Mind of Mike: Recruiting never stops, even if the games might
The Mind of Mike is a dangerous place. Here are the latest thoughts from Rivals National Director Mike Farrell about the hope recruiting brings to the diehards.
MORE: Will SEC, ACC and Big 12 have fall seasons?
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022: Top 100
I’m lucky. Make that blessed. In a year in which almost everything has gone wrong and the world is in an awful place, college football was supposed to be a respite, an escape from reality. But with the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponing their seasons to the spring and the SEC, ACC and Big 12 still deciding, college football won’t do it for many.
So why am I lucky and blessed? Because I cover not only college football but also college football recruiting. And college football recruiting is not going anywhere. In fact, college football recruiting, the transfer portal and roster management will be as interesting as it’s ever been.
The best thing about covering college football recruiting? It never stops. National strife, pandemic, football postponement — none of it stops colleges from recruiting the next group of college football stars. Here are a few things I am happy to be able to look forward to.
Finding the answers to so many questions
Will there be an influx of decommitments because of the postponements or will players be more likely to stick with their initial commitment because they likely won’t be able to take the visits they are used to? My guess? Watch out for some decommitments. We just recently saw a huge one when five-star DE Tunmise Adeleye decided he wasn’t going to Ohio State. Now Texas A&M, Alabama, Florida and others are all in the mix.
Will kids want to stay closer to home because of COVID-19 to be near family? Home is always a draw in recruiting, but so far this recruiting year its been more prevalent as a factor. How does this thinking change if the pandemic settles down or if a vaccine is on the horizon?
What will the NCAA do when it comes to the early signing period and the traditional February Signing Day? Surely something has to be tweaked and the signing period pushed back in an attempt to allow players to take official visits in the winter and spring, right? No one knows what the NCAA is thinking at any time, so this should be interesting.
How will recruiting change in this new virtual world? Will Zoom replace face-to-face recruiting for the foreseeable future? When will players once again be able to be hosted on campus visits? Are junior days, a key component to recruiting, be eliminated this spring? Changes are coming for sure and following how they impact recruiting will be fascinating.
Roster management will be as fluid as ever
Roster management is a nightmare and will be interesting to follow and cover. I’ve talked to many in recruiting departments who suddenly have no idea what their numbers are. By that I mean how many players they can take in the 2021 class.
Why? The question has arisen whether 2020 signees will get an extra year of eligibility from all this mess and how that will count towards numbers. And if current players are given an extra year of eligibility, then what? The 85-player scholarship limit becomes very difficult to manage if extra years are given and could affect the 2021 and 2022 class numbers.
Will the NCAA temporarily extent that scholarship number for roster management and if they do, will some teams be able to afford it and others unable because of the loss of revenue?
Recruiting battles will garner even more attention
Aside from these unknowns I have the regular unknowns to deal with which is always fun. Who will win the national recruiting title? Who lands on top of the Big Ten, Pac-12, Big 12, SEC and ACC? Who’s the next Derek Stingley Jr., Najee Harris, Trevor Lawrence or Penei Sewell in high school recruiting? Which wide receivers will be the next CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs and Ja’Marr Chase?
I love this stuff with a passion and those who haven’t become recruiting junkies have an opportunity to immerse themselves in one of the most fascinating aspects in all of college sports.
And what teams will position themselves for a surprise run when football resumes? And can former power programs like Miami, Florida State, Texas, USC and others get back into the national playoff discussion with some key classes? And what about the intense recruiting battles between rivals like Ohio State and Michigan, Alabama and Auburn, Georgia and Florida, Texas and Oklahoma? This stuff never gets old.
So I’m one of the lucky ones. Yes, I cover and love college football in the fall, but I’m also blessed enough to cover recruiting , which is a 365-day a year job and never stops. Thank God for ‘Crootin.