Urban Meyer - how can we say this? - coincidentally had the exact same thing happen a year after he won his first national title at Florida.
Then Gators co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison waited until after signing day to announce he was leaving for the NFL's Ravens - and leaving the then linchpin of the Gators' class, 5-star defensive tackle Omar Hunter, whom he personally recruited.
SABAN VS. CALIPARI: Which coach builds it better?
Just because it happens all the time - elite 5-star recruits Tyron Johnson (LSU) and CeCe Jefferson (Florida) also had their recruiters/position coaches leave last week after NSD - doesn't mean it's right. Besides, it's not like change would damage the amateur ideal.
By agreeing to pay players an additional stipend (the NCAA calls it "full cost of attendance"); by eventually allowing players to market their name and likeness and putting the money in a savings account until they leave school (that's happening next), the NCAA has all but publicly admitted football is a separate entity of the educational process.
This reality happened long ago, long before we ever heard of Ed O'Bannon's desire to humiliate himself on the witness stand or Johnny Manziel selling his signature for money (North Carolina academic fraud investigation.
By ignoring this NSD issue that must be addressed; by continuing to prevent players from transferring without the threat of sitting out a season when the head coach they chose to play for can leave for another job without ramifications, the NCAA has been practicing a form of roster control for decades.
In the NFL, they call this the franchise tag. Of one player.
In college football, all 85 players are tagged from the moment they sign their national letter of intent.
You might be living in a Pollyanna world if you think that's fair.
- Think high school players choose colleges based on who wins and who loses.
- Think high school players choose colleges based on anything other than developing a relationship with a specific coach who they believe can get them to the NFL as quickly as possible.
MORE: NSD: Winners & Losers
"We all might like to think differently, but (the NFL) is clearly at the forefront," says USC coach Steve Sarkisian.
Now maybe it's time to act that way.
Instead of feigning surprise when an elite recruit publicly questions his choice of schools after a coach takes another job before the ink is dry on National Signing Day, maybe the NCAA should take steps to fix the broken process.
Since we're already knee-deep into seismic change within the process of the NCAA governing big time college football (see: fox, meet henhouse), why not capitulate completely? Only this time, considering the changing landscape of the sport and how the NCAA has been forced to become increasingly player-friendly, this move would actually make sense.
If a player signs with a team and the coach (assistant or head coach) who recruited him leaves by choice for another job within 30 days of National Signing Day, the player is automatically released from his scholarship and can sign with any team if he chooses.
That will eliminate the nonsense of waiting until after NSD to announce staff changes. That will prevent Ohio State, Florida, LSU and Miami (and a few other Power 5 teams) from signing players last week then revealing days (or hours) after that their position coach has decided to leave for the NFL.
That will put an end to cases like Mike Weber , an elite recruit from Detroit who got kicked in the gut by the process when Ohio State running backs coach Stan Drayton left for the NFL less than 24 hours after NSD. Weber went public on Twitter to express his feelings about the coach he trusted, the coach he wanted to play for at Ohio State - and how he felt betrayed.
This is news because it's Ohio State; because the Buckeyes are the defending national champions and because coach Urban Meyer - how can we say this? - coincidentally had the exact same thing happen a year after he won his first national title at Florida.
Then Gators co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison waited until after signing day to announce he was leaving for the NFL's Ravens - and leaving the then linchpin of the Gators' class, 5-star defensive tackle Omar Hunter, whom he personally recruited.
SABAN VS. CALIPARI: Which coach builds it better?
Just because it happens all the time - elite 5-star recruits Tyron Johnson (LSU) and CeCe Jefferson (Florida) also had their recruiters/position coaches leave last week after NSD - doesn't mean it's right. Besides, it's not like change would damage the amateur ideal.
By agreeing to pay players an additional stipend (the NCAA calls it "full cost of attendance"); by eventually allowing players to market their name and likeness and putting the money in a savings account until they leave school (that's happening next), the NCAA has all but publicly admitted football is a separate entity of the educational process.
This reality happened long ago, long before we ever heard of Ed O'Bannon's desire to humiliate himself on the witness stand or Johnny Manziel selling his signature for money (North Carolina academic fraud investigation.
By ignoring this NSD issue that must be addressed; by continuing to prevent players from transferring without the threat of sitting out a season when the head coach they chose to play for can leave for another job without ramifications, the NCAA has been practicing a form of roster control for decades.
In the NFL, they call this the franchise tag. Of one player.
In college football, all 85 players are tagged from the moment they sign their national letter of intent.
You might be living in a Pollyanna world if you think that's fair.
