National Signing Day!

Today is a big day for college programs all over the country. Of course we hear about the big time recruits and where they are headed, but today is a big day for every high school kid that is lucky enough to get a college scholarship offer. Looks like several of the SEC schools are going to have another year of top ranked recruiting classes. According to Rivals.com the school with the best class so far in Florida, but Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Tenn and Georgia are all in the top 15.

These rankings could change at any time since there are still several big time recruits that have yet to commit. Georgia did lose out on a couple big time players with the most being Da’Rick Rogers a five star wide receiver from Calhoun, Ga. He decided at the last minute to join his best friend (and his dad’s wallet) to sign with Tennessee. There is something phishy about his quick change of heart. There are reports that he has allegedly been driving a new car for a couple of months and that he agreed to sign with Tennessee if they also offered his teammate and best buddy a scholarship as well. Tennessee wasn’t recruiting his BFF Nash Nance until the last couple of weeks and now they are both going to Knoxville. Of course I am a little bitter since he was committed to sign with UGA, but like I said, it is phishy and Georgia is probably going to be better off without him.

Being a football fan in the SEC, I can’t help but get caught up in all of the hype surrounding signing day. But I also feel that it is a detriment to the young players. They are treated like rock stars for their last couple of years in high school, they get calls and visits from big time coaches and are told how valuable they will be if they go to a certain school. All of these things give the players big heads and bad attitudes. It sets unrealistic expectations for themselves and everyone around them because they all think they are going to be big stars at the next level, when realistically, they will be lucky to ever see the field, especially in their first year or two. Some players will live up to their hype, but most do not. After their senior year of being the big man on their high school campus, they will be back to being a peon at a big university. Where there is tremendous pressure to perform up to the high expectations set by all of the hype they had while being recruited. Listen, I am not naïve; I know this is part of college football now and I am part of the problem! I sit around with my buddies talking about these kids and how I hope we get them. That is how big recruiting has become, but that doesn’t mean it is right!

Anyway, teams don’t win championships on this day, but they could just get that one piece that does push them over the top in the next year or two and they will win a championship. All I know is that UGA has another solid recruiting class this year and now we need to focus on getting these guys to make their grades and learning the system so they can start making the team better as soon as they get into school.

Go Dawgs!