Every college football program in America got much better this week.
The headlines tell the tales.
Cardinal crop is as deep, talented as any in years — San Francisco Chronicle
Spartans excited about recruiting class — Detroit Free Press
UCLA joins USC among nation’s top recruiting classes — Los Angeles Times
Then I read The Gazette’s Page 1C headline about Iowa’s recruiting. It was stunning and troubling.
Iowa’s recruiting not in the stars
Apparently the Hawkeyes didn’t land a ton of five-star recruits. And that’s just sad.
Not really, of course. It would be tedious to list the many few-star signees that went on to become All-Big Ten players for Iowa in the last decade.
(Les) Miles wins recruiting national championship for LSU — Monroe News-Star
(Jim) Leavitt glowing after USF recruiting haul — Sportingnews.com
(Bo) Pelini’s staff finds rich recruiting soil far from Midlands — Omaha World-Herald
Hard-core Hawkeye fans won’t soon forget the winter of 2005.
Seven of Iowa’s 2005 signees-to-be played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio for high school standouts.
Ryan Bain, Tyler Blum, Jake Christensen, Dan Doering, Tony Moeaki, Dace Richardson, Trey Stross.
Bain and Christensen are no longer with the program. The other five are still Hawkeyes, but have had injury-plagued careers. Maybe one or all of them will have big senior seasons.
Only two members of Iowa’s 2005 recruiting class started for the Hawkeyes at the end of the 2008 season, linebacker Pat Angerer and offensive lineman Kyle Calloway.
When Bettendorf’s Angerer committed to Iowa in August 2004, it rated six paragraphs in The Gazette. That’s no criticism of our coverage. Angerer wasn’t a recruiting “name.”
Angerer had a terrific junior season in ‘08, and figures to be a defensive anchor as a senior.
Calloway wasn’t a nobody in Recruiting World, but he wasn’t one of the 5-star/gold-star guys that had Hawkeye fans frothing at this time four years ago.
Iowa has 19 signees this year. Pick one of those with a shorter bio and fewer stars. Tell your friends this is the guy to watch in a few years.
You’ll eventually look like a football genius.
Lane Kiffin (right): Rage Against the (Gators) Machine
Recruiting doesn’t make everyone look good, though. New Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin certainly rattled some Southeastern Conference cages Thursday.
They do things differently in the football-mad SEC: Tennessee held a “recruiting celebration” at the Knoxville Convention Center, and almost 1,000 fans showed up.
Referring to an alleged recruiting violation by Florida Coach Urban Meyer in pursuit of eventual Tennessee signee Nu’Keese Richardson, Kiffin told the gathering:
“I’m going to turn Florida in right now in front of you. Nu’Keese was here on campus (on his recruiting visit) and his phone kept ringing.
“One of our coaches said, ‘Nu’Keese, who’s that?’ He said, ‘Urban Meyer.’
“Just so you know, when a recruit is on another campus, you can’t call him. I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn’t get him.”
The response of Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley:
“There was no rule violation and we have confirmed this with the Southeastern Conference.
“(Kiffin’s) comments not only slandered our coach, but he violated SEC rules by publicly criticizing another coach and institution.”
But not all is unpleasant with the Gators. Meyer signed a receiver from Sanford, Fla., named Andre Debose.
“I don’t want to single any guy out,” Meyer said, “but he is as good as there is. I think he is the best player in America.”
Sometimes, as Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has proved, the most-touted recruits do turn out to be special players.
So tell your friends Debose is the guy to watch in the next two years.
You’ll eventually look like a football genius.
