Post by Bornthrilla on Feb 10, 2007 20:03:48 GMT -5
www.bluedeathvalley.com/turner_2_10_07.html
National Signing Day: An Unqualified Maybe
By Craig R. Turner
Bluedeathvalley.com
Date: Feb. 10, 2007
Well, the big day has come and gone for most of the top prep and junior college football prospects to sign national letters of intent with the colleges of their choice. The landscape is probably somewhat clearer than it was this time a week ago.
I glanced around the league during the last couple of days, trying to assess the recruiting class of not only North Carolina A&T, but of its conference foes as well. They were peppered with their share of the so-called four and five-star rated athletes who the online internet recruiting services tout as “can’t-miss” prospects. I’ve read newspaper after newspaper and called contacts on both the high school and college level to make sense of all the chaos and madness that takes place every first Wednesday in February.
Before I even start to try to evaluate A&T’s success or failure with a recruiting class, let’s talk about what National Signing Day really means in the grand scheme of things: not much in the short term.
Let’s examine a few facts about these “can’t-miss recruits” we as fans seem to covet so very much. The National Football Institute did a little research a while back on the top five recruiting classes in Division One from the year 2002 and tracked them from their signing date back then to where they are now in terms of success on the field.
Did they live up to the expectations? Of all the five-star recruits, on average, only two out of every five were starters for the same school which they originally signed with by their senior seasons. Here’s another little tidbit that might be of interest. Only two of those five actually make it to the NFL draft and only one out of that magical five make a pro football team.
Now here is a shot across the bow of recruiting fanatics and keepers of the golden mouse pads: of the 34 players taken in the first round of the NFL draft, only 12 – you count ‘em - 12 fit that five-star criteria.
Where did the other guys come from? They came in from colleges where they entered without all the Rivals.com hoopla and stars attached to their names and developed over time into pro prospects through hard work, determination, and good coaching.
So when I read and hear about “so-and-so signed this kid” and “they got this many guys with this many stars”, well, you can understand why I view all the recruiting services with cynical eyes. Even if you subscribe to the recruiting service methodology, you have to wonder when you see the amount athletes that are transferring down to D-1AA or Division II especially during the last five years.
The numbers of youngsters moving to a more level playing field is steadily growing because a large portion of these kids who are lured to the BCS programs have dreams that get crushed by the reality that major college football is a business first. And they don’t fit into that landscape. A great many kids simply don’t progress beyond their noon-time high school press conferences and local newspaper snap shots.
Truthfully, any college football coach worth his salt will tell you to come back in year three after a signing date, then you can truly evaluate how much impact any recruiting class has had in helping a program reach success. And despite all the glitz and glamour of signing day, classes should be measured initially on whether you met your most pressing needs and got the help you needed immediately. Once you have those urgent gaps filled, then a coach can begin to start red-shirting players so they can mature mentally and develop physically.
So why is Nation Signing Day such a big deal? Well its great PR for the fans. It creates a buzz among your fan base, gets the faithful fired up for spring football practice, and the press guys use it as an opportunity to see who can out blog the other guy and spin things for his favorite team’s propaganda machine.
So what does it all mean? Nothing much for about two years or so.
Conference rivals stock up
I looked at Bethune-Cookman and the South Carolina State who signed 30 players apiece, which exceeds the NCAA limit of a maximum of 25 within one year. I pondered the likes of FAMU, Hampton and Morgan State who did not go quite as high in numbers, but went after the big named athletes in their areas and found some success in wooing them in.
Obviously B-CC and SCSU tried to sign the planet earth, knowing that 30 signees is really just about trying to beat the odds against non-qualifiers. Over signing athletes to letters of intent while already anticipating substantial attrition from the outset because of non-qualifying test scores seems like a disservice to these kids.
It makes me pause to ask questions about the motives of coaches who use this practice. Is it because they feel they have to sign these borderline cases and hope they get themselves straight by clearinghouse time, or are they signing them to keep them out of the hands of possible rivals at a later date if they do indeed become a late qualifier?
Either way it raises an ethical question as to whether you as a coach are being honest with a young man and his family in what you are telling them. Or, are you just being self-serving by covering your flanks from the competition? You be the judge.
Quality over quanity
Coach Lee Fobbs took a step or two in getting the North Carolina A&T football program back on the road to respectability in the not too distant future.
He had the early signing of a number of very promising offensive line prospects, a couple of high speed breakaway backfield threats to assist incumbent tailback Mike Ferguson and a truck-load of speed in the secondary which should allow the Aggies to man up in coverage and to bring pressure.
Additional help is needed along the defensive front and Fobbs assured the crowd of some 300-plus rabid supporters last Wednesday night at A&T’s first annual Signing Day party, that help was on the way. He said that he and his staff have made some personnel movements to address the front line run defense which was so poor a year. He also explained that he was no way satisfied with his kicking game from a year ago and they are in the hunt for a exceptional place kicker/punter/kickoff specialist who could do all three proficiently.
The Aggies did not bring in a quarterback this year, missing out on Rodney Cox (ECU signee) but it may not be necessary with the rapid off-season development of red shirt freshman Shelton Morgan (6-2, 202) from Elizabeth City. Morgan has grabbed the eyes of the coaches with his speed, running ability and throwing accuracy on the run.
Morgan isn’t the only red-shirt who will impact spring practice. Kelvin Jackson (6-5, 315), a former all-state performer from Gulf Port, MS is moving from offensive guard to defensive tackle. Morgan Vincent (6-1,268) will also be heard from as well from one of the pass rush end spots. Former Shrine Bowler and All-State selection Quantres Grant (6-0,225) could be the surprise player among the young crop of linebackers returning.
Big things are also expected from a trio of big physical wide receivers Lavonte Kendrick (6-2, 195), Vernon White (6-2, 200) and Cedric Byrd (6-4, 215) to help the Aggies main go to man, senior Andre Garth.
No, the Aggies aren’t going to make a championship run or anything close to that, but they are beginning to put the elements in place to become competitive again within the MEAC. Having a respectful season should be in within their reach in 2007.
Spring practice this year should really be interesting.
National Signing Day: An Unqualified Maybe
By Craig R. Turner
Bluedeathvalley.com
Date: Feb. 10, 2007
Well, the big day has come and gone for most of the top prep and junior college football prospects to sign national letters of intent with the colleges of their choice. The landscape is probably somewhat clearer than it was this time a week ago.
I glanced around the league during the last couple of days, trying to assess the recruiting class of not only North Carolina A&T, but of its conference foes as well. They were peppered with their share of the so-called four and five-star rated athletes who the online internet recruiting services tout as “can’t-miss” prospects. I’ve read newspaper after newspaper and called contacts on both the high school and college level to make sense of all the chaos and madness that takes place every first Wednesday in February.
Before I even start to try to evaluate A&T’s success or failure with a recruiting class, let’s talk about what National Signing Day really means in the grand scheme of things: not much in the short term.
Let’s examine a few facts about these “can’t-miss recruits” we as fans seem to covet so very much. The National Football Institute did a little research a while back on the top five recruiting classes in Division One from the year 2002 and tracked them from their signing date back then to where they are now in terms of success on the field.
Did they live up to the expectations? Of all the five-star recruits, on average, only two out of every five were starters for the same school which they originally signed with by their senior seasons. Here’s another little tidbit that might be of interest. Only two of those five actually make it to the NFL draft and only one out of that magical five make a pro football team.
Now here is a shot across the bow of recruiting fanatics and keepers of the golden mouse pads: of the 34 players taken in the first round of the NFL draft, only 12 – you count ‘em - 12 fit that five-star criteria.
Where did the other guys come from? They came in from colleges where they entered without all the Rivals.com hoopla and stars attached to their names and developed over time into pro prospects through hard work, determination, and good coaching.
So when I read and hear about “so-and-so signed this kid” and “they got this many guys with this many stars”, well, you can understand why I view all the recruiting services with cynical eyes. Even if you subscribe to the recruiting service methodology, you have to wonder when you see the amount athletes that are transferring down to D-1AA or Division II especially during the last five years.
The numbers of youngsters moving to a more level playing field is steadily growing because a large portion of these kids who are lured to the BCS programs have dreams that get crushed by the reality that major college football is a business first. And they don’t fit into that landscape. A great many kids simply don’t progress beyond their noon-time high school press conferences and local newspaper snap shots.
Truthfully, any college football coach worth his salt will tell you to come back in year three after a signing date, then you can truly evaluate how much impact any recruiting class has had in helping a program reach success. And despite all the glitz and glamour of signing day, classes should be measured initially on whether you met your most pressing needs and got the help you needed immediately. Once you have those urgent gaps filled, then a coach can begin to start red-shirting players so they can mature mentally and develop physically.
So why is Nation Signing Day such a big deal? Well its great PR for the fans. It creates a buzz among your fan base, gets the faithful fired up for spring football practice, and the press guys use it as an opportunity to see who can out blog the other guy and spin things for his favorite team’s propaganda machine.
So what does it all mean? Nothing much for about two years or so.
Conference rivals stock up
I looked at Bethune-Cookman and the South Carolina State who signed 30 players apiece, which exceeds the NCAA limit of a maximum of 25 within one year. I pondered the likes of FAMU, Hampton and Morgan State who did not go quite as high in numbers, but went after the big named athletes in their areas and found some success in wooing them in.
Obviously B-CC and SCSU tried to sign the planet earth, knowing that 30 signees is really just about trying to beat the odds against non-qualifiers. Over signing athletes to letters of intent while already anticipating substantial attrition from the outset because of non-qualifying test scores seems like a disservice to these kids.
It makes me pause to ask questions about the motives of coaches who use this practice. Is it because they feel they have to sign these borderline cases and hope they get themselves straight by clearinghouse time, or are they signing them to keep them out of the hands of possible rivals at a later date if they do indeed become a late qualifier?
Either way it raises an ethical question as to whether you as a coach are being honest with a young man and his family in what you are telling them. Or, are you just being self-serving by covering your flanks from the competition? You be the judge.
Quality over quanity
Coach Lee Fobbs took a step or two in getting the North Carolina A&T football program back on the road to respectability in the not too distant future.
He had the early signing of a number of very promising offensive line prospects, a couple of high speed breakaway backfield threats to assist incumbent tailback Mike Ferguson and a truck-load of speed in the secondary which should allow the Aggies to man up in coverage and to bring pressure.
Additional help is needed along the defensive front and Fobbs assured the crowd of some 300-plus rabid supporters last Wednesday night at A&T’s first annual Signing Day party, that help was on the way. He said that he and his staff have made some personnel movements to address the front line run defense which was so poor a year. He also explained that he was no way satisfied with his kicking game from a year ago and they are in the hunt for a exceptional place kicker/punter/kickoff specialist who could do all three proficiently.
The Aggies did not bring in a quarterback this year, missing out on Rodney Cox (ECU signee) but it may not be necessary with the rapid off-season development of red shirt freshman Shelton Morgan (6-2, 202) from Elizabeth City. Morgan has grabbed the eyes of the coaches with his speed, running ability and throwing accuracy on the run.
Morgan isn’t the only red-shirt who will impact spring practice. Kelvin Jackson (6-5, 315), a former all-state performer from Gulf Port, MS is moving from offensive guard to defensive tackle. Morgan Vincent (6-1,268) will also be heard from as well from one of the pass rush end spots. Former Shrine Bowler and All-State selection Quantres Grant (6-0,225) could be the surprise player among the young crop of linebackers returning.
Big things are also expected from a trio of big physical wide receivers Lavonte Kendrick (6-2, 195), Vernon White (6-2, 200) and Cedric Byrd (6-4, 215) to help the Aggies main go to man, senior Andre Garth.
No, the Aggies aren’t going to make a championship run or anything close to that, but they are beginning to put the elements in place to become competitive again within the MEAC. Having a respectful season should be in within their reach in 2007.
Spring practice this year should really be interesting.
