It is the teen name writing day, or as Lane Kiffin likes to call it, Flipmas.
Lane Kiffin wearing "Merry Flipmas" shirt during his Monday press conference leading up to Early Signing Period!
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) December 14, 2020
We don't deserve him. pic.twitter.com/9fMq6IwoF4
We'll have at least 40 articles published throughout the day so uh... buckle up.
Word of the Day: Espousal.
REAL RECOGNIZE REAL. Today, Brian Hartline will sign the nation's top wide receiver for the second-straight year and will head into next season with *10* top-100 players in his position room.
Needless to say, he can recruit a little bit. But when it comes down to it, he's not doing anything special – he's just being an honest and genuine guy. And people respond to that.
She liked Hartline’s upbeat demeanor and felt he had “good energy,” and something that resonated with came up in a conversation as Hartline talked about the Buckeyes’ scheme and how Julian would fit into it and Ohio State’s depth chart.
“Betsy, what do you want for Julian?” Hartline asked.
“It was a simple sentence, but it means a lot,” she told The Athletic. She replied that she just wanted him to be happy, and that’s a big job.
“It’s really a leap of faith no matter what,” she says.
Her son has been at Ohio State for almost a year now, and it’s been an unusually challenging time for all given it’s happening in a pandemic. Coaches have had to wear more hats than ever before. “Coach Hart has matched what he said,” Betsy Fleming says. “He’s been really good to us.”
...
Hartline says he just tries to be genuine, always.
“At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about,” he says. “The only way that you can really create a relationship is with time. If you don’t spend the time, if you don’t get vulnerable, if you don’t have conversations, then you never really develop a relationship. It’s all B.S.
“I got into and like to coach because I wanted to help young men, end of story. I was so blessed to have that opportunity when I became the receivers coach to have those kind of leaders. For the amount I hope they learn from me, they don’t even realize the amount I learn from them.”
I'll tell you what though, his resume sure doesn't hurt, either.
SNITCHES GET STITCHES. According to one SEC recruiting staffer, cheating happens "all the fucking time" in college football recruiting. But that doesn't mean it ever gets reported.
My pal Ari Wasserman spoke to 15 different recruiting staffers about cheating (and other recruiting-related things, if you're into that), and the consensus seems to be that cheating happens, most people are aware of it in some capacity, but most don't report other teams for doing it.
MAC: “No, nobody turns anyone in because they’ll find out who did and you’ll get blackballed from the industry.”
SEC-1: “We’re not worried about them finding out it was us or anything. The league and the NCAA are gonna tell us the same thing: Without evidence, we can’t do anything. Because remember, the league and the NCAA, they have no jurisdiction to investigate. They can’t issue search warrants and payments. So it’s just that a ‘He said, she said’ thing.”
Big Ten-1: “I move on. I will advise a kid and move on. It’s the rules of the streets. You don’t snitch. If you want to run your program that way, fine. If it is a kid I care about and have a relationship with, then I will give them advice. I don’t turn anyone in because it doesn’t affect me.
...
Big 12-2: “I personally just move on. I just don’t want to get caught up in all that. I don’t see myself as the police.”
ACC-1: “We would not report it unless it is egregious, but we don’t see that.”
Pac-12-2: “Depending on the relationship you have with the recruit and their families, we just tell them we are men of honor and do things the right way and teach their son to be a man, so you use that when you encounter this sort of thing by saying, ‘This is what we talk about.’ But I don’t report anything or anything like that.”
Big 12-3: “We just police ourselves. If we don’t have anyone red-handed, dead to rights, you don’t turn anyone in.”
My favorite responses to the "How often do you encounter cheating in recruiting?" question:
- SEC-1: “I’m in the Southeastern Conference. I see cheating all the fucking time.”
- SEC-2: “I do work in the SEC, so …”
- SEC-1: “We’ve had handlers that come into our building, walk into my office and say, ‘You can have this player, but it’ll cost you blank.’ We tell them, ‘No, thank you. We’re not interested.’ And then those kids go to one of three schools in our conference every time. ..."
It just means more...
Anyway, if you get bored while waiting for those LOIs to trickle in, give both pieces a read. They're super enlightening and well worth your time.
GOT THAT OTHER PAPER. It's not exactly rare for a player to leave school early and come back to get his degree. But I've never in my life seen a player finish his degree and graduate college in the middle of the NFL season.
But Jeff Okudah ain't exactly normal, in the best possible way.
The Marathon Continues. pic.twitter.com/zngOzoTAE7
— Jeff Okudah (@jeffokudah) December 15, 2020
Getting two different kinds of paper during his rookie season.
Respect, Jefe. Respect.
TROUBLE UP NORTH. How does a program sign an entire recruiting class when nobody knows the short or long-term job status of its head coach?
Well, Michigan's about to find out!
Oh, by the way, recruits will sign national letters of intent on Wednesday.
Think about that. These recruits don’t know for sure whether Harbaugh will be the coach. They don’t know whether he will get a short extension or a long one.
“Yeah, that question does come up,” Harbugh said, about his status. “And I tell them my plan is committed to Michigan.”
Not to parse words, but will he be committed to Michigan at a lower salary and a less costly buyout?
Will he be committed to Michigan if he is required to shuffle his staff?
By not announcing anything, and allowing Harbaugh's job status to linger, Michigan has created these questions, instability and uncertainty.
“I am, have been, am, and will remain (committed),” Harbaugh said. “Warde and I, will talk to him at the end of the season on the current contract. And that's the truth. That’s where it stands.”
Which might be true. But it doesn’t clear anything up.
Or make the program more stable.
And remember, even if Michigan does miraculous sign its whole top-10 recruiting class today (they won't, you'll even see some high-profile flips today), there's reportedly only one player in their entire class that the Buckeyes would have accepted a commitment from.
It's all about perspective.
SONG OF THE DAY. "That's Christmas to Me" by Pentatonix.
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