National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney don’t always see eye to eye. In this edition of Rival Views, the two debate whether 2019 commitment Bru McCoy should be able to play right away after transferring from USC to Texas.
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FARRELL’S VIEW: NO
No way. I understand that McCoy may have been mislead by Kliff Kingsbury when he was the offensive coordinator at USC for a short period of time, but that’s life. Sorry to break it to everyone, but coaches lie all the time and so many kids have signed with a school only to see a position coach or coordinator leave for an NFL job or someplace else.
If you allow McCoy to transfer without penalty after signing with USC you’re opening a door that can’t be closed. It won’t hurt McCoy to sit a year if that’s what he wants to do and no one forced him to enroll early or sign early. He could have waited until February to see if there would be any coaching changes but instead he decided to commit to USC.
Players should commit to a school for reasons other than just a coach and this is a great chance to set that example.
GORNEY’S VIEW: YES
No one is blaming Kliff Kingsbury for leaving USC so quickly especially when an NFL head coaching job becomes available, but no one should hold Bru McCoy to his decision, either. He should be immediately eligible if he decides on going to Texas, which looks almost definite at this point.
Days before making his commitment at the All-American Bowl – and the timeline seems to be foggy on when he actually signed his letter of intent – McCoy and his family sat down with the then-offensive coordinator for an in-home visit and Kingsbury broke down how the USC offense would run and what he envisioned for the program.
McCoy bought in and then days later Kingsbury was interviewing with the Arizona Cardinals and then took the job. So the five-star athlete who will play receiver in college is now supposed to be held to a commitment he made basically under false pretenses, to a school without an offensive coordinator, when he is no longer secure in that choice?
All the cliches about “pick a school for the school and not the coaches,” is just not how it works. Kids develop relationships with coaches and want to play for them, many times that’s where their loyalties lie. So McCoy, who’s been on USC’s campus only for a couple weeks, should be allowed to leave and head to Texas without any penalty – just like Kingsbury was allowed to leave for a better opportunity.
