The Official 2011 NCAA College Football Thread

[BigTyla]

Commentary: Chizik's classiness shows up Saban | The Montgomery Advertiser | montgomeryadvertiser.com

Commentary: Chizik's classiness shows up Saban

Written by
Column by Josh Moon

3:37 AM, Feb. 2, 2012



Auburn did not win recruiting on Wednesday.

Not in the nation. Not even in this state.

The Tigers did, however, win the high road.

In a move that has the potential to be a game changer for recruiting in this state and in the SEC, Auburn presented its 20 football signees in the 2012 class with four-year scholarships, instead of the standard one-year deals.

Basically, AU promised that if these 20 student-athletes will maintain the minimum required grade point average and stay out of trouble, they will have a scholarship at Auburn for the next four years.

They won't be cut because they slip down the depth chart.

They won't be processed out of the program because a better, younger player comes along.

Instead, Auburn is going to act less like a football factory and more like an institution of higher learning.

That's a problem for some colleges. Particularly the one that resides in Tuscaloosa.

The one whose coach couldn't even make it to National Signing Day before processing out two players.

Nick Saban, college football's king of oversigning, medical redshirting, greyshirting and roster manipulation, turned in one of his all-time worst performances this year. Thanks to a new rule from the SEC that capped signing classes at 25 -- Alabama signed 26, so obviously the rule's working great -- Saban was even more pressed than usual.

Bad news for Darius Philon.

After already jerking an offer within the last month to Georgia running back Justin Taylor -- who ended up signing with Kentucky on Wednesday -- Alabama yanked a scholarship offer from Philon within the last week, and possibly as late as Wednesday morning.

(It's unclear when the offer was yanked because Philon, who was visibly upset, refused to speak with the media. His coach, Kerry Stevenson, who should have been outraged over one of his players being jerked around like that, instead said he wasn't sure when the offer was pulled and blamed the SEC's new rule for putting UA in "a bind." Thanks for looking out, coach.)

Philon had been committed to Alabama since September and even wore a UA hat to his Signing Day ceremony at Vigor on Wednesday. But when it came time to sign, the three-star-rated defensive lineman quietly left the stage without signing a national letter of intent.

Why?

Because a couple of highly rated players decided to switch their college choice to Alabama.

That left Nick Saban with a dilemma: Take the highly rated guys or honor your commitment to Philon, who has been so committed to UA that he refused to even take another recruiting visit.

We all know Saban's choice. We could've guessed it before he made it.


Philon later that day signed with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Honestly, taking the high road from Saban is the easiest win Gene Chizik will ever get. It's like winning a Good Ideas for Space Exploration Contest over Newt Gingrich.

And that's what makes Auburn's decision to offer four-year scholarships so brilliant.

It takes advantage of Saban's one glaring weakness -- his ruthlessness.

For years, Saban has treated college football like a cutthroat business. He's skirted recruiting rules, danced around scholarship limitations and been surrounded by more career ending injuries to third-string players than any coach in the history of organized athletics.

The NCAA and SEC have passed legislation to slow him down.

But the effectiveness of those rules will pale in comparison to the effectiveness of parents choosing Auburn over Alabama because they feel a bit more like the AU coaching staff has their child's best interest in mind, that it's not completely about the Ws.

Saban was asked about offering four-year scholarships to Alabama players. He refused to comment on it specifically, but did say he felt the practice caused many legal problems back when four-year deals were the norm decades ago.

But it doesn't really matter if he does start offering them. Because even that changes his MO and drastically limits his ability to oversign without the threat of a lawsuit.

That's a problem for Alabama.

And it's a big win for Auburn and the rest of the SEC.

After the last month of college football, it's obvious that they needed one.

[HilbillyHomeboy]

Wow, that's shitty!

Regarding the 25 signee rule, it's more complex than that. Early enrollees count backwards. WVU inked 27 yesterday, with 5 of those being already enrolled, so in actuality we only signed 22 for 2012. I know you guys know that, I've just been seeing that figure thrown around lately with little context.

Jeremy

[BigTyla]

Wow, that's shitty!

Regarding the 25 signee rule, it's more complex than that. Early enrollees count backwards. WVU inked 27 yesterday, with 5 of those being already enrolled, so in actuality we only signed 22 for 2012. I know you guys know that, I've just been seeing that figure thrown around lately with little context.

Jeremy

I fully understand the intricacies of backsigning. We did it with Jay Prosch last month when he transferred from Indiana on medical hardship so scouting services aren't including him in our class. He's a legitimate 5-star FB.

[Mikes2nd]

Auburn claiming the high road... When the ncaa just passed the "Cam Newton" rule...

SEC always oversigns, tosses kids to the curb if they don't pan out.

With the Tressel penalties... Ohio State is no longer saving spots for kids who walk on. Tressel got a job! hah... just biding his time before he takes over Akron... Watch out for Akron U in a few years!

[AdamVR4]

Thought this was interesting.

[HilbillyHomeboy]

Poor South Dakota...

Jeremy

[stealthee]

They gave Pitt too large a section of PA. It should be about the size of the Marshall section of WV, then the section taken away from Pitt should be yellow.

[HilbillyHomeboy]

They gave Pitt too large a section of PA. It should be about the size of the Marshall section of WV, then the section taken away from Pitt should be yellow.

And the Marshall section is way too big, at that. Showing it reaching clear up to Parkersburg. I assure you no one in Parkersburg gives a shit about Marshall.

Jeremy

[AdamVR4]

Figure Tyla is already well aware of this: Trent Richardson and Alabama Teammates Sign Autographs for Disassociated Booster Tom Albetar : Outkick The Coverage

[BigTyla]

Figure Tyla is already well aware of this: Trent Richardson and Alabama Teammates Sign Autographs for Disassociated Booster Tom Albetar : Outkick The Coverage

I'm aware of all of their egrigious and immoral actions, but there are so many examples from their program of late that I stopped caring since it was so hard to keep up.