NCAA Football's Signing Day: What Is The Big Deal?
College football's "signing day" is a joke. It doesn't really mean all that much, does it
Last year Terrell Pryor, one of the biggest prospects in the nation made a ego-boosting move and waited to sign until cameras were focused on him. He then picked the hat of the college he would sign with - in this case, Ohio State.
And Pryor isn't the only high school star doing this. These kids are just that - kids, until they make a name for themselves on the field.
Let's get rid of the media coverage and hoopla that goes with a person signing a piece of paper. This "event" also puts more pressure on these players to perform well.
I don't mind commentators talking about recruiting classes during football games, but please, let them just play the game with no distractions.
Let these kids be kids.
Copyright (c) 2009 Bleacher Report, Inc
Gillette's Bruce commits to Wyoming
CHEYENNE -- Gillette's Spencer Bruce changed his mind and will play football at the University of Wyoming.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pounds Bruce verbally committed to the Cowboys over the weekend after he made and official visit. Bruce originally committed to Southern Mississippi.
Bruce was a First Team All-State Class 5A pick for state champion Gillette as a defensive end and receiver. He will play defensive end at UW.
Bruce joins Green River safety Andrew Meredith (5-11, 176) as in-state recruits verbally committed to UW. However, Meredith will walk-on to the team. Bruce will be given a scholarship.
Verbal commitments are non-binding. NCAA rules prohibit college coaches from talking to the media about recruits until they have signed their national letters of intent. Signing day is Wednesday.
UW also got a verbal commitment from receiver Chris McNeill (6-0, 170) from Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He also visited UW last weekend.
McNeill has 4.48-second speed in the 40-yard dash, and caught 41 passes for 806 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior. He also carried the ball 13 times for 99 yards. He is listed as a two-star recruit by Scout.com.
He was an All-Sierra League pick as a senior, and also was named his team's most valuable player.
According to ESPN.com, McNeill also was recruited by Arizona, Arizona State, UNLV and New Mexico State.
Offensive lineman Thomas Vonashek (6-9, 280) from Brunswick, Ga., also verbally committed to UW over the weekend.
The Cowboys have 20 verbal commitments and one junior-college signee -- quarterback Robert Benjamin (6-2, 205). He will enroll in school this fall.
UW has two scholarships still available in this year's class.
2009 UW Football Recruiting
Signees (will enroll this fall)
-- Robert Benjamin, QB, 6-2, 205), Phoenix, Ariz. (Phoenix CC)
Verbal commitments
-- Alvester Alexander, RB, (5-101/2, 205), Houston (C.E. King HS)
-- Kenny Browder, CB, (5-10, 170), Round Rock, Texas (Stony Point HS)
-- Spencer Bruce, DE, (6-5, 215), Gillette (Campbell County HS)
-- Austyn Carta-Samuels, QB, (6-1, 210), San Jose, Calif. (Bellarmine Prep)
-- Scott Criss, OL, (6-41/2, 250), Omaha, Neb. (Creighton Prep)
-- Shamiel Gary, S, 6-1, 205, Tulsa, Okla. (Booker T. Washington HS)
-- Devyn Harris, LB, 6-3, 195, Fountain, Colo. (Fountain-Fort Carson HS)
-- Rodney Jaynes, WR, (6-4, 205), Chicago (Hales Fransican HS)
-- Todd Knight, LB, 6-2, 200, Aurora, Colo. (Grandview HS)
-- Trendt Marsom, S, 6-0, 195, Mililani, Hawaii (Kaimuki HS)
-- Chris McNeill, WR, 6-0, 180), Sherman Oaks, Calif. (Notre Dame HS)
-- Larry Mitchell, S, (6-2, 180), Fort Worth, Texas (North Crowley HS)
-- Ghaali Muhammed, ATH, (6-0, 210), St. Joseph's Mo. (Central HS)
-- Michael Purcell, DL, 6-3, 260, Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch HS)
-- Jeff Roueche, LB, 6-3, 205, Niwot, Colo. (Niwot HS)
-- Luke Ruff, S, 5-11, 190, Castle Rock, Colo. (Douglas County HS)
-- T.J. Smith, TE, 6-3, 220, Tulsa, Okla. (Booker T. Washington HS)
-- David Tooley, TE, 6-5, 200, Moberly, Mo. (Moberly HS)
-- Thomas Vonashek, OL, 6-9, 280), Brunswick, Ga. (Glynn Academy)
-- Mark Willis, DL, (6-4, 230), Oak Park, Ill. (River Forest HS)
Copyright (c) 2009 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
Sooners land commitment from receiver
Oklahoma needs help at receiver, and the Sooners have landed a commmitment. World columnist Dave Sittler has written a blog about it. Here it is:
OU lands big-time receiver; not looking at QB
Sam Bradford can apparently recruit as well as play quarterback. And his decision to return to Oklahoma next season instead of turning pro is his best selling point for the Sooners.
Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, visited with Cameron Kenney when the junior college wide receiver made his official recruiting visit to Oklahoma two weeks ago. OU has several wide-receiver spots open with seniors Manny Johnson, Juaquin Iglesias and Quentin Chaney on their way out. So the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Kenney was high on the Sooners' wish list.
Kenney, who had 83 receptions for 1,193 yards in two seasons at Garden City (Kan.) Community College, had committed to Auburn. But he reopened the process when Tigers' coach Tommy Tuberville was fired.
South Carolina, OU and Georgia all entered the picture. Kenney a native of Dacula, Ga., was the Bulldogs' No. 1 target at wide receiver. After visiting Georgia this weekend, Kenney informed coach Mark Richt that he had decided to sign with the Sooners.
Kenney is a huge get for coach Bob Stoops. Kenney said at the time of his visit that he wanted to go to a team with an established quarterback. Georgia junior quarterback Matthew Stafford is leaving school early for the NFL Draft, while Bradford has announced that he will play for the Sooners in 2009.
In other OU recruiting news, a Sooners source confirmed that Stoops is not recruiting former Miami (Fla.) quarterback Robert Marve. Some Florida media outlets have reported that Stoops may have an interest in Marve.
Those reports claimed that Stoops had already contacted Marve about transferring to OU. But an excellent source said Stoops, "has not had any contact with (Marve), those reports are absolutely false. They (Sooners) like the quarterbacks they have."
Copyright (c) 2009, World Publishing Co
Congressman plans hearings on BCS in effort to force playoff
WASHINGTON -- The incoming chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said Wednesday that he will hold hearings and possibly subpoena NCAA officials, college presidents, players, coaches and athletics directors in effort to force a playoff in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
"I think you really do not get a true No. 1 out of (the Bowl Championship Series)," Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., told USA TODAY. "Nobody questions the Super Bowl. The team that wins is the best team that year. I think we can do the same thing at the college level where once it's over there is no questions about who is No. 1 and who is No. 2."
Towns made his intentions known a week after the college football season ended with Florida as consensus national champion, but not without some controversy, a common occurrence since the BCS began in 1998. Florida beat Oklahoma to win the title, but Southern California and Utah received first-place votes in the Associated Press news media poll. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham broke ranks in the USA TODAY Coaches' Poll and voted his unbeaten Utes No. 1.
"I really feel that you can't leave it as is," Towns said. "Right now, if you ask what the No. 1 team is, a lot of people would say USC. Others would say Texas and if you ask anybody in the state of Utah, they would say their team was the best. I want to get a system that has credibility."
Towns said there's no timetable set, and no letters to appear have been sent out. He's hoping to get cooperation from those involved in the Football Bowl Subdivision but would use subpoena authority if needed.
"The presidents, bowl administrators, commissioners and others who are involved with postseason college football are pleased to work with Congress, as they have on several occasions in the past, and welcome any questions or ideas for improving the system," Dr. David Frohnmayer, University of Oregon president and chair of the BCS' Presidential Oversight Committee, said in a statement.
Towns joins a chorus of elected officials that have called for a playoff in recent weeks, including:
- President-elect Barack Obama. Before the election, he told CBS' 60 Minutes, "I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit" to get a playoff in place.
- Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. The ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said "the BCS method of determining who is No. 1 consistently misfires." He introduced legislation last week to force the sport to adopt a playoff.
- Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii. He and other House members have asked the Justice Department to investigate the BCS and possible antitrust violations.
- Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. He recently launched an investigation into whether the BCS violates federal antitrust laws.
This wouldn't be the first time college football officials would appear before a congressional committee to talk about the BCS. The Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing in January 2006, but that didn't change the format.
The Oversight Committee can't mandate the change by itself; its biggest tool is drawing attention to the subject to sway public opinion or create momentum for a bill. Eric Schickler, a political science professor at the University of California, Berkley, said Towns could refer the matter to a regulatory body like the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Federal Trade Commission and one of those agencies could investigate if the BCS violates antitrust laws.
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the same body that called Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens to testify in recent years about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. Major League Baseball implemented much tighter testing procedures and Clemens is facing a federal investigation into whether he perjured himself as a result.
Towns said he wouldn't be against calling more hearings into the use of the use drugs in sports, but he's more worried about whether younger athletes are using the banned substances. Towns said it may not be popular to tackle these issues, especially during the current financial downturn, but he added "anytime there's something that needs to be reviewed, you do it."
"I tend to think there's so much else going on, like the economy, that will demand their attention, so they won't have time for this," said former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, who attended a forum where Towns spoke at earlier in the day. "I think this is something that colleges will have to figure out together. I'm not sure this is what the public wants Congress to be spending their time on."
Copyright 2009 USA TODAY
2009 could be Bama's year
I remember standing above the north end zone at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama during the Crimson Tide's 1992 SEC Championship game against the Florida Gators thinking that Alabama could beat anybody. I say this because that particular Crimson Tide defense was one of the best I had ever seen. They didn't let me down. After All-American cornerback Antonio Langham stole a Florida pass and returned it for a touchdown to seal the Gator's fate and win the SEC, the big red elephants rolled on down to New Orleans and destroyed Heisman Trophy winner Gino Torretta and his Miami Hurricanes to become the undefeated national champion.
The second year of the Nick Saban era at Alabama was close to perfection as well. The only thing missing against the two "spread" teams that beat Alabama - losses that tainted an otherwise perfect 12-0 regular season - were two or three of the type defensive backs that coach Saban requires to run his style of defense efficiently enough to shut down today's great modern offensive schemes. However, with a 12-win, 2-loss run, a stay of five-plus weeks as the number one football program in the country, and with a large group of even better players on the way, the Tide stands poised to make a reality the prediction that I made when Nick Saban arrived at the Capstone. I said that Alabama would win the national crown in 2009 (Saban's 3rd year). I think it's extremely possible, mainly due to a favorable schedule.
Before you jump down my throat, listen to the experts who command far more respect than I could ever hope to. The Atlanta Constitution's, Tony Barnhart has Alabama ranked 4th in his pre-season poll. ESPN's, Mark May has Bama at #4 as well. In fact, most of the pundits have Alabama in their top five.
Along with a favorable schedule that brings most of Alabama's toughest opponents to Bryant-Denny stadium in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide should sign a top three recruiting class in February and be deeper overall, as well as more talented at every position heading into the Virginia Tech game in Atlanta next fall.
Apparently the national experts are in agreement with my opinion that Nick Saban's teams tend to get perpetually better as his "process" progresses. He will be loading up the stable again on signing day. Alabama fans should look forward to this year's incoming class and next year will be no different. In my opinion, every place Saban coaches ends up with a team chocked-full of great football players. He has a knack for assembling football talent.
For the first time in years, Alabama fans can relax and look forward to next season's opening kick-off. With the Tide program in Coach Saban's hands, the future looks bright and Bama fans can hold their heads high. In two short years under the "Nicktator', Alabama has regained most of the legendary reputation that makes them one of the most respected college football programs in the history of the game.
It's an old cliche, but I'm convinced that "defense really does win championships". Coach Saban, like "Bear" Bryant and Gene Stallings before him, is a master in the art of defense. Alabama's defensive improvement from year one to year two was astounding. I believe year three will be even better, mainly because coach Saban has one of the best defensive minds around. Besides, his NFL type system will lure many great players who have an interest in playing defense at the next level.
After stacking a top-ten and a number-one recruiting class together, as well as a probable top-three group this year, Alabama is no longer rebuilding. When this year's signing class is finished, the Tide will be reloaded. Talent will soon begin to overlap and quality competition during practice will build solid depth at every position, something Alabama hasn't had in a decade.
Once, during the Shula era, after another embarrassing loss to an inferior opponent, I was livid. I told my dad - who was present - that I thought the program was going to remain stuck in mediocrity forever. My father spoke up and told me that as bad as it looks, Alabama would always come back to greatness. At the time I don't think I believed that it would ever be possible again. As usual, Dad was right! In two short years Nick Saban has Bama on the brink. The timing of his arrival was perfect. Saban and Alabama are a perfect union of a championship coach and a school looking for championships.
Copyright (c) 2006-2008 Capstone Report
What is a Ute?
According to the University of Utah Athletics website, the University decided to pay a little respect to the "Utes", an American Indian tribe for which the state of Utah is named. The Utes have inhabited this area of the country for at least 1,000 years.
You might be asking yourself why in the world is "Big John" giving us this history lesson about the Utah Utes? For those of you who have followed the college bowl games this season, we saw this past Saturday the Utes of Utah come down to inhabit the Louisiana Superdome to humiliate the Alabama Crimson Tide 28-17 in the All State Sugar Bowl.
Coach Nick Saban decided to sit All-America left tackle Andre Smith for the game for talking to a NFL agent, and it showed as the Ute defense dominated. I wonder if Smith is still thinking about going pro, or is he going to redeem himself and come back next season?
Bowled Out!
I had the opportunity this college bowl season to attend two of the college bowls. First, I was able to head down to the Big Easy to watch the Southern Miss Golden Eagles take on the Troy Trojans in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, which the Eagles won 30-27.
Some observations I made while at the game included if the Golden Eagles could take the intensity they had in the bowl game, Southern Miss should be competing for the Conference USA crown next season, provided wide receiver DeAndre Brown can recover from the broken leg he suffered during the bowl game.
The second bowl game I attended happened this past Friday when the Rebels of Ole Miss took on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Bruiser and I were in the Media Room in the Omni Mandalay hotel, and all we heard was how the Red Raiders should be playing for the National Championship. I wonder what they are thinking now after the 47-34 shellacking the Rebs gave them.
As far as I can tell for next season in the SEC west, it's anybody's game!
Local Sports Action
There are going to be tons of basketball and soccer in the local area this week for your enjoyment as schools return from the Holiday break. If you haven't seen any of the local teams yet, you should try and make it out to support the youngsters for all the hard work and effort they put in the games.
A Special Request
On the morning of Dec. 31st, 2008, we learned that West Jones athlete and student Will Graves was in a terrible one-vehicle accident on Highway 84 West. His father, Wayne Graves, is the defensive coordinator for the West Jones football team.
From the latest reports, the doctors are saying that Will may never walk again. I strongly believe that through the power of prayer Will Graves will be able to walk again. I'm asking you at whatever point that you are reading this article to put it down for just a minute and pray for Will, the Graves family, the doctors, and the West Jones community to be able to pull through this horrific accident.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Will and the Graves family.
Associated Press content (c) 2008
Masoli earns QB starting role for Ducks
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Masoli will lead the Oregon Ducks into the Holiday Bowl against Oklahoma State on Tuesday - and into next season.
In a program that has featured several years of competition and instability at the position, Masoli has earned the spot, says Ducks coach Mike Bellotti.
"Absolutely," Bellotti said. "He's started nine games now, and his improvement has been monumental in correlation with our success this year."
Masoli came to Oregon after a season at City College of San Francisco, where he led the Rams to the 2007 national junior college title.
At one point as Ducks began work on this season, he was No. 5 on the depth chart.
But that changed, beginning with injuries to quarterbacks Nate Costa and Justin Roper. The Ducks began looking to Masoli, and many began asking how he pronounces his name. It's maw-SOH-lee.
Masoli himself took a hit against Boise State and suffered a concussion. But he came back the next week to lead Oregon over Washington State 63-14, and has started every game since.
The 15th-ranked Ducks meet No. 13 Oklahoma State at 5 p.m. Tuesday at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium. It will be on a grass field, and its condition is a concern for Bellotti.
The Poinsettia Bowl was played there last Tuesday, and San Diego and Denver played an NFL game there Sunday night. There's been rare rain in San Diego over the last week.
"I know the rain and the damage that the games probably did," Bellotti said. "I assume that they're doing everything they can and the (dry) weather is going to help a great deal."
The forecast for game day calls for sunny skies, temperatures in the 60s and no precipitation.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press
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