Sport Ends Here

 

The State of College Football Recruiting

            Both the early and traditional national signing days for college football have come and gone. While many fans will shift their attention away from what happens on the recruiting trail, coaches and their recruiting staffs, certainly are not following that lead. This is the time where coaches dedicate themselves to either building upon already existing relationships with potential prospects or they will start forge those relationships all together. Recruiting is almost as important as the games themselves and coaching staffs at the collegiate level treat this process as such. But this all comes with an ugly side, as recruiting truly presents one of the darkest aspects of college sports as it a process that is riddled with scandals.

            This most recent, and arguably most head-scratching recruiting scandal comes to us from Knoxville, where under then-head coach Jeremy Pruitt, the Volunteers are accused of having paid recruits. The most comical aspect of this scandal being that Tennessee, allegedly, distributed the money in McDonald’s bags. Contextualizing this means, first, applying the warranted laugh and face palm. But knowing how things have been in college football for years, those who consider themselves among the most passionate followers of the sport, would not be at all surprised. Scandals like these, unfortunately, happen all the time. They happen at a rate far too frequent for anyone to ignore.

            So, the question that many may be wondering is a simple one: why do these attempts to cut corners take place?

            The answer is also simple. The vitality of successful recruiting classes cannot be overstated. When the pathway to a national championship begins not under the beating sun of fall camp, but rather under the Friday night lights, coaches understandably place an enormous emphasis on recruiting. Coaches always believe in their abilities and they absolutely should. They believe that they can foster the right environment for growth over the course of the next 3-5 years. However, you have to get those student-athletes on campus, first. Getting those student-athletes to join your program can prove to be an arduous task. Winning not just the player’s trust, but that of their family and anyone else who may fall in their support system is the first big step. Accomplish this and you are one step further on your journey to building a competitive team.

            They say that power corrupts. That does not even begin to describe what success does to the mind. Those who have reached the pinnacle want to ensure they remain firmly atop that perch. For others, the task lies in scaling that mountain for the first time. These aspirations compel some to cut corners. The allure of the big prize drives some to cheat.

            But beyond the aforementioned factor, what else triggers these actions?

            The answer to that is a lack of awareness at the top levels of collegiate athletics. It is the old Einstein ideology that insanity stems from doing the same thing repeatedly, the exact same way and expecting a different outcome each time. For years administrators and the NCAA have always trusted those underneath them to do the right thing. In spite of knowing that the trust that they have bestowed upon those in their departments, there is still little to no change in the governance of recruiting. They should trust these people. But unfortunately, there are just too many who are more than willing to break the rules for things to go on as they currently are.

            So, let us take everything into consideration and ask the million-dollar question. How do you fix this issue?

            Athletic departments and the NCAA need to do more. The Athletic Directors need to have far greater involvement in this process than they currently do. Greater involvement here would lead to the knowledge of what is actually happening in the department that they are supposed to lead. Then comes the need for far greater transparency. Catch these incidents early, disclose these violations, to the NCAA and deliver discipline as warranted. The latter part also falls on the NCAA. Inconsistencies in punishments do not do nearly enough to scare those who would consider committing recruiting violations. Make not mistake, I am not lobbying for a draconian system of discipline. Instead, I would like to see a system where punishments are fair, yet, consistent enough and tough enough to greatly discourage coaches and recruiters from cutting corners in the future.

            If the NCAA does not act there is a lot to lose. The non-blue blood programs stand to lose any chance of competing that they currently have. These programs cannot match the financial resources that the traditional powerhouses have. If this is allowed to continue, while those supposed to lead continue to turn a blind eye, the smaller schools are going to be put at a monumental disadvantage.

            Recruiting violations have taken place for many years. Break it down and the solution is clear. The future of college football, and college sports overall, is greatly impacted by what the leaders of college athletics decide to do. With the integrity of college sports hanging in the balance, Athletic Directors and the NCAA must step up.  Failure to do so promises to have catastrophic ramifications for the future of college sports and college football, in particular.