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Marshall: A Look At Football Recruiting

  By Phillip Marshall

Columnist

Date: Dec 23, 2005

In a little more than a week, when Christmas has come and gone and the bowl games have been played, attention will once again focus on recruiting. The whims of teen-age boys will once again leave adults breathless with excitement or in deep depression. 

If you are a follower of recruiting, here some things to consider that might help you make it through until Feb. 1:

*If someone says a player runs a 4.4 40-yard dash, be very skeptical. If someone says a player runs a 4.3 40-yard dash, assume that person is misinformed. If someone says a player runs under a 4.3 40-yard dash, be assured that person is either misinformed or just not telling the truth.

An NFL scout tells me that there aren’t a total of 10 players in the NFL who actually run a legitimate 4.4 40-yard dash. All you have to do to get the picture is check out the times at the NFL combine every year.

*If Billy Bob Superstar goes to a rival school, do not fret. Billy Bob might be great. He might not. The unknown your school signs in his place might end up being better. Odds are, about half this year’s recruiting class will be long gone before their eligibility is used up.

*Take the stars recruiting services give players with a grain of stardust. How can you compare a wide receiver in Los Angeles with a wide receiver in, say, Brantley, Ala., or Scooba, Miss., or an offensive lineman in Carrollton with one in Chicago? The fact is, you can’t.

Of the 55 players on the 2002 Parade All-America team--players who are at the end of their fourth seasons in college--four are All-Americans. A handful of others, like Auburn wide receiver Ben Obomanu, had terrific careers. Most of the names I hardly recognized.

*Stay away from the “press conferences.” Maybe if people--including the press--would stop going, they would stop happening. We would be spared the sight of 18-year-old kids switching hats and doing all the things they do.

By the time some of them get to college, they have, through no fault of their own, a terribly inflated opinion of themselves. They find out the hard way that none of their new teammates give a rip how many stars were by their names, how many All-America teams they made or how many people came to their press conferences.

Of course, there’s not much hope when ESPN dubs Tim Tebow “The Chosen One” and does an hour-long special on his senior season and creates impossible expectations.

*Pay little attention to recruiting class rankings. They mean about as much as the number of stars a player receives. How do you decide, rationally, who has recruited the best when not one of those players has ever hit a lick in college? Once again, you don’t.

Auburn has won 24 of its last 26 games. It has won five of seven against Georgia, four of seven against LSU and three of four against Tennessee. When was Auburn ranked ahead of any of those teams in recruiting?

Obviously, somewhere along the way, it should have been.

Check out NFL games on Sunday and among the former Auburn players you might see are Dontarrious Thomas, Spencer Johnson, Roderick Hood and Willie Whitehead. Hood and Whitehead were walk-ons. Auburn was the only Division I-A school that offered Thomas a scholarship. Johnson, from Silas, drew no interest from Alabama.

Roderick Hood, a walk-on from Columbus, Ga., was a standout for the Tigers who plays for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles.

While you are checking out the NFL, check out the number of players who come from Division I-AA and Division II schools. Those guys, for the most part, had zero Division I-A offers.

If all that doesn’t convince you that fretting about players a school doesn’t get or celebrating players a school does get is mostly a waste of time, then fret or celebrate until your heart is content.

Recruiting is, no doubt, crucial. Bad coaches can lose with good players, but not even the best of coaches can win with bad players. At some point, we’ll know what teams recruited the best. But it won’t be any time soon.

By 2009, we should have a pretty good idea of what really happened on Feb. 1, 2006.

Most importantly, I wish a merry Christmas and a joyful New Year filled with God’s blessings for all.

[KunzelTiger 0]

But...in 2002 (This years Seniors that didn't redshirt) Rival's class rankings listed Texas as the #1 class..they are undefeated and in the Rose bowl.

Underachieving Tennessee is ranked #2. I know they didn't make a bowl game...but I think every one was quite suprised they ddin't do better.

#3 class 10-2 SEC champ Georgia.

#4 class is the ACC champ Florida St.

#5 is a very strong 9-2 Ohio st. team.

#6 your very own Auburn Tigers (F.Y.I- The last time we were ranked higher than LSU in recruiting was the 2005 class. Before that the 2002 class)

Looking at this list we have 1/2 of the BCS bowl teams and a combined record of 53-16.

If we look at Southern Cal, in the last 4 years they've signed they've averaged a ranking of 4. Where are they in January? the Rose Bowl looking to extend a 34 game win streak.

Adding in SoCal we now have a combined record of 65-16 or 9.3 wins per team.

So although not every player will pan out, if you have an entire signing class that is nationally regarded you're in pretty good shape. Losing out on specific 4/5 stars (Tim Tebow) is no big deal as long as you make sure you're not getting 2* guys in his place.

[Nay4AU 2]

Very good article. That's why I really don't get into recruiting. I'm a casual follower. The article made me think though. How did Terrell Owens from Alexander City end up playing at UT-Chatanooga. He was absolutly a guy who slipped through the cracks. Does anyone from the Alexander City area have any information about this? ( I'm not a fan of his, so I'm glad he didn't go to Auburn anyway.)

[OlderWhiskey 963]

Very good article.  That's why I really don't get into recruiting.  I'm a casual follower.  The article made me think though.  How did Terrell Owens from Alexander City end up playing at UT-Chatanooga.  He was absolutly a guy who slipped through the cracks.  Does anyone from the Alexander City area have any information about this?  ( I'm not a fan of his, so I'm glad he didn't go to Auburn anyway.)

206814[/snapback]

Though I haven't lived in Alexander City for 40 years, I grew up there and follow the fortunes of the BRHS Wildcats casually. I believe that when TO was at BRHS, Coach Willie Carl Martin was using an exclusively running offense. I recall their playing in one of the 5A championship games against Homewood and throwing 2 passes the entire game.

Someone else may have more accurate information.

[tgr4lfe 220]

Very good article.  That's why I really don't get into recruiting.  I'm a casual follower.  The article made me think though.  How did Terrell Owens from Alexander City end up playing at UT-Chatanooga.  He was absolutly a guy who slipped through the cracks.  Does anyone from the Alexander City area have any information about this?  ( I'm not a fan of his, so I'm glad he didn't go to Auburn anyway.)

206814[/snapback]

Though I haven't lived in Alexander City for 40 years, I grew up there and follow the fortunes of the BRHS Wildcats casually. I believe that when TO was at BRHS, Coach Willie Carl Martin was using an exclusively running offense. I recall their playing in one of the 5A championship games against Homewood and throwing 2 passes the entire game.

Someone else may have more accurate information.

206864[/snapback]

This and I don't think he was all that big or highly regarded, thus not recruited by D1-A. It wasn't until college that he "grew" up...and got bigger...then catching eye of pro scouts.

[quietfan 233]

But...in 2002 (This years Seniors that didn't redshirt) Rival's class rankings listed Texas as the #1 class..they are undefeated and in the Rose bowl.

Underachieving Tennessee is ranked #2. I know they didn't make a bowl game...but I think every one was quite suprised they ddin't do better.

#3 class 10-2 SEC champ Georgia.

#4 class is the ACC champ Florida St.

#5 is a very strong 9-2 Ohio st. team.

#6 your very own Auburn Tigers (F.Y.I- The last time we were ranked higher than LSU in recruiting was the 2005 class. Before that the 2002 class)

Looking at this list we have 1/2 of the BCS bowl teams and a combined record of 53-16.

If we look at Southern Cal, in the last 4 years they've signed they've averaged a ranking of 4. Where are they in January? the Rose Bowl looking to extend a 34 game win streak.

Adding in SoCal we now have a combined record of 65-16 or 9.3 wins per team.

So although not every player will pan out, if you have an entire signing class that is nationally regarded you're in pretty good shape. Losing out on specific 4/5 stars (Tim Tebow) is no big deal as long as you make sure you're not getting 2* guys in his place.

206797[/snapback]

I follow your argument...but hardly think a 4-loss FSU strengthens it, even if they did luck into the ACC BCS bid...