This forum is hosted for free by Boardhost. Create your own free forum!
1 of 1- oldretiredguy
- Moderator
Offline 
- Registered: 12/29/2019
- Posts: 2,262
A note on recruiting
So not many commits, and some decommitments also. It's a way different ballgame right now. Some schools, like U$C, are paying big bucks before the house settlement kicks in, and there are also kids now wanting "perks", like housing, a car, plane tickets for their families to come to games, etc. Right now, it is just crazy. My feeling is Oregon is prioritizing the kids on the roster, which is loaded. Coach Lanning also appears to be going after a lot of 5 star kids at this point, with several of them on campus this weekend. I still believe we will see a top 10 class, maybe top 5, but it seems Ducks are not willing to make their best offer in June. We shall see; for me this wild west crap is getting old.
- Jiffy Jeff
- Member
Offline
- From: Sherwood, OR
- Registered: 12/30/2019
- Posts: 596
Re: A note on recruiting
The reality is that you have teenagers who have never seen wealth and even more significantly, lower and middle class parents that are now pretending to be high powered sports agents all rolled up into playing silly games with NIL collectives and by proxy, athletic programs at these universities. Coaches are now rebuilding their rosters after every season, recruiting their own players to stay and filling holes with free agents and luring HS players to come. Recruiting now is a joke. So what if you miss on the 5* star guy out of HS? He may end up transferring anyway in a year or two to your program. Or, he sucks at this level and you dodged a bullet. There is no longer a Top 10 class ranking worth much because there is no developing that class over 3-4 seasons. If a player doesn't play right away or is redshirted, they might just transfer out the next season. The end result, though, is parity. Blue bloods have fallen off and upstarts are breaking thru. All a coach really needs is lightning in a bottle for a year with the right combo of players who gel. Then next year it starts again, but at least a program like Kansas or Tulane has a major trophy in the case.
I agree it is old. And fan interest wanes. The product has suffered and will continue to do so. Then, butts won't renew tix and fill seats. And then it becomes sparsely attended games in a sport propped up with TV deals and sponsorships, not loyal fanbases...
- Phil
- Administrator
Offline
- Registered: 12/29/2019
- Posts: 2,080
Re: A note on recruiting
I've been pretty checked out on following the offseason. It did seem like things seemed abnormally slow so thanks for posting the reason.
It's hard to keep up with the constant changes and legal issues. It's kind of like if Goodell and the NFL governing body stepped down and teams tried to do as they pleased with pay and realigning conferences.
The uncertainty is part of the turnoff. The real thing that bothers me is the other sports besides football that have to travel because of football realignment for money purposes.
I'm probably less bothered than a number of people about players getting paid. The top players have been getting paid behind closed doors for ages. With the crazy amount of money being made by the players I'm fine with it. The lack of rules and free for all about it all certainly leaves something to be desired.
As JJ mentioned the excessive player movement with guys transferring out if they don't start their rookie season is getting out of hand.
All the negatives makes following recruiting a lot less enjoyable. The on the field level of play was still really enjoyable to me. Hopefully I'll be able to get into it this fall again. The expanded playoff, which included a number of teams that weren't the typical bluebloods was a good thing for the sport. Can the positives balance out the negatives though? Time will tell if enough fans will stick around. As some have suggested this really is a pro league, which conflicts with what should be the priorities of a college should be. On a side note I moved to a smaller town recently and am looking forward to walking a half mile to check out the high schools football team on Friday nights.
Tweet