College coaches breaking promises is older than the forward pass

Since about the time Rutgers met Princeton in the first-ever college football game in 1869, coaches have been making promises they could not – or never intended to – keep.

Especially over the last decade or so, college football recruits have taken on this sort of celebrity status when they visit campuses – or when coaches leave their families around the holidays for in-home visits to beg players to sign with their schools.

RANKINGS SPOTLIGHT: Alabama-Georgia game features unmatched roster talent

CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2027 RANKINGS: Top 100

TRANSFER PORTAL: Full coverage | Player ranking | Team ranking | Transfer search | Transfer Tracker

Photo shoots have gone to the extreme. One prominent coach has acted like an Uber driver for recruits when they visit campus. The steak dinners, the extravagant hotel rooms dolled up with all kinds of cookies and candies and God knows what else. And that’s just for visits.

Let alone all the promises of early playing time that rarely materialize. Or the promise that a certain player can play both offense and defense, which is nearly impossible or even the best thing for the player.

The coaches aren’t necessarily to blame, either. The kids lap this stuff up, revel in their newfound status and almost demand it on every visit they take. You know how many Instagram followers they can get off this stuff?

Players are so lavished during the recruiting process that a new term was formed years ago to kick all that nonsense out of their system once they get to campus: De-recruited.

That’s when reality sets in and it’s time to put up or shut up and some players can handle it and some don’t.

But now we’ve entered a new NIL era where the promises are not just hollow ones. There is actually…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-coaches-breaking-promises-older-031616428.html

Author : Rivals

Publish date : 2024-09-26 03:16:16

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.