Pat Fitzgerald Recommends Possibly the Worst Recruiting Idea in Years

RTR91

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Nov 23, 2007
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Fitzgerald advocated a 48-hour decision window for recruits to either sign or decline a scholarship offer. If a recruit does not sign a national letter of intent or reject the offer within that time frame, the offer becomes void, expediting the method of reaching the destination and forcing student-athletes to explore other options.
And of course, the SEC gets mentioned by another conference's coach:

Additionally, Fitzgerald decried the SEC’s lack of official paid visits, citing the benefits of taking the time to visit with the team and become familiar with their teammates, coaching staff, and the school they’ve committed to attend.

“What’s best for the kids, and what’s best for their families?” Fitzgerald asked.
 

bamaga

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That is ludicrous , He is asking a kid to make a decision in two days that will affect the rest of their lives. I guess it comes as no surprise that the teams outside of hot recruiting beds are the ones that want radical recruiting changes.
 

Alasippi

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Aug 31, 2007
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I agree with him somewhat in principle, but differ as well.
I've always thought that, once a prospect commits, they should lose a year of eligibility if they later switch their commitment.
My reasons are two fold-
(1) They do not have to commit in the first place, as many of the five stars don't--they make every school wait til national signing day.
(2) Hear me before you call me stupid. When a kid commits it changes the recruiting process for the school he commits to.
Say Bama really wanted two quality QB's in a particular class. Say it's two kids from Florida.
Now, both commit to Bama, so Bama stops recruiting QB's.
Meanwhile, Muschamp, because he can, continues to recruit the kids and gets them to change their minds.
They decide they want to be Gators.
Not saying he would do it, but he could easily say, "Don't change your commitment guys, just switch on National Signing Day, and sign a LOI with us". They say, "OK coach".
If they did so they would have effectively kept Bama from recruiting any QB's at all, and Florida would be getting the two quality QB's Bama thought they had.
That's not right, but the way it is now, it could happen.
I don't like even the possibility of that. I think kids should have to give a commitment serious thought before they do so. Take as much time as they need, no problem--but once they commit they should have at least some accountability. Thus the reason I say they should lose a year of eligibility if they switch.
sip
P.S.--The two day thing is stupid. The committing in 2012 and changing your mind on national signing day 2014 isn't.(Which is my point)
 
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CoachJeff

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You don't really commit until signing day. A kid saying he's going to X school is just talking. I wouldn't want to see him lose eligibility because he changed his mind.
 

Crimson1967

Hall of Fame
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I have suspected some coaches have commits visit rival schools just so they burn an official visit for nothing.
 

IH8Orange

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I think that getting rid of signing day and instead just making that the last day on which an LOI can be signed would be the best idea. Basically allow a recruit to sign an LOI at any time up to that date and let recruits know that until that LOI is signed, they aren't "committed" or considered as any more of a "lock" than any other recruit. Do the "you shop, we shop" thing and let them know that until they sign their LOI, there's always the chance that another highly-rated recruit at their position might come in, sign an LOI, and their offer could be rescinded because their slot has been filled.

It's not really unfair. It's how the world operates. If I interview for a job and I am given an offer and I don't accept it within a reasonable time period, the company will interview other candidates and make other offers to any that they feel are qualified for the position. If one of the other candidates accepts an offer before I do, then I have lost the position. I don't agree with forcing a recruit to sign the LOI within a certain time after the offer, however. Allow them to sign as late as the last signing day, but let them live with the risk of losing an opportunity to play at their favorite program if they drag out their recruitment and won't make a timely decision.
 

B1GTide

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Apr 13, 2012
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I am old school and believe that your word is your bond. You make a commitment, you follow through. The only problem is that these kids make a commitment without the means to formalize it by signing the LOI and solidifying their scholarship and this can hurt both parties.

I like IH8Orange's idea, but lacking the ability to commit early it should cost the schools and the players something if there is a commitment and either drops it for any reason. If the schools drops an offer after a commitment, they lose the scholarship (assuming the player didn't violate the agreement in some way - arrested, grades, etc). In some cases it might be worth it to the school, but not often. If the player changes his commitment to another school, he loses a year of eligibility. Again, it might be worth it to some players - depends on the situation (like a coaching change).

Right now there are no consequences for either party in what has become a very dirty business. It just gets uglier every year.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
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'Sip, you realize your #2 is exactly what the Barn has accused Bama of with several recent, last second flips from them to us. Yeldon and Evans come to mind.
 
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BamaFanatJSU

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Apr 24, 2008
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I agree that national signing day should go away and these kids should be able to sign when the offer is made. I also think that schools should not be allowed to recruit kids until after there junior year of high school.
I agree with kids being able to sign long before national signing day, but I'm not in agreement with the "no recruitment until after their junior year" part. Perhaps recruitment could continue as it always has, but regulations would prohibit a student athlete from signing an LOI until some pre-determined point during his junior year. That way, you wouldn't have 8th Graders signing LOIs at 13 years old.
 

RobK

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Aug 27, 2004
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I am amazed that in a sport that is under fire in the court system and in many corners of public opinion for raking in billions of dollars at the expense of young athletes who see very little of the windfall beyond the scholarship they receive, that anyone would propose anything that would give the athlete LESS flexibility in terms of choosing where they would want to attend or in having the ability to change their mind. It seems to run counter to the way future "reforms", if not court verdicts, are headed.
 

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