Official NSD Thread 2015

[Godfather]

Chances are, we’ll never know the full story of Byron Cowart’s signing-day drama. Was Cowart to blame for the delay? Was his high school coach?

In the end, it doesn’t really matter. He sent the letter to Auburn, and now he’s considered the jewel of another highly ranked recruiting class. All is forgiven, more or less, with the push of a button on a fax machine.

A much better story has been brewing in Glen Saint Mary, Fla., where CeCe Jefferson and his family are at the center of one of the more bizarre recruiting stories of all time. This makes Rashaan Evans and the dance-off at Grandpa’s birthday party look like scrambling for tokens at Chuck E. Cheese’s.

The Evanses just had two coaching staffs tap-dancing. The Jeffersons appear to have three or four on a string.

As the line from the ditty from the vintage 1970s sit-com went, the Jeffersons are “moving on up.’’ Well, not so fast, Weezie.

A former Auburn assistant coach was known to detest recruiting. His hatred for the process was legendary. His primary peeve was that he had a hard time forcing himself to beg high school kids with oversized egos.

I get that. It has to be more than difficult for many. The problem is, recruiting remains the lifeblood of college football, as it has always been.

I have been following college football recruiting for 40 years. I believe recruiting matters now more than it ever has. But for the first time, I’m starting to get tired of it - really tired of it.

More and more, I am like that former Auburn assistant coach who detested recruiting because he couldn’t stand the egos and the theatrics. Lucky for him that he just had to deal with the signing day ceremonies that included the picking of the caps and national television announcements.

As far as I know, he never had to put up with worrying if a prospect had faxed in his national letter of intent. He certainly never had to deal with a prospect committing to a school on national television and remaining unsigned for more than a day while the prospect’s father publicly turned on the school that his son committed to.

Recruiting was a lot more enjoyable and far less complicated before top prospects started making live announcements on national television, as if where an elite offensive lineman goes to school is cause for interrupting regular programming.

Live television announcements, though, just seemed to legitimize a process that had long since lost perspective. In recent years, we’ve had one example after another of the loss of control - the Cyrus Kouandjio fiasco, a mother in Miami running off with her son’s letter of intent, and the Rashaan Evans melodrama, among other things.

And now this, the lost or contested letters of intent in Florida.

There’s no denying all of this is important. But lately, it seems to be like tuning into the Kardashians.

Keep watching this stuff all you want. It’s entertaining, for sure, with all the makings of an ESPN reality show.

Call it “The Mysteriously Lost Faxes of Florida.’’

Mike Marshall http://auburn.247sports.com/Article/Mike-Marshall-The-faxes-of-Florida-35455481

[dallaswareagle]

I thought 54 was the new 65?

With blue pills 54 is the new 24.   

[Godfather]

With blue pills 54 is the new 24.   

I've seen pictures of you...nope.

[dallaswareagle]

I've seen pictures of you...nope.

  Thats not very nice. 

[CCTAU]

I've seen pictures of you...nope.

I don;t believe i'da told dat!

[Godfather]

I don;t believe i'da told dat!

I have pictures of you to Mr. 2 inch.

[Snaggletiger]

I have pictures of you to Mr. 2 inch.

Shake it like a Polaroid picture

[dallaswareagle]

I have pictures of you to Mr. 2 inch.

Why do you have a picture of his small junk?  Is that midget porn?

[CCTAU]

I have pictures of you to Mr. 2 inch.

LOOK. It was COLD out that day!

[RottenBottom]

LOOK. It was COLD out that day!

They don't know about shrinkage.

[Snaggletiger]

I was in the pool

[Buzz Killington]

I am on a personal campaign to raise awareness.

[Godfather]

I am on a personal campaign to raise awareness.

1 in 12 Americans is unaware