Like many of you, and much like other crazed college football fans from around the state and nation, I took advantage of my day off Wednesday to basically fully engulf myself in the all-day coverage of National Signing Day.
Of course for football-starved fans and observers such as myself who are looking for anything related to pigskin news once the Super Bowl has been played and there is no more actual live football to watch, Signing Day is often termed as a second Christmas, and the nonstop discussion of the day's events, and even sometimes a little drama, does not hurt either.
Anybody who knows me knows my allegiance lies with the University of Alabama, and I cannot even try to hide or deny that fact as I was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, was raised to be an intense Crimson Tide supporter and attended and graduated from UA where I also wrote for The Crimson White. So of course I was jubilant to see Nick Saban wrap up the nation's No. 1 recruiting class. Of course top-ranked classes under Saban have become a certainty of life, such as death, taxes and horrible Jason Aldean songs.
For a good part of the day, some recruiting services as well as ESPN had Alabama ranked about third nationally behind Florida and Ohio State, but a few late catches for the Tide, including Norcross, Ga. running back Alvin Kamara, once again moved Alabama to the top spot. Of course Alabama had already secured the signatures of highly-rated standouts such as linebacker Reuben Foster, defensive tackle Dee Liner and four-star quarterback Cooper Bateman.
So it was yet another special day for the two-time defending national champion as the Tide grabbed the nation's top group of recruits for the fifth time in the last six years. It was also another huge year for the Southeastern Conference, who for a large part of Signing Day had 7 of the nation's top 11 classes. This means that the astounding run of SEC dominance is not about to end anytime soon. Sorry to break that news to you, fans of teams from the Big 12 or Big 10.
So again, as an Alabama grad and supporter, I was proud to see another great group of stud athletes ink their names to wear the legendary Crimson jersey, and I very much enjoyed seeing Saban's slight smile as he discussed this year's class, I also viewed the Signing Day events as a journalist, and in doing so probably exercised a bit more caution than the average fan.
Like many college fans, I fairly closely follow the recruiting battles which take place each year, especially in terms of how they apply to the respective schools in the SEC. Unlike a lot of those fans, however, I do not worship recruiting in terms of following it year around or subscribing to services which allow me to know which players are hosses even as ninth graders or players that some schools are targeting for two years down the road. I guess I find better things to do with my time than paying real attention to what 16-18-year-old kids are thinking and doing until they actually make it official on Signing Day.
I think, as I also try to do with most things in life, take a practical and realistic view when it comes to recruiting, and I think you have to do that when you are talking about teenagers who are often undecisive and unpredictable about what they are going to do and how they are going to respond to various situations and responsibilities.
While many excited Tide fans are no doubt throwing celebrations and mini parades about Alabama claiming another top haul of blue-chip athletes, I think we all have to just slow our roll a bit, take a chill pill and realize that we really will not know how good this class is until possibly a couple of years down the road, when we know if they actually qualified academically, stayed with the Tide program or actually lived up to their hype and are out on the field helping to lead Saban's team to victory.
This is also true for other programs who had strong Signing Day showings, including the aforementioned Ohio State Buckeyes and Florida Gators, as well as Texas A&M, Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame and Florida State. Gus Malzahn's first class as the coach of the Auburn Tigers was also a significantly good one as many services had Auburn just outside of the Top 10. Malzahn is to be commended for putting together a strong class following a disastrous Auburn season and for also putting together a coaching staff that is comprised of a host of good recruiters.
There is no doubt that one of the big stories of the day was the historically great class that Hugh Freeze signed at Ole Miss, which included highly-rated standouts Robert Nkemdiche and Laremy Tunsil. Nkemdiche was the nation's top-ranked recruit according to most of the major recruting services.
There is no doubt that one of the big stories of the day was the historically great class that Hugh Freeze signed at Ole Miss, which included highly-rated standouts Robert Nkemdiche and Laremy Tunsil. Nkemdiche was the nation's top-ranked recruit according to most of the major recruting services.
Robert Nkemdiche
Rebel fans have every reason to be excited about having a Top 10 class coming off a winning season and bowl win, and I definitely do not want to play Debby Downer or say anything that would disparage their big day or Freeze's recruiting abilities.
But does anyone really think that even a prolific Signing Day by Ole Miss is going to immediately elevate that program to contention status in the SEC? It may down the road at some point, but at the current time Ole Miss still appears to be no higher than the fourth best team in the SEC West behind Alabama, Texas A & M and LSU. Ole Miss may sneak up to that third spot just because teams such as LSU and Arkansas are simply question marks at the moment.
But the point is, this is the reason why we have to be still a bit guarded in our giddiness about Signing Day success until these kids prove it on the field two to three years down the road.
You would expect programs such as Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, LSU and Ohio State to have recruiting success on a yearly basis, and they typically do thanks to strong traditions, facilities and other things that can quickly woo impressionable and sometimes immature young student-athletes.
But during the last 5 to 6 years, however, only Saban's program has proven that it can consistently translate strong recruiting performances into major, championship-level success. Other often-hyped coaches such as Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and LSU's Les Milescannot say that, although their programs are always usually good. They just haven't won a lot of actual championships.
Coaches such as Will Muschamp at Florida may well be on his way to achieving Saban-like success, but he is certainly not there yet. Urban Meyer is a strong candidate to perhaps gain Bama-like success with his Buckeye program, but will his recruiting, and his health, hold up to allow him to be able to accomplish this?
To put it crudely, but accurately, recruiting can be a crapshoot at times, especially when you are dealing with the high expectations of these major programs and also with youngsters who can create a lot of drama in their own right. I will not hammer on Reuben Foster anymore as he has been hammered plenty by the media and many others, but everyone knows by now the exhaustive and frankly laughable process it took for Bama to finally secure his services. Then there was the bizarre story of Arkansas commitment Alex Collins, whose letter of intent to sign with the Razorbacks was allegedly confiscated by his mother because she was not happy with her son's choice of signing with Bret Bielema's program. So even the moms can make a program sweat if they're not happy (also note the recruitment of Bama's Landon Collins last year).
Reuben Foster
Foster's recruiting saga also shows the mistake that some youngsters make by tying their choice of a school to a certain coach instead of what the school itself can offer him academically and athletically. Coaches are coming and going with a lot more regularity these days, and these youngsters need to take keen note of that.
At the end of the day, I congratulate each young man who signed on Wednesday and I hope their signatures translate into a bright future for him and the school that gained his services.
I also urge the fans of these schools and athletes to be proud and excited about the quality young men who will hopefully soon be wearing their colors and representing them with class and pride on the field.
Along with that pride and happiness, however, I would also urge those same fans to show a little restraint and patience, as the true story of Signing Day 2013 may not be told until two or three years down the line.
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