Three and Out - QB Recruiting
In Three and Out - The QB's talk about when they were being recruited. Devin jokes about only taking one visit and Michigan not giving him anything. They don't say Denard specifically, but the other QB talked about visiting SEC schools...
One powerful SEC school had 2 attractive coeds waiting in his bed when he got back to his hotel room.
Another SEC school gave him a rental car for the weekend and told him "you dont have to return that".
The third SEC school promised to pay for his sister's tuition.
I'm sure no one is surprised by this, but I took a look at the SEC schools Denard visited and Flordia and Georgia must be two of them. Not sure what other SEC school he visited, maybe Auburn? Urban Meyer was at Florida at this time and of course now he's probably back to his old ways at OSU.
I'd love to hear more recruiting stories. I'm kind of surprised more recruits don't talk about what they were offered. I remember seeing a Clemson freshman posting a pic of him on twitter with a stack of cash. Another player (at Auburn maybe) posted pics of a brand new black Camaro.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:10 AM ^
I don't agree that Meyer isn't a good coach, but....
Dan Mullen was his QB coach at BG, his offensive coordinator at Utah, and his OC at Florida up until that last year when the wheels fell off.
One constant under Meyer was excellent QB play, and I wouldn't say that that trend is certain to continue.
Of course, Tom Herman appears to be the real deal, so even if Meyer relies on ace coordinators, he's still got one helping him.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:46 AM ^
erases all his work at Florida and two previous schools.
Well done.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:13 PM ^
Talk about Urban Meyer all you want...but this sums up what he was recruiting to Florida. It also sums up that these girls a lot of the time do what they want on their own, it's encourage, not paid for or mandated. The head coaches don't know about it, just football ops guys and position coaches.
Just about every football program in America uses a "Gold Team" (UCF) or "War Eaglettes" (Auburn) or whatever name they want to give to a bunch of hot co-eds that escort players around and show them a good time. Just about EVERY single one. I've worked in college athletics for 7 years and I can't name one...maybe N'Western or Stanford, but hell, it wouldn't shock me.
Anyway, read these tweets...(oh and "sour" refers to sour-diesel...a type of weed)
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2011/1/19/1943956/the-happy-football-life-of-will-hill
January 13th, 2012 at 1:00 PM ^
This site sometimes sounds like a bunch of whiny, bitchy, backstabbing, gossipping schoolgirls. I am positive Meyer made some mistakes. I also am positive that he is not Satan incarnate. This also goes for Saban, and Miles, and Dantonio. In fact, regarding Miles, I feel slimy for accepting as truth some of the slanderous insinuations made by people aligned with Michigan.
The truth always lies somewhere inbetween. Even with RR, too many at Michigan thought he walked on water, and too many thought he was a terrible, screaming, out of control tyrant.
There are two men I am more critical of right now, two men I feel are much worse than Meyer, or Saban, or Miles, or Dantonio. First, Joe Paterno. Massive fail in how he dealt with Sandusky. And the alleged crimes committed are on a whole different level than recruiting violations.
Second, Jim Tressel. He flat out lied to the NCAA, to cover up something that really wasn't that big of a deal. (Tattoos for gold pants? Really? Who cares!!) But not only did he lie to the NCAA, he had the gall to publish not one but two books on living a successful, moral, ethical, life. The hypocrisy bugs me to no end, and completely undercuts the message he wanted to share.
January 13th, 2012 at 2:33 PM ^
i think it's obvious he can coach, but it doesn't preclude him from being a dirtbag. he's not a nick saban dirtbag, but a dirtbag nonetheless, imo.
January 13th, 2012 at 9:53 AM ^
A few weeks ago Bacon went on a radio show and confirmed the school was Florida under Urban Meyer...
January 13th, 2012 at 9:59 AM ^
We should realize, however, that something like that could occur without the head coach's knowledge. I'm not saying Meyer wouldn't be responsible for keeping his program in line, but he's not omniscient and omnipresent.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:20 AM ^
are 2 hookers waiting for a highly rated HS recruit, then he should be fired. The head coach likely didn't set it up, but I would be shocked if he didn't know.
By the way, how much money did it take to recruit Cam Newton?
January 13th, 2012 at 10:25 AM ^
My guess is that those situations often involve a coach's knowledge (or safe assumption, at least) that boosters are going to "take care" of a recruit (or something very vague like that) but that they have no specific knowledge of what is going to happen.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:57 AM ^
Why do you assume they were hookers and not just two girls that players knew would be willing. I would guess a Coach would have to at least suspect something was up if that was happening, but unless the NCAA has a rule that players can't get laid on their official visits, I don't think this would be all that big of deal. Now if money exchanged hands at any point to "encourage" the girls, it's obviously a different story...
As for the Cam Newton recruitment, I believe Cecil's supposed line to MSU (not that MSU) was that "it wasn't going to be free this time," implying that he hadn't been paid to go to Florida.
Now please don't make me defend that scumbag, Urban Meyer, again. I have to go take a shower, now.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:48 AM ^
I'm sure all they had to say is "hey this guy is going to be a star" and there were several girls ready to jump into that bed.
January 13th, 2012 at 5:59 PM ^
Those girls are out there. I knew a girl who when the Chicago Bulls - Jordan/Pippen era - came to Indianapolis to play, they called her. Nobody was paying her, she just liked athletes and they liked her.
Are there non-pro volunteers out there who would hook up with a recruit on their own without being paid? Of course. Get in early . . . buy low, sell high.
I wonder if we have any such girls at Michigan? Yes I know that we are not endowed with richness in the hot women area, but there are some and you don't need that many. Or is it one of the reasons we can't consistently recruit toe-to-toe with the SEC?
January 13th, 2012 at 10:20 AM ^
Spoken like a true coach. Sarcasm aside though, good point as usual.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:23 AM ^
Correct. It's Tim Tebow who is omniscient and omnipresent, hallowed be his name. Amen.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:33 AM ^
i'm pretty sure Denard was recruited as a DB at Florida. this would leave room to assume that someone other than urban was recruiting him. its safe to assume that urban was much more involved in the recruitment of QBs. After seeing the recent recruiting success of Charlie Strong at Louisville(of all places) it leaves me to wonder.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:01 AM ^
Forcier and Robinson both probably took recruiting visits to SEC schools. Forcier had a huge offer list. However, we can assume that it was Robinson that was told to keep the car since Forcier wasn't driving a rental back to San Diego.
I thought this was one of the most interesting pages of the book. Not only what goes on, not surprising at all, but the coaches know it goes on at other schools. Therefore, the coaches know they are competing against a stacked deck when it comes to some recruiting battles.
Must be incredibly frustrating.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:23 PM ^
what chapter this is from? I would like to reread this part.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:46 PM ^
I swear it's in the one chapter about recruiting. And after the 2009 season. But one thing I do know it's the last page of a chapter. I would say about 60%-75% the way through.
I'll update when able.
Its one thing about the book I wanted to read a bunch more. I think Bacon had written quite a bit more on this but it seemed severely edited and/or truncated discussion.
Don't blame him since it dealt with other schools and making those accusations on the basis of unnamed sources isn't the most respectful thing to do. (cough freep)
January 13th, 2012 at 10:04 AM ^
January 13th, 2012 at 10:17 AM ^
Yes but the whole character issues meme may refer to the fact a recruit is looking for something extra ala SEC than what Michigan and/or BIG 10 schools do.
I cant recall who it was but I seem to remember a recruit sometime in the past 10 years asked "what else" was he getting to commit to Michigan and we prompty stopped recruiting him. Saying he has character issues is a nice way to let the world know that you've washed your hands of him rather than calling him out as a cheat and a briber.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:13 AM ^
You might be thinking of B.J. Daniels, the kid who Rodriguez tried to recruit in '08.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^
USF pays, we don't. Oh well. He didn't turn out to be more than a headcase and a headache anyway. Best of luck to him, the kid drives a nice car...I've seen it.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:08 AM ^
that I wish that I would have been a football player that was good enough to get recruited by SEC schools.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:13 AM ^
January 13th, 2012 at 10:20 AM ^
In a strange way, that was actually my favorite part of the book. It's nice knowing that Michigan recruits cleanly and is honest (naive?) enough to think that the school and the program will be enough to lure kids. I'm perfectly happy to fall behind the SEC in times like these.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:31 AM ^
And that's part of the reason that I don't really care about national championships or having a national playoff; there are some things that just aren't worth competing over when the playing field isn't level.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:38 AM ^
I wouldn't assume we're 100% on the up-and-up, either. I don't think we're as dirty as, say, Auburn, but the nature of the recruiting competition, and the popularity these guys enjoy on campus, almost guarantees that some violations are committed here and there. (Can you imagine the players never getting a free meal during their 4-5 years?) But obviously, the guys weren't going to be dumb enough to tell Bacon about it.
January 13th, 2012 at 6:04 PM ^
Great Journalism assignment: Get in with a future star recruit and have him document and then testify on the record about what really goes on and where.
January 13th, 2012 at 7:42 PM ^
Why would a recruit agree to do that?
January 13th, 2012 at 10:29 AM ^
Speaking of Auburn....y'all remember when we all wanted to get Zeke Pike #HALOL
January 13th, 2012 at 10:43 AM ^
I had to BEG girls to sleep with me in college...why wasn't I a 5 star recruit? Damn genes and lack of hard work really hosed me.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:58 AM ^
Just because no college women ever wandered into your room unless they were being paid does not mean that was the experience for the rest of us non-athletes!
January 13th, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^
I took those stories with a huge grain of salt as guys talking some shit with each other.
Didn't one of them tell a story about some guy getting a free car from one of the schools?
I don't blame the QBs for talking shit amongst themselves but if things were as rampant and open as that conversation suggested then I think we'd know.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:44 AM ^
Disagree completely. These stories are being told all of the time. Especially around the NFL combine when all of the kids get together and "compare" what they've gotten while in college.
NCAA is a joke. They are in it to make money. Like a bunch of crooked cops.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^
Questions of honesty aside, I just don't believe that SEC schools are laying out the goods like that for every 4* DB recruit that visits. That is just not practical.
Ponying up for that once in a generation recruit? Sure thing.
Rewarding star players on the team? You betcha.
Openning the piggy bank for every 4* that takes an official visit? Negative. Not possible.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:43 PM ^
Proof that Mr. Rager is correct in saying that this stuff can go on and on without any NCAA intervention is the recent Miami story. For years, Nevin Shapiro was throwing money/women/other at players and was only caught when HE OUTTED HIMSELF after his Ponzi arrest and hearing nothing from his "friends". Only then did the NCAA say, "Heavens to Betsy, what a dreadful situation we have!" Prior to that, it was a blind eye.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:30 AM ^
We need Bacon to write a book on how to get hookers in the Michigan dorms. That would level the playing field and help us non-athletes as well. Thank you in advance.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:43 AM ^
Is basketball recruiting really still more shady than football? Has it ever been? I highly doubt it.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:58 AM ^
The difference that one kid can make in basketball is HUGE compared to in football. I don't know that the reward is the same in football (one good QB, one good RB, one good CB, etc.) as it is in basketball (one good PG, one good PF, etc.), where one player can be the difference between a pretty good team and a national championship.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:04 PM ^
Live here in the heart of SEC.....promenient high school power in town. SEC schools have also told some of the players here that they will have extra tuition money to use for themselves, I.E. enough to get a decent used car.
Not sure how they get away with this stuff.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:25 PM ^
The NCAA isn't going to investigate something they know between 25% and 95% of their members are doing. The real rule is "don't get caught doing it and cause us all public embarassment." So it only gets found out when journalists/news organizations discover it in some way and start investigating, and then it still takes 5 years for the NCAA to actually investigate, by which point the athletes who know what went on are all out of college and no longer under the jurisdiction of the NCAA. Or it gets found out when one of the boosters or players involved gets into legal trouble and it all starts unraveling, as was the case with our basketball program and Ohio's football program. Or sometimes it gets found out because disgruntled ex-players decide to come forward about it (but they're just sour grapes and are mostly ignored, and also subject to the statute of limitations which is conveniently short enough to avoid most of these issues.)
So if you live in the heart of SEC, and you're daring enough, start becoming an investigative blogger and gather some info, and post it yourself or submit it to a newspaper that needs a story to drive revenue. That's the only way these schools don't get away with it.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:37 PM ^
i thought all players got decent stipends. Certainly enough to buy a decent used car.
January 13th, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^
I'm sure you did. ;-)
January 13th, 2012 at 1:12 PM ^
Top link on reddit cfb? http://www.reddit.com/r/cfb
And a total shock that the Florida guys there are claiming "everyone does it."
January 13th, 2012 at 1:16 PM ^
You would be naive to believe that recruits don't meet attractive and "aggressive" coeds while visiting Ann Arbor.
January 13th, 2012 at 2:26 PM ^
Yes but our's are wearing fatigues, army boots and have armpit hair
January 13th, 2012 at 6:07 PM ^
But they are aggressive.
January 14th, 2012 at 12:30 AM ^
I'm at that painful turning point in the book. It's amazing how vivid the mental images are when reading through this. Ugh. And I remember exactly how I felt when Denard threw that INT in the final moments of the Iowa game. Ugh^2.
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<br> In totally unrelated news, I'm sitting in LAX waiting on the 11p red eye (thank you Delta for extending my layover an extra seven hours... Asshats). Can someone please tell me why LAX SUX? This place blows. And how the heck does a Big Mac meal cost $8?
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<br>/ get off my lawn
<br>/ up since 3am and brain no worky no mas