Coaches sting signees with departures

Say a college coach is offered a new position with another team shortly before National Signing Day and decides to move on. Is he obligated to tell the high school football player he's been recruiting?

The answer, technically, is no.

This year, many high school players were affected by the decisions of college coaches moving on to other jobs. The most high-profile examples are three highly-coveted prospects -- five-star CeCe Jefferson of Baker County, Florida, four-star Mike Weber of Detroit and four-star Roquan Smith of Montezuma, Georgia. Jefferson and Smith announced their choices on national TV, only to later realize their position coaches had bolted for new jobs, with those coaches waiting either until or right after Signing Day to make that news public.

Weber faxed his letter to Ohio State before he found out Stan Drayton was leaving the Ohio State staff, which contractually bound Weber to the Buckeyes unless he elected to transfer and sit out a year. Jefferson and Smith did not fax their letters on Signing Day to Florida and UCLA, respectively, so when news broke about their primary recruiters, they had more wiggle room.

"The way I see it, 70 or 80 percent of why kids go to a school are because of the coach," said Leo Jefferson, father of CeCe Jefferson. "If a kid is going to go somewhere and play football, the coach is going to be a big part of the kid's life. And kids don't always have a dad to lean on, so they lean on these coaches. (A coach) is going to come to my house for 2-3 years and then it's time for my kid to sign and he leaves?

"How is that fair?"

Leo Jefferson said he and CeCe were never told by the Gators' staff of the possibility defensive line coach Terrell Williams would leave for the Dolphins. When CeCe didn't send his NLI immediately after his announcement, Leo was outspoken as to why.

"I took a beating in the media," Jefferson said. "But if you're recruiting a kid who can impact your program, or any kid for that matter, the bottom line is: Let us know. We want the opportunity to know what's going on. Give us the benefit of the doubt."

The benefit of doubt could be an obvious reason why Williams, Drayton and UCLA's Jeff Ulbrich didn't announce they were leaving until after the recruiting cycle.

"From a timing perspective, it was horrendous," Rivals.com national recruiting director Mike Farrell said. "For all these (assistant coaches) to leave right after National Signing Day makes it very clear they all knew and just lied."

Though CeCe Jeffreson ultimately signed his NLI with Florida, Smith -- as of Thursday -- still hasn't signed. Smith said he learned of Ulbrich's departure after Smith announced he was signing with UCLA.

Smith said he wasn't only unaware Ulbrich was leaving the Bruins, but he was also led to believe otherwise.

"Coach Ulbrich did say that coach Dan Quinn (head coach of the Atlanta Falcons) had called him the night before, but he had declined the job offer," Smith told Jake Reuse of UGASports.com.

Ulbrich was formally announced as part of the Falcons staff on Monday and now Smith has changed his recruiting strategy entirely. Smith's high school coach at Macon County, Larry Harold, is advising Smith not to sign a letter of intent. Instead, he can sign a financial aid agreement, which would bind the school to the player -- the opposite of an NLI, which binds the player to the school.

"I think you might see some more kids (in 2016) do what Roquan is doing and just sign financial aid papers," Harold said. "That way if something crazy happens, you're not bound to the school. I don't think every kid is going to have this option, but the top tier kids can."

Harold said he's not adopting a new recruiting philosophy because of Smith's ordeal.

"This is just another way to protect the kids," Harold said. "If I'm fortunate enough to have another four- or five-star player, I'm going to let them know we don't have to sign a NLI. It's just another option I will educate them about."

Farrell is hopeful college programs will solve the problem on the front end.

"I think this is a situation where it's starting to catch up with (programs). You'll see a lot of honesty (from them) moving forward," he said.

Weber's recruitment is a good example of that. When Drayton left the Buckeyes the day after NSD, it left Weber's camp unsettled to say the least. His coach at Cass Tech, Thomas Wilcher, said hearing from Urban Meyer was the difference in Weber feeling comfortable with his Ohio State commitment.

"He showed good faith," Wilcher said, who has coached at Cass Tech since 1997. "And he made it very clear that won't happen again."

That's a good thing for the Buckeyes too, if they want to continue recruiting Cass Tech, which has sent 10 players to Michigan, under Wilcher. New Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh recently tweeted what has been widely interpreted as a shot at Meyer for the Buckeyes' handling of Drayton's departure.

Thought of the day - What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive! - Sir Walter Scott- Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) February 7, 2015

As Wilcher notes, it's OK for a college coach to move on, but he believes there's a fair way to go about it.

"Any coach should want to elevate and better themselves," he said. "You want to be at the highest level -- that's the goal. All coaches want that. But I feel coaches should also have ethics. That will always play a better role in recruiting. If a coach is leaving, get another coach on the staff to step in and build rapport so the kid is comfortable with the transition. Keep it going and just be upfront. Show love and honesty, so the kid believes you. He's the one leaving home and leaving behind his friends and family."

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