Last week’s story of Calhoun receiver Da’Rick Rogers spurning Georgia to sign with Tennessee reiterates a feeling that many have about recruiting: There should be an early signing period to avoid such last-minute switches by high school kids.
Rogers committed to Georgia on June 9, but seven months later he was convinced by his best friend and teammate Nash Nance to join him in Knoxville. It was a cardinal sin for Georgia to lose such a high-rated player like Rogers, but it all could have been avoided if he had been able to sign Sept. 1.
An early signing period could benefit college coaches and high school players. Let’s say the first signing day was before the college season started in early September. Georgia had 15 commitments on Sept. 1, and the Bulldogs could have signed those players right then and there.
That would have allowed the Georgia coaches to scale back on their recruiting duties during the season and actually coach. They would not have to worry about some other school swooping in to steal their players that had been signed. Then they could have also concentrated on the players they really wanted for the remaining open slots.
High school players would benefit because they could concentrate on their season without the endless phone calls and harassing that goes on during the recruiting process.
The gamble for programs is if they sign a player before his high school season, and then he turns around and gets hurt, they’re stuck with him. But that’s a gamble they’d just have to take.
Rogers’ switch highlighted a very disappointing recruiting season for Georgia, which was the last thing it needed after a disappointing season.
I know, people go on and on about ranking classes and how dumb that might be, but the fact is, Georgia did not have a great year. If as team loses the best player in the state, and the consensus second best player in the country at his position, after he has been committed to the team for eight months, that’s just not good.
When Rogers committed, the Georgia coaches backed off some of their other bigger receiving targets. They thought they had their guy, so there was no reason to target more players at that position. They brought in one more receiver, Michael Bennett from Alpharetta, and that was it.
So when Rogers called Mark Richt last week to tell him of his switch, it was pretty much too late. Richt probably wondered if his staff had done everything possible to make sure Rogers didn’t even think about switching.
Richt should do what Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson does. When a player commits to Tech, Johnson is very clear: If players take a visit to another school after they commit, their scholarship offer is off the table. Then the coaches will know whether the player really wants to go to their school or not.
Even though Georgia’s class looks subpar, it did get some talent. Jakar Hamilton and Alec Ogletree should contribute right off the bat in the secondary, and new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham should have some building blocks for his new 3-4 defense with players like Garrison Smith, T.J. Stripling and Dexter Morant.
Another disappointment is something that was said during Wednesday’s news conference with Richt and recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner. A reporter said Garner told him after the bowl game that Georgia would sign up to 25 players.
But only 19 players signed, with two of those (offensive lineman Kenarious Gates and receiver Lonnie Outlaw) getting last-minute offers two days before signing day.
So why can’t Georgia fill up a recruiting class? Calling up people two days before and offering a scholarship was silly. The Bulldogs should have gotten their main targets and not had to settle on players.
Remember, if not for the post-signing day decisions last year of Kwame Geathers and Orson Charles, Georgia wouldn’t have filled up that class either.
Maybe not having a great class will be all right. After years of having top-10 recruiting classes, maybe it’s time for the Georgia coaches to coach up the talent they have on the field regardless of how many stars that player may have been given by a recruiting service.
But if in a few years, Georgia has another mediocre season, you will wonder if we’ll look back on Rogers’ decision, and on the lackluster class, and know exactly why it happened.
Join Bill from 3-6 p.m. every week day for The Bill Shanks Show on Fox Sports 1670 AM in Macon and on-line at www.foxsports1670.com
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