Melick Column about Davidson High Coach Who Keeps Kids "Committed"

[Mr. Sensible]

I've known Fred Riley for 18 years and he reminds me very much of the head coach character on 'Friday Night Lights" - the TV show.

http://blog.al.com/ray-melick/2010/02/at_this_high_school_decommitin.html

At this high school, 'decommiting' is not acceptable

By Ray Melick -- The Birmingham News
February 11, 2010, 6:05AM

There is no point in expecting college coaches to be able to teach high school prospects the meaning of the word "commitment," not when virtually every head coach out there has, somewhere along the way, left one job for another because he believed he had found a better opportunity.

committed.jpgAt Mobile's Davidson High, coaches try to make being 'commited' mean something. You and I may understand coaches looking out for their family and career. But for the players, players they convince to "commit" to them only to leave to coach someone else, the distinction might be a little more difficult to grasp.

Explaining why it is OK for adults to change their minds but it isn't OK for kids to change their minds is one of those pesky questions the NCAA and job-hopping head coaches do their best to avoid.

Fred Riley, head football coach at Mobile's Davidson High School, doesn't worry much about such rationalizations. He simply wants his players to learn the meaning of concepts such as "commitment." And in six years, Riley said, "We've had over 40 kids sign and only had two cases where a kid de-committed."

Riley tries to make recruiting at Davidson as streamlined as possible for both the recruits and the recruiters. The process begins in the ninth grade and doesn't stop until signing day, with the school staff involved every step of the way.

"Our final point is that they (his players) don't commit until they are ready to shut down the process," Riley said. "Because when you commit, we won't send out any more film, we won't make you available for other coaches to talk to. We're going to do everything we can to make you honor that commitment. So you better be sure.

"We want to be known as a school that honors commitment. We expect our kids to understand that. If they don't, if they flip-flop, they aren't allowed to be part of our signing day ceremony. We say, 'You decided to do it your way, so have your own ceremony somewhere else.'"

Riley admits he was tested early on. A player would publicly commit to one school, and the stream of rival coaches barely slowed, each telling Riley that a commitment "only meant the war had just begun."

Riley stuck to it, however, refusing to work with those coaches. He told them that one day they'd be back and the shoe would be on the other foot, and Riley would be protecting their commitment from other coaches. They would be thanking him.

"And that has happened," Riley said.

There have also been coaches who have gone behind his back. A few years ago wide receiver London Crawford publicly committed to LSU, but at the last minute signed with Arkansas. After the process was over, Riley said he sat down with then-Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt and "we talked it out and it got handled. I take responsibility for letting that one get away from me. Everything is good now."

Looking back, Riley laughs about how if Crawford had "stuck with his commitment to LSU" he would be wearing a national championship ring.

Riley doesn't think his method is the cure-all for every school. In fact, he's quick to say that what works for Davidson might not work at other schools.

"Every year we tweak it," he said. "Nothing is perfect. But we don't want to turn a 17- or 18-year-old loose on the world with no guidance, to be made a fool."

It's easy to forget that teaching a kid how to be a good football player is not the same thing as teaching him how to be a good person.

That's something college coaches would do well to remember.

[AUTiger1]

I understand where the coach is coming from, but don't like his involvement.  This is more of a player/parent decision and not the coaches. 

"Our final point is that they (his players) don't commit until they are ready to shut down the process," Riley said. "Because when you commit, we won't send out any more film, we won't make you available for other coaches to talk to. We're going to do everything we can to make you honor that commitment. So you better be sure.

"We want to be known as a school that honors commitment. We expect our kids to understand that. If they don't, if they flip-flop, they aren't allowed to be part of our signing day ceremony. We say, 'You decided to do it your way, so have your own ceremony somewhere else.'"

Riley admits he was tested early on. A player would publicly commit to one school, and the stream of rival coaches barely slowed, each telling Riley that a commitment "only meant the war had just begun."

Riley stuck to it, however, refusing to work with those coaches. He told them that one day they'd be back and the shoe would be on the other foot, and Riley would be protecting their commitment from other coaches. They would be thanking him.

A few things, so he won't send out anymore film?  Say he has a recruit that has visited several schools and commits to UAB/Troy and then all of a sudden Ole Miss becomes interested late in the process.  So he is not going to send out film and not work with the Ole Miss coaches?  Fuck that and fuck him too.  If this is what he does (I don't know for sure) then he is doing his player and the players parents a disservice for not allowing him to be recruited by a bigger name school. 

So if a kid "flip-flops on his commitment then he doesn't let them be a part of the signing day ceremony?  Really?  You are going to deny an 18yr old his time in the spotlight?  Once again fuck that and fuck him too!  Coaches need to know when to get involved and when to step away, b/c it isn't about the coaches or about their players making the coaches look good.  It's about the players. 


Overall it's not his place to make a player stick with his commitment.   There are a number of reasons a kid can switch and it's not up to him to decide.  It's the players and parents to decide.

[jadennis]

My guess is, since they have bought in to actually being "committed" once they commit, I would guess early commitments at that school are low.  Because things can change late in the process for some kids, they probably wait until very close to signing day.  

If you're picking between Auburn, LSU, Alabama, and Georgia, then go ahead and pick if you know what you want and have visited all four places.  It will make your life peaceful for the rest of the process.

But if you're getting UAB, Southern Miss, etc offers, then it might be wise to wait all the way until signing day, just in case you're someone's back up plan at Ole Miss or Arkansas or Auburn or whatever.

The point is, if you know you're playing under different rules at that school, you will make choices accordingly.  In the end, if it screws you out of something, you would have only yourself to blame (you committed too early, etc).  I think it makes kids take the decision a lot more serious, almost as serious as actually signing....which is how it should be taken.

[No Huddle]

My guess is, since they have bought in to actually being "committed" once they commit, I would guess early commitments at that school are low.  Because things can change late in the process for some kids, they probably wait until very close to signing day. 

If you're picking between Auburn, LSU, Alabama, and Georgia, then go ahead and pick if you know what you want and have visited all four places.  It will make your life peaceful for the rest of the process.

But if you're getting UAB, Southern Miss, etc offers, then it might be wise to wait all the way until signing day, just in case you're someone's back up plan at Ole Miss or Arkansas or Auburn or whatever.

The point is, if you know you're playing under different rules at that school, you will make choices accordingly.  In the end, if it screws you out of something, you would have only yourself to blame (you committed to early, etc).  I think it makes kids take the decision a lot more serious, almost as serious as actually signing....which is how it should be taken.

That is a great point. I still feel like you should not say anything until you sign that LOI.