The current catch phrase in college football during this, the peak of recruiting season, is “committed.” One glance at social media and you’re swamped with high schoolers sending out tweets announcing “I’m committed” to good old State U.
Except they aren’t.
Not at all, in fact.
Of course when a recruit signs that all important Letter of Intent, he is obligated to attend State U for the following school year.
For one year. That’s it.
After that, he’s free to become a free agent at any time. So the following season, he can send out a whole new “Committed” tweet when he’s finalized his first transfer destination. And the options for changing schools after that doesn’t end there.
The way the toothless organization formally known as the NCAA works today, is that it’s allowable for one college football player to play for FIVE different schools during his college career. That would include playing four games in one season (as University of Colorado freshman quarterback Owen McCown and others did this year – during a “redshirt” season that won’t count against eligibility) then continually transferring and playing four full seasons at four different schools to finish it out. This year, the NCAA isn’t even counting bowl games against a player’s redshirt season.
With hardship waivers – and anyone and everyone get those these days – some guys play six, even seven seasons of college football for any number of different schools.
Example: Quarterback J.T. Daniels, who began his college career at Southern California, transferred to Georgia last season where he was a backup to Stetson Bennett on a national championship team. Then he transferred to West Virginia for this past season. Now he’s back in the Transfer Portal looking for his fourth school.
Someone please tell us how J.T. Daniels has learned one single solitary thing during his college days about the meaning of “commitment?”
Things didn’t used to be this way.
A commitment used to mean a student-athlete was all set to attend State U for the next four years. That could be three if he was good enough to leave for the NFL a year early. If you wanted to change schools, you had to sit out a season. Then in recent years the NCAA began to allow student-athletes to transfer once without penalty.
Finally, they said to heck with it.
Leave. Stay. Do whatever you want.
Free agency for everyone!
The NCAA won’t challenge anything anymore because they’re afraid of being dragged back into court and losing again. Legislators have been quick to support the poor, exploited student-athlete (they guys getting all their college paid for and then some) but loathe to help the organization that is supposed to regulate and maintain some semblance of a level playing field.
So the NCAA has simply done a turtle at midfield.
The public and legislative support for this free-for-all is largely in response to college football coaches doing much the same thing – landing at one school for a couple of years before taking a new, exorbitantly high salary gig someone else and leaving his former school high and dry. It happens with the best of them. Nick Saban did it to Michigan State and LSU. Jimbo Fisher did it to Florida State. Jim Harbaugh did it to Stanford. A coach doesn’t even have to win more games than he loses. Mel Tucker went 5-7 in his single season at Colorado before bolting for Michigan State after he’d signed his group of 2020 “commits.”
Players aren’t committed.
Coaches aren’t committed.
That only leaves the fans, who are now forced to relearn rosters every year. It’s a good thing most fans are loyal to the name on the front of the jersey, not the ever-changing one’s on the back.
Maybe it’s just semantics, but it would be great if someone could come up with a new word or phrase to be used in place of “committed.” Something like “I’m dropping in to State U for next season. Stay tuned to see where I end up the following year.”
And yes, get off my lawn.
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