Fear and Loathing of NSD

Today was National Signing Day.

In the South, NSD is the equivalent of a holiday such as Labor Day. In fact, some football fans think that Super Bowl Sunday should be followed by three consecutive days off, exceeding my favorite holiday season of Thanksgiving: Monday as a recovery day from the hype and glitter of the game/halftime/commercials, Tuesday as a catch-up day on what college football has been up to since the National Championship game, and Wednesday for more hype and glitter of a much different kind.

I’m not one of those football fans.

Tommy Tomlinson at Sports on Earth and John Brandon at Grantland give me permission to remain detached.

The kids are alright

The ink is barely dry. The crap shoot is now just beginning. For the most part, it will take a long time before we know what the dice will show. Except for the fact that Tennessee snagged three JUCOs, all likely to be contributors on day one. Wednesday was 2012 National Signing Day. It was significant. Derek Dooley and (a mostly new) staff are to be congratulated for a very respectable showing.

The Hay Is Now In The Barn

Yes, today is Super Bowl Sunday, not a college football day. It is the day that American sport is showcased to the world. But the players playing in icy Dallas this evening started their national football careers long ago, when they donned a hat in the now-common symbolic gesture of signage. For most, the fame began on a National Signing Day a few years ago.

We’re Doin’ Fine, Thanks

National Signing Day was a huge media event nationwide. Schools like Florida and USC stole the headlines. Derrick Dooley quietly went about his business, not making a spectacle of himself or of our football program. So what picture did the San Francisco Chronicle publish in their story about NSD with all the big national stories? This one! Imagine that. Photo by Saul Young.

Armageddon didn’t come to the Tennessee Volunteer football program as some predicted when Lane Kiffin skipped town in his oversized jeans and jacket. Instead, a relatively unknown son-of-a-legend came to town and (1) calmed the restless natives by delivering a spot-on speech and Q&A session; and then (2) stopped talking, hit the road, and got down to the everyday business of hard work—hiring a staff of coaches and recruiting kids in advance of the biggest day in Tennessee before the O&W game: National Signing Day.

A Steady Stream of Coaches Come to Knoxville

On Saturday 16 January 2010—day one of Dooleyworld—Kippy Brown saw the writing on the wall and skipped town for (literally) greener pastures in the Great Northwest. David Reaves and James Cregg found themselves no longer members of UT’s coaching staff. On Sunday, Coach Dooley (sounds good, doesn’t it?) hired Terry Joseph from LaTech and Eric Russell from Texas Tech.

NSD: Have a Nice Holiday

Here we are, Wednesday, February 3, 2010, National Signing Day. A day which should be a national holiday, at least in the American South anyway.

I’ve had my say about what the various player rankings might mean and what they might not mean in terms of actual performance on the field once on campus, and in very specific instances what they have meant and what they have not meant.

But perhaps team rankings are another matter.

Patrick Garvin, one of my favorite bloggers—because he writes about college football from a historical perspective—last week wrote a post titled Are Recruiting Rankings Meaningful? It was the type of article that conjured up Mark Twain’s famous saying about letter-writing. Sort of.

Florida’s Headstart Program

With National Signing Day (NSD) coming on Wednesday, I had a look at Tennessee’s recruiting prospect list published by Scout. It’s the list of high school and JUCO players that have expressed an interest in Tennessee.

The players are listed by Scout’s ranking, from five-star candidates to one-star rankings. The list also indicates the level of interest expressed by the player (low, medium, high if uncommitted) and if an official offer has been made by Tennessee.

Also indicated is if the player has committed to the Vols or to any other school, and if the commitment has been made verbally (which will change beginning Wednesday as players will begin to sign).

Star Gazing with a Grain of Salt

Gazing for the next five-star prospect.

We’re closing in on one of the most exciting days on the college football calandar: National Signing Day. The day all high school players who will graduate this year can sign letters of intent to play for their college of choice. National Signing Day is the first day of an approximate two-month period, this year running from February 3 to April 1, 2010.

Every year, Division I FBS schools can add up to 25 new scholarship players to their rosters so long as the total number of scholarship players does not exceed 85.

We are inundated by stars. Not only by the players themselves, but by the rating system. Scouts, Inc. has their famous grading system, from one-star to five-star players. We’re bombarded by news reports of what team has this five-star player visiting this weekend and what team has three four-star players with verbal commitments, and so on.