Committed but visiting other schools? (began with Ryan Williams discussion)

[JDCrimson]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

In choosing the word business, I was meaning it exactly what you are referring to. This is a decision on the foundation for his future. It is serious business. Now, you may not agree with his approach but somehow I dont think he is making a joke of this process.

It is my perception that his first choice is to come to Bama and his next is to stay in state thus the reason for committing to Auburn. We have to remember that Auburn has limited spots as well and we have no knowledge of the dialogue between Ryan Williams and Alabama or Ryan Williams and Auburn. My guess is this is his attempt to work plan A and plan B.

I am sure that the Alabama staff has told Ryan that Michael McNeil is their top choice and he is second on their board - plan A and plan B. Both have been offered a schlarship from Bama but my guess is Ryan has been asked to hold off on committing although he probably would have done so by now to allow Bama time to see what McNeil does. So what does that say about Alabama? Its an offer but not an offer right now or an offer that is contingent upon this and this. There are 2 sides to this.

It could also be perceived by his committing to Auburn that he indeed is Auburn's top choice but was getting the squeeze from them or they were going to move on to other prospects. Now what would you do in this situation with the risk of not getting to go where you want and also slow playing your second choice to the point they decide to move on as well? This is big gamble with your future.

A bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush. I have no problem with him trying to work his options and create safety net for himself. The American Way - he has that freedom. And somehow I dont think him doing this is a foreboding that he would be a problem kid for us or anyway misrepresent the University. This is good kid faced with a difficult decision.

Also remember he is only 18 too. I have found myself in this same situation this week evaluating 2 great career opportunities that will have substantial impact on my earning potential going forward and neither option is a bad one. I am telling you this has been one of the most stressful decisions I have ever made and I am 30+ years old.

We need to give the kid a break.

 

[THE BAMA IRISHMAN]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

But there's a HUGE difference in following an operational plan in the military and a kid choosing where he'll spend the next 4-5 years of his life. Military personnel have taken an oath and have little choice, whereas a kid committing to a college, then realizing that maybe he made a mistake shouldn't be compelled to live with that mistake during one of the most formative periods of his life.

Tommy,
It would be a lot easier if these young men spent real time going over their options before committing. I just do not get a player committing only to second guess himself and backing out of a previous verbal. I am for the NCAA changing the rules. If you commit then your visits are stopped. This would not only make the players get a clue, it would have them sit down and make the best decision possible before making a mistake.

 

[THE BAMA IRISHMAN]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

In choosing the word business, I was meaning it exactly what you are referring to. This is a decision on the foundation for his future. It is serious business. Now, you may not agree with his approach but somehow I dont think he is making a joke of this process.

It is my perception that his first choice is to come to Bama and his next is to stay in state thus the reason for committing to Auburn. We have to remember that Auburn has limited spots as well and we have no knowledge of the dialogue between Ryan Williams and Alabama or Ryan Williams and Auburn. My guess is this is his attempt to work plan A and plan B.

I am sure that the Alabama staff has told Ryan that Michael McNeil is their top choice and he is second on their board - plan A and plan B. Both have been offered a schlarship from Bama but my guess is Ryan has been asked to hold off on committing although he probably would have done so by now to allow Bama time to see what McNeil does. So what does that say about Alabama? Its an offer but not an offer right now or an offer that is contingent upon this and this. There are 2 sides to this.

It could also be perceived by his committing to Auburn that he indeed is Auburn's top choice but was getting the squeeze from them or they were going to move on to other prospects. Now what would you do in this situation with the risk of not getting to go where you want and also slow playing your second choice to the point they decide to move on as well? This is big gamble with your future.

A bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush. I have no problem with him trying to work his options and create safety net for himself. The American Way - he has that freedom. And somehow I dont think him doing this is a foreboding that he would be a problem kid for us or anyway misrepresent the University. This is good kid faced with a difficult decision.

Also remember he is only 18 too. I have found myself in this same situation this week evaluating 2 great career opportunities that will have substantial impact on my earning potential going forward and neither option is a bad one. I am telling you this has been one of the most stressful decisions I have ever made and I am 30+ years old.

We need to give the kid a break.

There is nothing wrong with sitting down and doing your homework before committing. I am not saying you are wrong, I just see things differently. It is not right a player has this much trouble in his decision nor is it fair to the team he committed to. I can honestly say I would not lose any sleep if Ryan did come to Alabama. But it (I can't believe I am saying this) is not fair that Auburn and its coaching staff worked so hard to secure him. I do like this thread and everyones view on the subject at hand, even if we disagree. Thanks for the insight.

 

[Denny Chimes]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

IMO, there's no reason to be upset or to follow recruiting that closely. These kids are still in HS and have contributed absolutely nothing to The University of Alabama. Maybe in a few years, they become the next Chris Samuels, Shawn Alexander, Cornelius Bennett etc. But this is a headache for the coaches to deal with...it's part of their job. I trust them to recruit the right individuals to win championships at Bama and to set good examples and play and graduate within the rules. I realize recruiting is big business these days but how many five star recruits actually deliver on their potential? How many one star recruits "overachieve?" It's a crap shoot to rank these folks. I follow the players on the field wearing Crimson and I contribute (i.e. I'm a booster) to various Crimson Tide athletic and academic funds to help build that foundation for success. That and faithfully cheer for the Tide in BDS every chance I get is about all I can do. Why worry about the rest? RTR!

 

[RunBamaRun]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

I don't particularily like the idea of committing to one school and then later changing to another. It is just another part of an imperfect world.

As spots start filling up, early committments, the kids try to weigh their options and pick out which is the best way for them to go. I'm sure that it can get frustrating and unless they are a 5 star recruit (like Andre) and are assured that a spot will be held for them they will sometimes commit to a school just to insure that they are not left out in a numbers crunch. If they later get that unconditional offer from a school they really prefer (i.e. McElroy) they will change their mind.

The kids that purposely hold a school hostage until signing day and then release them are the REAL problem. JMHO

 

[TerryP]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

From what I understand, he didn't show and the staff didn't make any effort to pursue it.

 

[Crimson Speed]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

Greg McElroy. Thank god he didn't honor his commitment to Texas Tech.

Every year you have recruits change their minds, some commit to a different program with every visit. That's just the way it is folks. Coaches don't stop recruiting a player just because they have committed to another program.

The word "committment" is loosely followed in today's recruitment process. All candidates have the right to change their mind as many times as they want, right up to National Signing Day. It might be viewed as misleading for a player to make a verbal committment, then change his mind a time or two. Those are the rules of the game. Which is the preferred choice: having a candidate bounce back and forth on his verbal committment, or have a player milk it for all it is worth with a half dozen schools before announcing? Either way, these are high schoolers looking for direction. Obviously, it is crucial that coaches stay in touch with these verbal committments right up to NSD.

 

[THE BAMA IRISHMAN]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

Justin Woodall is a good example of a young recruit who has his stuff together.

Qoute: "They stayed in contact with me," Woodall said of Shula and staff. "I told them they didn't have to worry about nothing."

Said Ball, "He kept saying the whole time that he wanted to play football and he stuck by his guns and you've got to respect him for that."

This is the kind of young man who did his homework. He stayed in touch with the Alabama coaches and flatout told them he was coming to Alabama. Woodall is the kind of young man who can write his own ticket to anywhere. He turned down 1 Million to play baseball for the Mets. No confusion on his part. Woodall has his ducks in a roll. That is how it should be.

 

[bamadoc94]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

There is the potential for injuries, academic issues, and sub par performance to affect this relationship in either direction during that time. Have any of us ever thought to consider how the recruiting process goes from the school's side?

There seems to be a misconception that when a school offers a recruit a scholarship he automatically has until signing day to accept or decline it. Unfortunately that isn't the case. The recruiting game has many intricasies that aren't apparent to the average fan. For example;(this is a fictional example) Tubberville may have told Williams that he had another prospect ready to commit and given him X number of days to make his decision or else the offer would be retracted. At the same time Alabama has signed another player and schollies are getting tight, Williams realizes if he doesn't commit he may lose both opportunities and be forced to go with his third choice. Caught in this dillema he realizes that an auburn commitment would secure that option, and buy him more time while he finds out whether bama still wants him. Worst case scenario he still has auburn, and if bama offers he merely breaks a soft verbal.

 

[IMALOYAL1]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

Tommy,
It would be a lot easier if these young men spent real time going over their options before committing. I just do not get a player committing only to second guess himself and backing out of a previous verbal. I am for the NCAA changing the rules. If you commit then your visits are stopped. This would not only make the players get a clue, it would have them sit down and make the best decision possible before making a mistake.

What if a coach says you better commit or there will not be a spot left. The kid hasn't been offered by the school he really wants, but doesn't want to miss out on his 2nd choice by waiting on the 1st that may never happen? His intentions are good.

 

[bamadoc94]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

as bamafarmer said look at the schools side. They offer more schollies than they really have, leaving some offers until signing day for the top recruits. Meanwhile they continue to play this back and forth as commitments come in and the numbers change. Signing day arrives and a couple of those five stars commit, but this puts the school over their schollie limit so someone who commited early and stood firm by his commitment gets screwed and loses his schollie or is forced to grayshirt. Where is the commitment on the Universities part? How can you expect these young men to do what their future faculty, leaders, counselors, and mentors fail to do? This is one small example of the way recruiting works and you can't blame a kid for doing what is necessary, so as to be able to do what is right for him and his future.

 

[drjamesm]

I have not heard anything about whether RW actually showed up in T Town. Also,I have no problem if he did b/c it will not effect any other recruits one way or another.IMO,he would be the only person this trip would influence....so come on down and see if you like T Town better than the Barn.

 

[crmsnrevelation]

If he comitted to the barn then the only time he should be allowed on campus is in 2008 and 2010.
Wishy washy attitudes and decisions are not what bama needs.
CMS should slam the door as soon as the announcement was made.

 

[wastedmason]

And coach Bryant was commited to Texas A&M untill mama called. And the Ags were quite upset to lose him also. And boy did they pay us back, lol!:biggrin2:

The damn season hasn't even started and recruiting is already in high gear! I ain't even got over Tebow! LOL!:biggrin2: Them kids ain't committed to anything but being young, dumb and full of it at this point. They got a new girlfriend every week and can't make up their mind what they want to wear to school most mornings.

Some grew up big fans of a certain team, mostly cause there dad or someone they looked up to were big fans, and dreamed of playing for that team. The lucky ones who get the oppertunity then have to deal with every other teams coaches and fans begging for them to come here. Maybe his new girlfriend is a big Auburn fan and she wants him to go to school with her. Decisions, decisions at 17 or 18 years of age. Wow I can't even guess as to what was going on in my mind at that time in my life. But I bet you I did a lot of changing my mind. Even thought about joining the Army!

I even changed my mind just the other day! I told my wife I was going to Valley auto parts to get an alternator for my truck, then at the last minute I went to Auto Zone! Damn I cost Valley money!

 

[gator]

Wish that the recruiting services, media, message boards, etc., just posted the "verbal comittments" as the favorite or something less than a comittment. To try to regulate it would be a mess as a lot does change over the course of the year- coaches leave, injuries happen, teams do better or worse than expected, other recruits step up, etc... My biggest problem with everyting is when a kid misleads a coach. If the kid is up front about his concerns (position depth, coaching changes, style of play, acedemics, etc.) the school or schools in play can at least make informed decisions. I have no problem with recruits visiting other schools to lure recruits to their school as long as the coach recruiting them knows it. The coach would have to decide if he thought a visit had a good enough chance of changing his mind to be worth a shot. Probably not in most cases, but I have seen a number of threads on Bama and UF boards claiming that, if we only had a visit we would have had a good shot. Naturally, you can discount all I have said, because we are delaing with 18 year olds.

 

[96Gators]

Does this mean some of you don't want Corley?:wink:

 

[drjamesm]

Does this mean some of you don't want Corley?:wink:

Duh....................... NO,I just can't see where you have gotten the idea Bama would not take SC.I believe the thread is mainly a knock on "soft commitments". Of course we would love to get SC!:

 

[bamaslaw]

Does this mean some of you don't want Corley?:wink:

No, that's a player changing his commitment to come to Bama, that's completely different! :biggrin2: :biggrin2:

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Re: Committed to the BARN but coming to T-Town?

....I am truly upset that Greg McElroy did not follow through with his commitment to Texas Tech....personally have a problem with People changing their minds to the point it disrupts daily operations...deal with young people in the military everyday...know this is college football, but what ever you take with you in life it follows you like a bad habit.

Unfortunate few know little or nothing regarding Mcelroy's TT verbal, it's impact on him, his recruitment, and his eventual UA commit. Folks that know are well aware Mcrelroy was in fact "pushed" into early verbal; TT was best choice at the time. That verbal slowed down his recruitment markedly till he impressed major coaches with TX record setting performances in the national spotlight. He continued to receive intense interest from Top 10 teams even after his UA commit. BTW there is no connection to military operational planning and recruitment verbals. As one who spent time in a combat arm of the active military and follow QB recruitment closely, believe players who don't make best decisions "for them" re:recruitment aren’t too bright and/or not well advised. Mcelroy and his advisors are anything but the latter. Athletic commitments and scholarships that follow are in fact big business...with lifetime implications and consequences.