July 18, 2009

Musical Chairs, Capstone Style...

Nick Saban can recruit. By now, we've all figured that out. From East Lansing to Baton Rouge, all the way to his current stop in Tuscaloosa, Little Nicky has hauled in recruiting class after recruiting class of top tier talent on his way to building quality college football programs. I'm not sure why more folks don't think of him as-quite literally-a master architect along those terms.

But, times have recently changed here in the Southeastern Conference. At the recent Spring Meetings held in Destin, the conference voted to restrict signing classes to 28. Most folks would attribute this to the monster signing classes brought in by both Ole Miss & Alabama, which in the last two years have both included one class of more than 30 high school, prep school, & Junior College student athletes.

The times are making it especially interesting for Saban. After signing another group approaching 30 kids in 2009, he has some shimmying to do to get back to that magic, NCAA mandated 85 man scholarship roster rule.

Out of last year's 27 man class, the Crimson Tide have already got 22 kids enrolled in classes. Five are not yet in for whatever reason. Two of them-Louisiana's own RB Eddie Lacy of Dutchtown & Darrington Sentimore of recent power Destrehan HS-have not yet qualified academically (I seem to remember someone mentioning that here on Fanblogs after NSD...can anyone help me out with that one?), but that still leaves a sizable group which will be asked to either grayshirt, perhaps look to a CC or JUCO, or perhaps, simply fade away from memory.

That's because, according to some estimates, Alabama already had 70 kids on scholarship on campus within the football program, already. Let's do the math there...

70 kids currently enrolled on scholarship + just the 22 they already brought on campus out of the most recent signing class = 92 kids, which puts them-at a bare minimum-7 players over the limit.

So, what happens here? I'll tell you what happens. There will be a combination of currently enrolled student athletes on the football team who will not have their scholarships renewed, along with a number of kids from the original signing class who will not join the program.

Some of those rumored-or already confirmed-to be attempting to (or being asked to) leave the program or simply return to walk-on or non scholarship status include:

--PJ Fitzgerald - a 5th year Senior who is their starting punter, who is being asked to return to walk-on status after being rewarded with a scholarship for 2008.

--Leigh Tiffin - a 5th year Senior starting placekicker, who is being asked to likewise return to walk-on status after getting a scholarship in 2008 (This one doesn't hurt Tiffin as much, as his family is connected to a somewhat well off string of RV Dealerships who advertise throughout the conference).

--Evan Cardwell - a 5th year Senior OL who has a lot of experience, though zero starts.

--Brandon Fanney - a starter at their Jack position last year on their defense. I believe he started every game.

--Charlie Kirschman - a Junior Linebacker who "quit" the team. I typed the parentheses around the quit to try to stifle the obvious cynical comments I have floating around in my head regarding the nature of how Charlie reached the decision to "quit" on his team.

--Jennings Hester - a Sophomore WR, whose taking a medical hardship.

--Corey Smith - a sophomore PK whose transferring to West Virginia.

This still doesn't completely get Alabama out of the woods, & the hard feelings generated on the part of those in the signing class this year who won't make it in, coupled with those kids in the program who are "quitting"/transferring/medically hardshipping their way out of the way of progress at Alabama make one wonder about whether or not this is the right way to build a program, long-term. Will bad blood come back to haunt Saban, or his program for this type of program building?

This will obviously be a short-term situation for the Tide, as the new signing restrictions won't allow this sort've turnover of the roster to occur. Saban will also have to contend with the fact that players who don't complete their degree requirements at Alabama will reduce his score on the NCAA's new Academic Requirements, which can result in scholarship reductions & other penalties over the long term, as well.

It also must be said that Alabama is not the ony program guilty of this. Ole Miss signed close to 40 players this year (37 to be exact, if memory serves). Nutt's motivation was not just to turn over his roster though, but to act as a placement service for JUCO's & CC's in the state of Mississippi, which has an abundance of the two year institutions. He's hoping to build up relationships & hope that their smaller two year schools will return the favor after getting kids eligible & developing them for a season or two.

Just an interesting-and risky-proposition for the Crimson Tide on this one. Will it pay off long-term? What will the Alabama fan's think of this (obviously, most will infer this is as yet another long winded, condescending shot at Alabama, considering the source of this piece)?

The better question is, what do the players of these schools think of this? How do the signees of these schools feel? From the highs of February & National Signing Day, to the lows of late June & early July, when reality sets in for these former High School heroes...

Comments:

Musical Chairs, Capstone Style...
Nick Saban can recruit. By now, we've all figured that out. From East Lansing to Baton Rouge, all the way to his current stop in Tuscaloosa, Little Nicky has hauled in recruiting class after recruiting class of top tier talent on his way to building quality college football programs. I'm not sure why more folks don't think of him as-quite literally-a master architect along those terms. But, times have recently changed here in the Southeastern Conference. At the recent Spring Meetings held in Destin, the conference voted to restrict signing classes to 28. Most folks would attribute this to the monster signing classes brought in by both Ole Miss & Alabama, which in the last two years have both included one class of more than 30 high school, prep school, & Junior College student athletes. The times are making it especially interesting for Saban. After signing another group approaching 30 kids in 2009, he has some shimmying to do to get back to that magic, NCAA mandated 85 man scholarship roster rule. Out of last year's 27 man class, the Crimson Tide have already got 22 kids enrolled in classes. Five are not yet in for whatever reason. Two of them-Louisiana's own RB Eddie Lacy of Dutchtown & Darrington Sentimore of recent power Destrehan HS-have not yet qualified academically (I seem to remember someone mentioning that here on Fanblogs after NSD...can anyone help me out with that one?), but that still leaves a sizable group which will be asked to either grayshirt, perhaps look to a CC or JUCO, or perhaps, simply fade away from memory. That's because, according to some estimates, Alabama already had 70 kids on scholarship on campus within the football program, already. Let's do the math there... 70 kids currently enrolled on scholarship + just the 22 they already brought on campus out of the most recent signing class = 92 kids, which puts them-at a bare minimum-7 players over the limit. So, what happens here? I'll tell you what happens. There will be a combination of currently enrolled student athletes on the football team who will not have their scholarships renewed, along with a number of kids from the original signing class who will not join the program. Some of those rumored-or already confirmed-to be attempting to (or being asked to) leave the program or simply return to walk-on or non scholarship status include: --PJ Fitzgerald - a 5th year Senior who is their starting punter, who is being asked to return to walk-on status after being rewarded with a scholarship for 2008. --Leigh Tiffin - a 5th year Senior starting placekicker, who is being asked to likewise return to walk-on status after getting a scholarship in 2008 (This one doesn't hurt Tiffin as much, as his family is connected to a somewhat well off string of RV Dealerships who advertise throughout the conference). --Evan Cardwell - a 5th year Senior OL who has a lot of experience, though zero starts. --Brandon Fanney - a starter at their Jack position last year on their defense. I believe he started every game. --Charlie Kirschman - a Junior Linebacker who "quit" the team. I typed the parentheses around the quit to try to stifle the obvious cynical comments I have floating around in my head regarding the nature of how Charlie reached the decision to "quit" on his team. --Jennings Hester - a Sophomore WR, whose taking a medical hardship. --Corey Smith - a sophomore PK whose transferring to West Virginia. This still doesn't completely get Alabama out of the woods, & the hard feelings generated on the part of those in the signing class this year who won't make it in, coupled with those kids in the program who are "quitting"/transferring/medically hardshipping their way out of the way of progress at Alabama make one wonder about whether or not this is the right way to build a program, long-term. Will bad blood come back to haunt Saban, or his program for this type of program building? This will obviously be a short-term situation for the Tide, as the new signing restrictions won't allow this sort've turnover of the roster to occur. Saban will also have to contend with the fact that players who don't complete their degree requirements at Alabama will reduce his score on the NCAA's new Academic Requirements, which can result in scholarship reductions & other penalties over the long term, as well. It also must be said that Alabama is not the ony program guilty of this. Ole Miss signed close to 40 players this year (37 to be exact, if memory serves). Nutt's motivation was not just to turn over his roster though, but to act as a placement service for JUCO's & CC's in the state of Mississippi, which has an abundance of the two year institutions. He's hoping to build up relationships & hope that their smaller two year schools will return the favor after getting kids eligible & developing them for a season or two. Just an interesting-and risky-proposition for the Crimson Tide on this one. Will it pay off long-term? What will the Alabama fan's think of this (obviously, most will infer this is as yet another long winded, condescending shot at Alabama, considering the source of this piece)? The better question is, what do the players of these schools think of this? How do the signees of these schools feel? From the highs of February & National Signing Day, to the lows of late June & early July, when reality sets in for these former High School heroes...