2014 National Signing Day Drama

I'm going to be honest here: the off season for college football is an incredibly boring one. Following the Championship Game, there is usually a few days of excitement, with coaches being fired and hired, players transferring schools, and announcements of going pro. Problem is, once you hit the middle part of January, all that news and excitement begins to die down. The focus shifts away from the results of the last season to the preparation for next year. However, there is one day in the cold, dreary month of February where the teams come out from hibernation and put college football back onto the front page of the news. Every first Wednesday of February, thousands of young men and women sign National Letters of Intents to play sports at the collegiate level. For college football, this means an 11 hour televised event of all the major college announcements from the top recruits.

Oh look, 4 more weeks without football

Due to a favorable class schedule and desire to sit aimlessly on my couch for hours on end, I decided to spend my day watching kids decide where the are going to spend the next few years of their lives (read: becoming jealous of the fact that they have accomplished more in their life in 17 or 18 years than I have in 21). So, here are my winners and losers of National Signing Day:

Winners:

1) Alabama

Say what you want about Nick Saban, the man knows how to recruit. For the third year in a row, Alabama has had the top recruiting class in college football, bringing 27 stellar athletes into the program. Of those 27, 19 are in ESPN 300 rankings, which ranks the 300 best high school football players in the current graduating class. What really sets this recruiting class apart is the fact that Alabama was able to strengthen areas that had been weaker last season (read: the secondary and the offensive line). Recruits such as Cameron Robinson and Da'Shawn Hand will make immediate impacts for this Crimson Tide team that ended the 2013 campaign on a sour note. To make things even sweeter, Saban was able to steal a top recruit from a rival (see "Losers" below) Roll Tide!

Some say the Devil wears Crimson

2) USC

Shout out to my professor, Dr. Usher, on this one. This was one of the bigger surprises of signing day, as the Trojans were able to secure 19 recruits on Signing Day, putting them in 14th place in terms of their recruiting class. Hands down the biggest splash of the day came when highly touted Cornerback Adoree' Jackson decided to forgo Alabama and rival UCLA and decided to attend USC next fall. In one of the more bizarre announcements I have ever seen, Jackson surprised the nation and decided join new coach Steve Sarkisian in rebuilding a proud USC program. Other big signings include Damien Mama, the #4 Offensive Guard in the nation, who will help add girth and strength to the line. Even with the scholarship restrictions, USC looks poised to rebuild and reclaim its spot as a dominant program in college football.

Losers: 

1) Auburn

While rival Alabama had a field day on Signing Day, Auburn looked as if it never got an invitation. As a whole, the Auburn recruiting class is a solid one, ranked number 8 in the nation. However, the big story of the day was Rashaan Evans' decision to attend rival Alabama. Evans lives in the town of Auburn, Alabama and was widely believed to stay local for the next four years of college. Instead, he jumped ship and left a lot of Auburn fans with a sour taste in their mouths. To make matters worse, it was discovered that prior to Evans' announcement, Auburn had placed him on their athletics page as the poster child of their recruiting class. To make matters even worse, one of their 4-Star recruits was arrested over the weekend for marijuana possession with the intent to sell. Not the best PR for the team. In the end, the 2014 Signing Day will remembered more for what Auburn lost over what they gained.

I would put this down as a social media blunder

2) Oregon

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Over the past few seasons, the Oregon Ducks have been at the peak of college football standings, constantly winning and bringing explosive young talent to Eugene, Oregon. This year however, the Ducks didn't make quite the slash that they were hoping for (see what I did there?). The Ducks came in at 27th place in terms of their recruiting class, with only 2 recruits in the ESPN 300 rankings. With USC making big splash moves, I worry about Oregon's ability to compete at a higher level in the coming seasons. 

Conference which had the best day: SEC

7 of the Top 10 recruiting classes are teams within the SEC.  Look forward to continued dominance by the SEC.

Conference which had the worst day: Big 12

For a conference that is looking to rebuild, the Big 12 did not do a great job of recruiting top talent this year. No teams in the top 10 recruiting classes and no big name players were signed with Big 12 teams. Sorry Coach Strong, looks like your rebuilding may start next year.


With Signing Day over, we can now all go back to our quiet off season, quietly waiting until spring practice begins. Damn you Punxsutawney Phil.  

5 Star Recruit, 5 Star PR Problems

This past week, I was asked to answer a simple question in my Social Media course at GW. The question: what is social media? Among some of the answers offered by myself and my classmates, one posted by Michelle Edelman stood out in particular. "Social media gives voice to everyone with access to the internet. This allows us to gain exposure to an abundance of information but also gives those, with not such great things to say, a voice as well." It is the last part of that answer that has stuck with me. We all have that friend who posts things online that should never see the light of day, things that would make any parent or potential future employer squirm in their chairs. Thankfully, these messages are usually limited to the few amount of followers or friends they have online. However, there are a select few who are graced with not only a large online audience, but a lack of a filter as well. Prime example of this group: college football players.

Don't post that photo from Friday night!

Now, I am not saying that all college football players are dangerous on social media. I am currently friends with a number of college athletes via Facebook and Twitter and have never seen a truly cringe worthy post. However, when it comes to social media gaffs, it seems that a few rotten apples (in this case, young men who are oblivious to how their words and actions will affect others) have spoiled social media for the group as a whole. Even worse, when these gems catch the eye of a reader, 11 times out a 10, the post will end up making its way into a sports news report in front of a national audience. 

Here is a recent example: Jayru Campbell is a 4-star recruit who had recently received a scholarship to play at Michigan State next year. Michigan State is coming off one of its best seasons in school history, going 13-1 and winning the Rose Bowl. With that success comes intense media focus on the team, including its new recruits. So, when a video of Jayru throwing a school security officer to the floor surfaced earlier this week, the video quickly went viral and made its way onto national newswires. For all we know, this could have been sparked by a set of freak circumstances and we may not be able to see all sides of the story. Maybe Jayru is not completely at fault for the incident. Regardless, in the eyes of the viewers, Jayru comes off as a unstable, emotional young man, one who may not be able to handle all of the pressures of being a starting quarterback and leader of a prominent football program.  Comments across the Internet call for Michigan State to revoke Jayru's scholarship. Just goes to show you how quickly one post online, even if you are not the one who posted, can ruin a life. 

Unfortunately, Jayru is not the only one who has generated a bad image for himself via social media. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Johnny Manziel has made himself "the bad boy of college football" with his off field antics. Photos of Manziel at a Texas fraternity party or drinking at the bar with his mom have been mercilessly dissected on national news programs including ESPN. While this may look like harmless college fun to some, others have taken note of Manziel's actions. There are some executives in the NFL that have some reservations about adding Manziel to their team this year due in large part to his off field issues. Regardless of his talent, Manziel can't outrun, out pass, or out perform his negative social media image.

So what can we do to help these young men clean up their social media lives? Do we limit their social media use, potentially banning it altogether? While that has been done by other teams, it does seem a little bit Orwellian. One remedy is the growing trend of introducing a "Process" into the lifestyle of the team, one that holds the players accountable for their actions with a zero-tolerance party. It seems that new Texas coach Charlie Strong has begun to install his own version of the Process into the Texas football community. Included in this new vision for the Longhorns includes a list of rules and expectations for all of the players. Included are rules forcing the players to live in athletic dorms, stricter requirements on class participation, and a stronger policy against drugs and alcohol. All of this comes with a zero-tolerance policy. The goal of this program is to not only bring the focus of the team back on playing and winning football games, but to also make the players more well rounded individuals. I can only imagine that as part of this new code of conduct, the social media presence of each player is a keystone issue that needs to be addressed. I am excited to see how well this program functions, both on and offline. I believe that Coach Strong has the ability to bring a well rounded and winning football team to Texas, one that makes noise on the field, but remains silent off the field. 

Like I said, not all college football players have this problem with social media. Unfortunately, it is the vocal minority that becomes the face of the majority. So, regardless of whether you are an athlete or just a spectator like myself, be mindful of what you post. And please, don't post those pictures of me taking down the school security officer. I can't afford to let the NFL scouts see that. 

Goodbye NFL dreams