Spurrier says some B1G coach is recruiting dirty
“We don’t run into much of any negative recruiting around here as SEC coaches,” Spurrier said. “We were involved with a player who was being recruited by a Big Ten school. They got negative a little bit with ‘There’s a lot of crime in Columbia, the big city. They don’t graduate their players,’ which was completely untrue. They searched for a little bit of everything but the player came with us anyways.”
http://recruiting.blog.ajc.com/2014/02/11/steve-spurrier-defies-old-age…
I don't have a problem with "negative" recruiting. That being said I am really curious about this incident. I am guessing Urban but that could just be me hating Urban.
The main issue is the age of coaches. I don't know how much age plays a role in recruiting or negative recruiting but I see how the coach being your Granddad's age could make you wonder if e is retiring soon.
February 12th, 2014 at 9:34 AM ^
I used to think Spurrier was on the good side of interesting, but he can hold my dick.
February 12th, 2014 at 3:45 PM ^
Isn't that something you'd offer someone you trust, or at least have a mutual interest with?
February 12th, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
February 12th, 2014 at 9:57 AM ^
"They told the player some things that are true. I do not like those things and therefore am upset."
February 12th, 2014 at 10:01 AM ^
when coaches say stupid things. We all know that every single coach has done negative recruiting, right? As for who he is referring to... yeah. we know.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^
for his entertainment value. But it's hard to take him seriously.
His soundbites WRT Clowney's "injury" are really funny.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:33 AM ^
I'm presuming it was Urban, but for anyone in the SEC to complain about negative or unscrupulous recruiting is insane to me. Hey, how about you focus on your 4-5 cuts per season to get under the NCAA maximum and then start talking about other schools.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:36 AM ^
February 12th, 2014 at 10:36 AM ^
Yes, while Urban is a dirty recruiter (more than likely), I think Spurrier is probably referencing to Bo Pelini at Nebraska. South Carolina stole their 3/4* DT on signing day.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:55 AM ^
When this story broke yesterday, I saw that a commenter on ESPN suggested that the school in question is Nebraska because the Huskers and SCAR were competing for the same recuit (2014 class I believe) who went to SCAR and Spurrier notes that SCAR beat this school for a recruit. As others have noted, the crime comment makes it likely that the BIG school in question is in a small town, which is consistent with Lincoln and inconsistent with Ohio/Urban. Can someone with more recruting chops than yours truly track down if what the ESPN commenter was saying passes muster? Based on what I've heard, I could certainly believe it could also be PSU/Franklin if PSU and SCAR were fighting over the same recruit in the days leading to signing day. EDIT: Looks like two folks with more specific info beat me to it.
February 12th, 2014 at 11:06 AM ^
twice the size of Columbia. The details Spurrier gave fit PSU perfectly.
February 12th, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^
Fuck the SEC.
When oversigning by the SEC ceases to exist, then let's have a conversation about negative recruiting.
February 12th, 2014 at 11:19 AM ^
PoopingOnOldBallCoachsChest.GIF
February 12th, 2014 at 11:26 AM ^
Approximate populations, as per Wikipedia:
Columbus, OH: over 800,000
Lincoln, NE: 265,000
Columbia, SC: 131,000
Ann Arbor, MI: 112,000
State College, PA: 42,000
State College's wiki page has this tidbit: "In 2010, State College was ranked as the third-safest metropolitan area in the United States by the CQ Press"
Unless Pelini is an ignoramus and thinks that Columbia SC is a bigger city than Lincoln, it would make no sense for him to criticize Columbia as a "big city." If it's a current coach in the B10, it would be more likely somebody who's now in a city noticeably smaller than Columbia. There are a bunch of other schools in the conference that fit that profile, including Penn State.
February 12th, 2014 at 3:42 PM ^
has 75.000. Just sayin'.
/s
February 12th, 2014 at 11:30 AM ^
February 12th, 2014 at 11:45 AM ^
I would agree with others in the the SEC really doesn't have a leg to stand on when it comes to discussing recruiting tactics, so then it merely becomes Spurrier providing an example of something which he has come across. Thinking of it this way makes me roll my eyes less, I suppose.
The age discussion was interesting though - Spurrier used examples from basketball like Brown and Boeheim, but I do wonder how often age would get used as a negative tactic and at what point (i.e., age of coach) the frequency becomes significant. It would be an interesting thing to study, ageism as part of recruiting.
February 12th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
He's a cheating jerk, I wouldn't take his opinion too seriously.
February 12th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
Recruiting dirty? Whatever...I just want to know who's ridin' dirty.
February 12th, 2014 at 12:12 PM ^
i don't care about negative recruiting. these coaches are out there trying to sell themselves and get people to buy in. is it distasteful and look sleezy? yup. you don't think every other business in the world talks about their competition? a ford dealer isn't gonna tell you that a chevy gets worse gas mileage? a bartender isnt going to say the other place makes a weak drink?
further more, its impossible to regulate. if hoke isn't sitting down with a list of the best colleges in the country with michigan at the top and all the other schools that a kid is considering at the bottom, he is an idiot.
February 12th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
In the South, the folks are so passionate about football that they poison each others' shrubbery and boycott each others' businesses, occassionally shooting or drunkenly stabbing one another with butter knives*.
But the recruiting is genteel and civilized affair.
February 12th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
* - I done seen it happen! Attempted anyway.
February 12th, 2014 at 12:20 PM ^
Pelini
February 12th, 2014 at 1:24 PM ^
Columbus is a much bigger city than Columbia, so Meyer doesn't make sense. State College is a small town, Franklin has obviously been to Columbia before, and PSU and South Carolina could certainly be in the running for the same recruit.
Also, as somebody who has spent a fair amount of time in Columbia, SC, calling it the "big city" is laughable.
February 12th, 2014 at 1:27 PM ^
That said, Spurrier had some odd comments before the Gamecocks' game against Vanderbilt last September, about how he thought Vandy had been "relaxing their academic requirements" lately.
February 12th, 2014 at 2:09 PM ^
Perhaps we should now refer to Spurrier as "The Old Bawl Coach."
February 12th, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^
Franklin (obvious most likely, obviously) or Pelini (some evidence of battling to the end for one particular recruit), my next most likely suspect would be Tim Beckman at Illinois. Just seems to me to be something that fits his history and M.O.
Were the Illini chasing any of Spurrier's 2014 signees?
February 12th, 2014 at 5:38 PM ^
doing a negative recruiting job on the entire B1G by not calling the school or coach out by name. I don't think its fair to point out or opine about this school or that coach and say yeah their population is this or that, crime rates here or there etc. He needs to be more specific and tell us flat out who is the alledged school or shut the hell up about it.. Another thing, is he blaming the head coach or coaches/recruiting coordinators at the school? Seems to me more like the old and I mean old trick of throwing shit at the wall and see if it sticks.
February 12th, 2014 at 5:47 PM ^