If recruit wants out, let him go
In South Bend, it was the highlight of last February's national signing day, the moment everybody remembers.
Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis, miffed about three last-second defections from his recruiting class and an earlier silent verbal that soured, announced that he was going to re-establish the "meaning of commitment" with future unsigned pledges.
It was a peculiar stand to take, considering the culture of college football recruiting, where this is an established and understood part of the game. It also contradicted an earlier definition given by his recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello, who once said, "A commitment means you just have a great chance of getting somebody."
But if Weis could pull it off, more power to him. If nothing else, it would be interesting to see if a hard-liner could survive the sleazy recruiting wars. If it did work, what a noble precedent to set.
And now comes Weis' first real test.
Jess Simpson, the high school coach of highly regarded nose tackle Omar Hunter, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week that the Buford, Ga., product is reconsidering his non-binding verbal commitment to Notre Dame. Too cold in South Bend. And too far away. So he's considering setting up official visits to Florida and also to USC, where he apparently will teleport, "Star Trek"-style, back and forth to his campus obligations.
So how should Weis react? Dispatch his "A" recruiting team to lock Hunter down? Ramp up the charm himself?
None of the above.
If Hunter schedules other visits, Weis should let him walk. Pull the offer. Otherwise, the coach's all-in or all-out bluster, the gospel he's been preaching to the 22 currently committed recruits, will be worth as much as Confederate money.
At the time he established the Weis Doctrine, the Notre Dame coach couched his stance a little bit by declaring, "If they're looking, we'll be looking, too."
In other words, he might not immediately rescind a scholarship offer. But if he could find a willing and comparable replacement, he would. Plus, some felt the fact that he was fresh off of swiping linebacker Brian Smith from Iowa made the stance more than a bit hypocritical.
Regardless, Hunter's situation is a perfect chance to make a symbolic stand.
Unlike years past, the Irish are actually awash now in defensive line talent and depth. Pat Kuntz and Ian Williams had breakout seasons in 2007. Portland's Ethan Johnson and Chicago's Sean Cwynar are scheduled to arrive in February. As much as a Top 50 national recruit can be, Hunter is actually expendable.
Plead for him to give the marriage a chance, and prepare to pay the price in the future. Kids today are savvy. They will catch on that for all his Tony Soprano bombast, Weis is really at their mercy. What happens the next time -- and with Weis there will always be a next time -- he begins issuing ultimatums? Why would anyone take him seriously? Is Hunter really worth Weis' long-term credibility?
Hunter's waffling has brought the predictably disgusting avalanche of arrogance and elitism from Notre Dame's lunatic fringe out there in Cyberland. Hunter, it seems, would be committing himself to a life of dumpster dining and gutter living by attending Florida.
That's sheer bunk.
In the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings for national universities, Florida chimed in at No. 49, more than respectable for a large public university, and just a notch behind the Michigans, Cal-Berkeleys and Virginias of the public education world (Notre Dame was 19th).
According to the magazine's methodology, and for better or worse U.S. News is looked at as the last word on such things these days, the school in Gainesville ranks ahead of well-respected Midwest behemoths like Purdue, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota.
Four Pulitzer Prize winners, two Nobel Prize winners and three NASA astronauts are Florida alums. Eight current or former United States senators picked up a Florida degree.
In one recent academic year, Florida ranked second in the nation in the number of freshman National Merit Scholars attending. No. 1? A little place called Harvard.
In other words, Hunter would be just fine with a Florida degree, so enough with the "40-year mistake" rhetoric. This isn't Joe's Online Degree Shack.
For the most part, the academic angst is a smoke screen anyway.
In reality, Notre Dame fans don't want Hunter in South Bend out of their concern for his future. They want him here out of concern for theirs. So that, freed from the gridiron blues, they can be Good Husband on Saturday nights, not Bad Husband. So they can stick it to the Michigan man in the next cubicle over on Monday morning.
Whether Weis' signing day gauntlet should have been thrown down to begin with is a matter of debate. At best, someone needed to do it. At worst, he displayed a fundamental lack of understanding regarding the process. But throw it down he did, and he's the one who has to live with it.
Omar Hunter wants to go exploring? Give him a map and a compass. But give his scholarship to someone else.
[More at www.southbendtribune.com]
