Ole Miss Football: The Unfortunate Messiness of Recruiting
College football recruiting is a high stakes game of investing in the future. However, as we’ve seen with Ole Miss football, playing that game can get messy every now and then.
Recruiting has become a separate season for Ole Miss football fans. Even while the literal football season is going on, many fans keep an eye on the future. They will follow high school football players on social media all for the purpose of trying to ascertain where they will choose to spend the next three or four years of their life.
College football recruiting is big business. So-called “recruiting gurus” receive validation by successful anticipating what school a player may end up. However, trying to determine the judgement of a teenager can be difficult.
All the fans of other schools that are so sanctimoniously showing faux outrage about players being ignored or dropped from recruitment list should be aware that all schools do it. Theirs do it as well. Some of these announcements of players re-opening their recruitment come after a coach has made it known that they may go in another direction.
Choosing the right players for your football team is paramount to being a successful college football coach. Jobs have been loss because a talented coach did not have talented players. So, recruiting well is important. Ole Miss football fans are expecting a competitive team on the field every year.
It is because of importance of recruiting the right player that this process can become messy. These kids listen to the coaches tell them how great they are and how much they want them as part of their program. Yet, circumstances will arise that a school may have to drop a kid from their recruitment list. Even the Rebels will have to make those type of tough decisions.
It’s easy to vilify the coaches for this process. And yes, the coaches should do their best to remain true to the prospects. However, in the end, the coach’s job is to do what’s best for the school. Before we criticize, there are reasons why a team would drop a recruit from their list.