This is an opinion column.
Alabama spent much of the 2020 recruiting cycle in hot pursuit of 5-star tight ends Arik Gilbert and Darnell Washington.
Nick Saban and Co. failed.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Gilbert – from suburban Atlanta and the No. 1-ranked player on AL.com’s The Southern 120 – picked LSU over Alabama and Georgia. Washington, a 6-foot-7 athlete from Las Vegas, picked Georgia over Alabama, Miami and Tennessee.
It was clear throughout the recruiting cycle, though, that Alabama desperately wanted to bring in a plug-and-play tight end after last year’s tight end group combined for just 21 catches.
Alabama briefly flirted with 6-foot-7 McKinney North (Texas)’s Brandon Frazier – who ended up signing with Auburn – before abandoning January recruiting of high school tight ends.
The Crimson Tide simply turned to the transfer (free agent) portal and nabbed North Carolina grad transfer Carl Tucker, a 6-foot-2, 248-pounder who started 20 career games and caught a career-best 16 passes in the Tar Heels’ ‘Air Raid’ offense in 2018.
Sure, Alabama’s 2020 tight end recruiting is one tiny corner of the recruiting world, but it represents a growing trend of schools choosing the transfer portal over traditional recruitment of high school players.
Why take an unproven 18-year-old over Tucker, who was initially part of the 2015 recruiting cycle and has had nearly five years to get bigger, stronger and mentally strong enough to play in the rough-and-tumble SEC.
The funny thing is Alabama actually signed another tight end – Archbishop Hoban (Ohio)’s Caden Clark, a 6-foot-3½, 245-pound 3-star prospect – but the Tide’s pursuit of others suggests he’s more a development player than ready to provide plug-and-play immediate help.
Alabama produced first-round NFL draft pick O.J. Howard in 2017 and second-round pick Irv Smith in 2019, but there’s no one of comparable talent currently on the roster.
With a new starting quarterback leading the offense 2020, it’s easy to see how and why a reliable and explosive pass-catching tight end would be a welcome security blanket for Mac Jones, Bryce Young or whoever ultimately wins the job.
But back to the recruiting trail.
It’s clear the combination of the early signing period – created in 2017 – and the transfer portal has created an unintended consequence for high school prospects.
College coaches have essentially adjusted their recruiting calendars and encourage (that means demands) high school players to sign in December. Then, if there’s a clear roster need – like Alabama’s desire for immediate help at tight end – Power 5 coaches abandon high school seniors and moves to the transfer portal.
The early signing period was initially created to accommodate players who were certain of their early decision and to address the reality that an increasingly high number of elite prospects wanting to enroll in school in December. Why wait until February to sign if you’re going to be taking college classes in January?
Now, though, some players sign in December and graduate from high school early, but the college doesn’t have a scholarship available until May anyway. That’s what happened to Hewitt-Trussville’s Malachi Moore, who’s simply working out on his own for a few months before enrolling at Alabama.
There’s no good solution here.
Millionaire college coaches will always do whatever it takes to keep winning and keep cashing those checks, because they know fans care more about winning that dealing honorably with teens.
High school players are going to spend months agonizing over a college decision that will impact the rest of their lives. That stress isn’t going away, and this new reality intensifies that stress.
My advice? If a major school extends a commitable offer, prospects should take it. Don’t worry about any social media backlash if you later de-commit and choose another school.
Only a few prospects have enough talent and cache for Power 5 coaches to wait until February for that signature, and that number is dwindling every year.
As a college coaching friend once told his players: “Use the system, don’t let the system use you.”
That’s the truth when it comes to the big business of college football recruiting.
Josh Bean covers high school sports and recruiting for AL.com. He can be reached at jbean@al.com.
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February 23, 2020 at 10:05PM
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Dear recruits, understand college football recruiting’s new reality - AL.com
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