HAS COLLEGE FOOTBALL RECRUITING BECOME WAY TOO MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING?
College recruiting has given us another reason to point a television camera at the sideline during a football game.
During the fourth quarter of Sunday's Under Armour All-America high school all-star game in Orlando, ESPN cameras cut to Atlanta's Branden Smith sitting behind a glass coffee table, on which were caps with the logos of his final four college choices.
With family members behind him, the 5-star-rated cornerback from Washington High removed the caps of Alabama, Florida and Florida State before putting on the red-and-black of Georgia. Smith's "national TV commitment" - as some in the recruiting world call it - was greeted with cheers and hugs and included an interview on why he chose the Bulldogs.
Five other live announcements were made during the game. Each time, the action on the field gave way to a player doing similar things with his own collection of caps.
It's the latest result of the hoopla that is college football recruiting, and it's being greeted with tears of joy and furrowed eyebrows.
"I turn that stuff off. I can't stand it," Brookwood High football coach Mark Crews said of the live in-game commitments on TV. "Football is and always has been a team game ... but the idea that you take one person and you make him out to be better than others, I don't like that.
"To me that sort of belittles the team-oriented part of the game. It's fueling that fire that it's all about "me.' "
"I love it," said Westlake linebacker Dearco Nolan, one of the AJC's Georgia 150 prospects, who has SEC and ACC schools among his suitors. "It shows that hard work pays off."
College football recruiting has its own season, which ends on national signing day on Feb. 4; its own fans, who plunk down millions for online subscriptions and spend hours tracking where the blue chips will fall, and its own place firmly planted in the American sports landscape.
It has become so important (although it's mostly conjecture because nobody really knows which celebrity high school stars will make it at the next level) that some prodigies are recruited before their first kiss. Earlier this year, the University of Hawaii scored a verbal commitment from a 13-year-old.
Some companies offer recruiting services that promise getting a kid noticed by college coaches for a fee that can be more than $1,000.
And the media - newspapers (including the AJC), dozens of Web sites and the TV sports giants - chronicle every step, as if high school football is only a precursor to signing a scholarship.
Some say this is overblown silliness that's out of control and caters only to the top players while leaving the less talented players behind. Others figure it's all good if it means more attention devoted to high school football.
"I think it depends on the maturity of the kids. Some handle it pretty well, but you've got to keep a level head," said North Cobb coach Shane Queen, who coached his own top talent, defensive tackle Derrick Lott, a Georgia commitment. "I would like to think it's a good thing, but again it comes down to the maturity of the kids. It's getting crazy on the Internet. Kids get on the Web sites and read about themselves. But you've got to keep it in perspective. It's all projections on how a kid will do in college."
"I don't think it's too much," Douglass coach Kenneth Barrow said. "What I like about it is it gives kids a chance to go to school and get a degree and have a chance to play college football."
Crews, who has had more than 20 of his players sign scholarships the past two seasons and will have another handful this year, gets the idea that attention can be a good thing for high school football. He's concerned, however, about where it's headed. He noted an e-mail he received in which a group was promoting an elite youth football camp, costing $600, that will showcase some of the best sixth- and seventh-grade players.
"You see where it's headed?" he asked.
TOO MUCH TOO SOON?
So the question: Has recruiting gone over the top? Here's what some had to say:
Mickey Conn, Grayson coach
"I think the more exposure for these kids, the better. ... The only thing I disagree with is a lot of major colleges are taking commitments from juniors, maybe even sophomores. I feel like some kids develop as seniors, and there may not be enough scholarship money left. I think some kids are being overlooked because of it."
Dearco Nolan, Westlake linebacker
"I don't think it's too much attention. It shows that hard work pays off. To me, it's good for the game of football to show other young men that if you work hard you can be in this position."
Corey Jarvis, M.L. King coach
"I think it makes the job for us to promote the lesser-known players a little harder [because of so much attention on the elite players]. Sometimes those players get overlooked. ... To me, I think it has worked against those in-between types of kids. I don't know if I would say it's too much. Anything that exposes our kids to the opportunity to go to school [on scholarship] is a good thing."
Ron Gartrell, Stephenson coach
"This is a real busy time for me and a lot of coaches. In some cases, I'd rather be in the season than to go through this. We go out of our way to help our kids, and sometimes it's looked upon as not being enough... I think college recruiters should be a little straightforward sometimes and don't mislead the kids. ... I'm from the old school. You tell me the truth, I tell you the truth and we go from there. ... Now if it [the attention] is going to enable your kid to get a scholarship, I'm OK with it. If they increase the hype, we have to step up as coaches and get that edge to get our kids recruited."
Kenneth Barrow, Douglass coach
"The only downside I see with it all is that sometimes the parents have to understand that every kid is not going to play at the Division I level, but there's always Division II, I-AA, Division III. All those levels play good football, too."
Shane Queen, North Cobb coach
"I've got friends who check the Dawg Post [a Web site that covers University of Georgia sports] every day. People have to realize that these are 16- and 17-year-old kids trying to make a big decision. That's what we need to keep in perspective."
Mark Crews, Brookwood coach
"It's becoming more and more of a business. ... I don't think there's anything wrong with attention, but some of it is a dog-and-pony show."
Copyright(c) 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia awaits NFL decisions by Stafford, Moreno
ATLANTA (AP) -- College underclassmen have until Jan. 15 to enter the 2009 NFL draft.
Matthew Stafford says he won't need that much time to make his plans for 2009.
After winning MVP honors in No. 16 Georgia's 24-12 Capital One Bowl win over Michigan State on Thursday, Stafford said he's struggling to decide if he'll return for his senior season, but then the third-year starting quarterback added he expected to have his decision soon.
"I am going to take this next couple of days -- it's really not too much time -- to think about it and figure out what I want to do," Stafford said.
Georgia's plans for 2009 also await the NFL draft decision of running back Knowshon Moreno.
"I'll celebrate the victory now, and make my decision later, after I've had time and talked to my family, and my coaches," Moreno said after the game. "I wasn't even thinking about that today. I'll think about it later. Walking off the field, I was just happy to celebrate the win. I wasn't thinking about anything else."
Stafford and Moreno are one of the most productive quarterback-running back tandems in school history.
Stafford passed for 250 yards and three touchdowns to lead Georgia (10-3) over Michigan State, capping the Bulldogs' sixth 10-win season in eight years under coach Mark Richt. His 3,459 yards passing this season are the second-highest total in school history, behind Eric Zeier's 3,525 yards in 1993.
Moreno rushed for 1,400 yards this season. The only players to rush for more yards in a season for Georgia are Herschel Walker and Garrison Hearst. As a third-year sophomore, Moreno also is eligible for the draft.
In possibly his last college game, Moreno was held to only 62 yards rushing but he added a career-high six catches for 63 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown reception.
Stafford and Moreno are projected as first-round picks. Stafford could be picked high in the first round.
It would be a surprise if either announces plans to return in 2009.
Even Richt seemed to be thinking of Stafford as a player who was finishing his college career. Richt thanked his seniors after the game, mentioned senior defensive tackle Corvey Irvin and then said "Of course Matt has done great things for us too, and I am proud of him too."
Stafford said his three years in Athens have been "great" and "an awesome time."
"It's something that I am contemplating continuing," he said. "Obviously there is the lure of the NFL but to tell you the truth, I am 50-50 right now and I really don't know what I want to do. I love playing for Georgia and it has been an outstanding time."
Georgia's hopes in 2009 would be boosted by the return of Stafford or Moreno, but even with the two the Bulldogs suffered key Southeastern Conference losses to Alabama and Florida that crushed the team's championship hopes.
Richt on Thursday called 2008 "a very good football season for us," but even with the bowl win, the 10-3 finish was a disappointment for fans whose hopes were raised by the team's preseason No. 1 ranking.
The high preseason hopes were doomed by defensive breakdowns in big games: a 41-30 loss to Alabama, a 49-10 loss to Florida and a 45-42 loss to Georgia Tech in the final regular-season game.
Georgia gave up 21 points in the second quarter against Alabama, 21 points in the third quarter against Florida and 26 points in the third quarter against Georgia Tech.
Criticisms of the defense and coordinator Willie Martinez reached a peak after the loss to Georgia Tech. The defense regrouped against Michigan State to record six sacks and hold first-team All-American Javon Ringer and the Spartans to 31 yards rushing on 34 carries.
"I thought it was fantastic," said Richt of the defense. "To be sitting there, only down 6-3 at halftime was just a great tribute to our defense. They stopped them at least the first three drives in a row. Even when they got the first field goal, which I think was off of that turnover, they got a stop there. They kept us in it until the offense started to find their way. When the offense did (find their way) we separated a little bit."
Linebacker Rennie Curran said the defense can take momentum from the bowl game into next season.
"We learned a lot about ourselves that we can carry over into next season," Curran said. "This game was huge for the future of this team. We came here and practiced hard, very physical, and it carried right into the game. That's a good lesson.
"Everyone stayed focused all week, and it showed in the game. That's something the young guys can build on. I think the potential here is just great."
If Stafford and Moreno enter the draft, Georgia's losses on offense would be significant. Receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, fullback Brannan Southerland and tight end Tripp Chandler are seniors.
Georgia's championship hopes took a hit even before the season began. Offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant suffered a season-ending knee injury before the season. Georgia also lost its top defensive tackle, Jeff Owens, for the season with a knee injury. They were only two of 19 players with season-ending injuries.
(c)2009 The Sporting News
Paterno, Lions turn on charm
ANAHEIM, Calif. - It was as if Mickey Mouse and Nemo were being introduced together at yesterday's Rose Bowl media event at Disneyland.
Southern Cal was Mickey, as synonymous with the Rose Bowl as the affable mouse is with Disney. And Penn State was Nemo, the new character in Southern California getting all the attention because of its freshness.
Of course, everyone seems to think Mickey is going to sink Nemo when the Trojans and Nittany Lions meet on Thursday.
But yesterday's manufactured meeting of both coaches and their captains was significant because it exhibited the reach of Penn State and Joe Paterno and the been-there, done-that feel as USC plays in its fifth Rose Bowl in six years and 33d overall.
"It's great to be here," Paterno said after being introduced as a living legend to great applause. "It's great to play a team the caliber of Southern Cal."
Trojans coach Pete Carroll couldn't muster the same enthusiasm, despite his best efforts.
"It's great to be back here at the Rose Bowl again," Carroll said in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle. "You can't imagine how excited we are to be here."
In their four previous Rose Bowl games against Big Ten teams, the Trojans won all four by an average of 17 points. Last year, they flattened Illinois, 49-17. Earlier this season, they embarrassed Ohio State, 35-3. For those reasons primarily the Trojans are 91/2-point favorites over a team that finished with an identical 11-1 record.
"This year doesn't have anything to do with any other year," Carroll said. "This game doesn't have anything to do with any other game. This is right now. It's us playing them."
But still, the prevailing opinion is that Penn State ventured west for a vacation and a slaughtering.
"If you talk to USC, I think they know we have a good football team," Penn State center A.Q. Shipley said. "We know we have a good football team. But in terms of the national media and the national picture, not many people are giving us a shot. We kind of like that."
At the Home Depot college football awards that Shipley attended earlier this month, ESPN displayed a map of the United States with how each state predicted a winner in the Rose Bowl. Only Pennsylvania chose the Lions.
"We're well aware of it," Shipley said.
Carroll has done his best to downplay USC's seeming invincibility. The Trojans boast the best defense in the nation statistically and have made Pasadena a home away from the Coliseum. Still, he insists his players aren't overconfident.
"How can we be overconfident playing an 11-1 team that lost by one point?" Carroll said. "That just doesn't enter into anything. This is a great football team that was a point away from being in the national championship."
Penn State's last-second 24-23 loss to Iowa on Nov. 8 ended its national title hopes. USC's 27-21 loss to Oregon State on Sept. 25 effectively ended its aspirations. Many feel this game is the second-best bowl game after the national title game between Oklahoma and Florida.
Penn State, meanwhile, has tried its best to make Southern California feel like a home away from home. The last of the team arrived on Sunday. A short practice was held that day. Two full-out practices were held the following two days.
"We worked hard the first couple of days," Shipley said. "I think that was one of the things [Paterno] wanted to get done. He wanted us to get used to the weather and back in the swing of things hitting each other."
Shipley described the practices as preseason-level intensity. Paterno, though, gave the players Christmas Day and yesterday off.
"Why fight it? The kids worked like dogs to get here, and it's a reward," Paterno said. "They're here to have some fun, but when it comes time to play, we'll play as well as we can play. I'm not worried about that."
The Lions stayed in Santa Monica for the first four days but couldn't enjoy the beach because the weather was very un-Los Angeles like. They moved downtown on Wednesday and have been able to explore a little more that the city has to offer.
"I thought I would see more stars," defensive end Josh Gaines said.
It was the Lions, however, who were treated like young stars at yesterday's media event.
philly.com
It's time to read cards around the SEC
Here's some of what appeared in this space a little more than a year ago, after Arkansas landed Bobby Petrino as its football coach:
Hiring a college football coach these days can be a lot like sitting down at a poker table.
For starters, you better have enough money not to play scared, and you better be willing to push all your chips into the middle of the table when you think you have a winner.
These are the things that kept going through my head as I watched Arkansas' coaching search unfold over the last couple of weeks. Watching incoming athletic director Jeff Long try to land Houston Nutt's replacement was like watching a player in one of those bigmoney, made-for-TV poker tournaments.
Like a lot of players, Long played pretty loose early on. He started off by chasing a flush draw in Auburn's Tommy Tuberville, only to decide it wasn't worth all his chips in the end.
A little later in the game, Long came dangerously close to pushing all-in with marginal hands. First, there was Tommy Bowden, who represented pocket 8s at best. Then came Jim Grobe, who felt more like 10s.
Both hands were easily beatable, and as we now know, both were eventually folded when Clemson and Wake Forest raised Long's bets. Getting raised and having to fold can put even the best of players on tilt, and that looked like the direction Long was headed.
Like any good poker pro, though, Long regrouped. He didn't get frustrated and make a silly move, but instead waited for a monster hand.
That hand came in the form of Bobby Petrino. Petrino might be viewed as a joker by the NFL, but most college programs covet his brand of coach like pocket kings.
Despite a season that ended with a 5-7 record, Petrino still feels - here at least - like pocket kings. That's especially true given what unfolded around the rest of the league this season.
Think about it. The only starting hand in poker better than kings is aces, and there are only four of those in a deck.
Unfortunately for Hog fans - and the rest of the SEC, for that matter - Alabama and Florida are the programs holding the pocket rockets right now. It's hard to imagine Arkansas, however, trading hands with any other school.
Consider:
Auburn's Gene Chizik. At this point, Chizik represents any two random cards drawn blind from a deck. Sure, they might win some hands, but nobody really wants all their money riding on an 8-10 offsuit.
Georgia's Mark Richt. Despite what some might view as a disappointing run in 2008, Richt still constitutes a premium hand. Given the Bulldogs' schedule, this season's expectations were out of whack from the get-go, and lots of programs around the country would gladly trade hands with Georgia.
Kentucky's Rich Brooks. A good coach at a place where basketball will always be the big game, Brooks is pocket 7s.
LSU's Les Miles. Less than a year removed from a national championship, this guy plays like a pair of jokers half the time.
Mississippi State's Dan Mullen. Like two face cards, Mullen looks nice right now. Smart money will wait for the flop before reaching for additional chips.
Ole Miss' Houston Nutt. A lot of amateur poker players fall in love with Ace-King because it looks so good at first glance. Get very deep in a hand, though, and it's usually junk. Consider Nutt the SEC's Big Slick.
South Carolina's Steve Spurrier. It's hard not to view Spurrier as a monster hand based on his history, but his biggest victories appear to be behind him. Doyle Brunson owns two World Series of Poker Main Event bracelets, but would he be the first pick if your money was on the line?
Tennessee's Lane Kiffin. Again, resembling a hand like King-Jack, Kiffin might be a good bet. A sure bet, though? Hardly.
Vanderbilt's Bobby Johnson. The guy obviously can coach, but the builtin disadvantages at Vandy make him a scary proposition - sort of like pocket 5s. All you can do is push your chips and pray.
Yep, a year after the fact, the belief here remains the same.
The most important thing to remember right now is that Long and Arkansas made the most of the hands they were dealt. Long and Arkansas had the courage to push their chips into the middle of the table when they knew had the best of it.
Copyright (c) 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc
Ducks' Larkin masters his studies
Holiday Bowl practices resumed for the Oregon football team Friday, the same day the university's fall term came to a close.
No less than 17 current UO seniors were expected to have completed their degree requirements by the conclusion of the quarter. Of those, none was more impressive than tight end Matt Larkin, who completed the final course toward his master's in business administration.
Also finishing up this month was defensive end Nick Reed, who majored in history. Reed was a first-team academic all-American, and even he had to tip his hat to Larkin.
"I got my degree; he got his degree and then another degree, which is awesome," Reed said.
Larkin is a 6-foot-2, 223-pound senior from Boise who has caught one pass in each of the last three seasons. He completed his undergraduate degree in less than three years, and his MBA in four years plus one quarter.
"It helped being here for the summers," said Larkin, who completed some of his general education requirements in high school through advanced placement courses. "And I have to give a lot of credit to the people here."
Larkin said the business school allowed him to pursue his MBA immediately after finishing his undergraduate course work, rather than seek job experience first. And he was awarded a football scholarship for the 2007-08 academic year and again this fall, after initially joining the team as a walk-on.
"I'm just really thankful," Larkin said.
Now comes another challenge - finding a job in the world of finance.
"We're very proud he represents the University of Oregon," UO coach Mike Bellotti.
Greatwood receives honor
Oregon associate head coach Steve Greatwood was named college football's offensive line coach of the year by FootballScoop.com.
The Ducks rank fourth nationally in rushing at 277.8 yards per game, leading the Pac-10 for the third year in a row. Greatwood will receive the award at the American Football Coaches Association convention in January in Nashville, Tenn.
Pritchett to return
Duck linebacker Terrance Pritchett will rejoin practices today after leaving the team and withdrawing from school in November for personal reasons.
Pritchett attended practice Friday and said he "just got lost," declining to discuss the reasons for his departure more specifically. He said he wasn't in legal trouble or academically ineligible.
"I had to really realize what I was doing," Pritchett said. "That break I took was good for me... They just wanted me to get back to the old Terrance. Basically get my head straight. So that's what I did."
Pritchett had three tackles in three games before being suspended for two games and then leaving the team.
Reed surprised by honor
Friday's practice was the first for Reed since being named a Walter Camp all-American on Thursday.
"I would have never thought, sitting in Mission Viejo, Calif., that four years later I'd be getting recognition like this," Reed said. "It's kind of a surreal surprise... It's a tribute to our defense and our team as a whole."
That sort of reaction clearly came as no surprise to Reed's teammates.
"He credits it a lot to all our defensive players," said his fellow starting end, Will Tukuafu. "But Nick deserves it more than anybody."
Copyright (c) 2008 - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA
USC's Rey (not Ray) Maualuga up for Bednarik award
USC's Rey Maualuga is one of three finalists for the Chuck Bednarik award to be presented to the country's best college defensive player on Dec. 11 during the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show on, you guessed it, ESPNU.
The other defensive nominees are Aaron Maybin of Penn State and James Laurinaitis of Ohio State. I don't know if this is any kind of sign, but in the news release I received with the nominees listed, Maualuga's first name was spelled "Ray" instead of "Rey." If he receives a trophy and it has his name on it, hopefully there is a trophy spellcheck function.
USC is also represented in another defensive category -- the Jim Thorpe Award given to the best defensive back. Taylor Mays (his name is spelled correctly) is up against Eric Berry of Tennessee and Malcolm Jenkins of Ohio State.
Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times
Tide tries to prove doubters wrong again
TUSCALOOSA -- The battle for the Southeastern Conference football championship pits two of the nations top coaches and two of the nation's top teams.
But with apologies to fans of Alabama and Florida, the game Saturday features teams as far apart on the philosophical spectrum as you can find -- at least when in terms of championship caliber.
Alabama, with a veteran offensive line and a trio of above-average-but-not-spectacular backs, eats up the clock and yardage in similar quantities, gulping down opportunities for the opposing offense to take the field while spitting out field goals and occasional touchdowns. It wasn't meant to be this way, but it's a team that would make former Crimson Tide coach Gene Stallings proud.
Florida, with a dozen players that could line up in multiple formations and could play any position that relied on speed, is television analysts' dream. The high-powered offense and the amount of points scored by Urban Meyer's team have some believing that the next two games are mere formalities. Hand that crystal football over to the Gators right now.
Every analyst has fallen (or will fall) in love with Florida. Every innocent bystander who isn't wowed by the Gators' great offense may fall in love with Alabama.
When do you see the top-ranked team in America as an underdog? When do you see a group of overachievers, less than a year removed from a .500 regular season, banding together to give themselves an opportunity to play for a conference title and perhaps a national championship?
"Our guys put a lot into it," said Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. "They've played with a lot of intensity, a lot of toughness, a lot of intangibles and probably challenged themselves a little bit more maybe than most teams that I've coached. I really do appreciate that and I'm proud of the way they compete."
What is Alabama? It's a return specialist who was never recruited by major colleges but has emerged as one of the most dangerous players in America. It's a defensive captain who walked on as a tailback and continues to play as a gunner on special teams because that's where he first earned playing time. It's a quarterback who has shaken off a 13-13 record as a starter the last two years and developed into a solid leader who doesn't make mistakes.
It's a team still trying to find its way at the end of a decade that has included national embarrassment through NCAA sanctions, the loss of 21 scholarships and a coaching carousel of four head coaches since the last time the Tide played for the SEC championship.
In short, it's a team that many feel has no business facing the Gators in the Georgia Dome.
Florida hopes to prove that with its speed and talent. Alabama players will bring their hard hats, a physical approach and a chip on their shoulder to prove the naysayers wrong.
"When we have (intensity), we're pretty good because we are physical," Saban said. "You know, we're a blue-collar team. I wish we had a bunch of skill guys. There were teams we had at LSU where we had such good skill guys that there were times that we didn't play so good, but those guys made so many plays in the game"
"But we're a blue-collar team. We've got to play good defense, we've got to be able to run it, we've got to be able to throw it, we've got to have balance. We've got a lot of good players but when we don't have our intensity and we don't play with a sense of urgency, when you're playing them and trying to beat them up with toughness and being physical, it doesn't work out too well."
That formula has worked out amazingly well to this point. With the lowest number of scholarship seniors (nine) in the nation and one of the highest number (16) of true freshmen contributors, no one expected Alabama to be in this position. And certainly no one expects them to win Saturday.
It's been a recurring theme for the Tide this season.
Copyright (c) 1997- 2008 The Advertiser Co. All rights reserved
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