There was a time in recruiting in which no deal was done until the ink was dry on a National Letter of Intent.
Commitments were about as binding as, well, the verbal commitments actually weren’t binding at all. So schools never gave up on a prospect that had committed elsewhere. That just meant that every school recruiting the prospect knew which school they had to beat.
So what changed? The early signing period made college football recruiting a summer sport. Battles that were once fought around Christmas and New Year’s Day continued right up into the old, lone national signing day, which was usually the first Wednesday in February.
So if college coaches took a commitment to another school with a grain of salt back then, wouldn’t they do so now? For instance, let’s take a look at Francis Mauigoa from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive lineman decided to announce that he was taking his five-star talents to Miami. That sounds familiar.
In a recent visit with Chris Landry of http://www.landryfootball.com, we discussed how commitments may once again be fluid, especially with NIL money in play:
Tennessee has a coaching staff full of better recruiters than me. However, I can start poking holes in Mauigoa’s commitment faster than he can blow open a gaping running lane.
Let’s start with the fact that Mauigoa picked a school that is in a dying conference. There’s a good chance that the ACC will not be anything like it is now before Mauigoa’s college career is complete. There is a decent chance that the ACC won’t exist in four years. No, really.
Will Miami be in a mega conference? One would think so. However, other schools like Washington, Oregon, Clemson, Florida State and, especially, Notre Dame have far more appeal than the Hurricanes dilapidated athletic department.
Tennessee, Florida, Southern California, Alabama and Hawaii were the other suitors that were topped by Miami for Mauigoa. Sorry Hawaii, but from the standpoint of being on solid ground with a mega conference barrelling down the tracks, you’re not in good shape. But neither is Miami.
If I’m Tennessee – or one of the other schools that made the final cut – I’m not throwing up the white flag on any of the prospects who have committed, especially not Mauigoa. There are five months until papers can be signed. Just look at the Big Ten, a lot can happen in five days, much less five months.
Why not give up on Mauigoa? Here’s why:
