MORE: Rivals.com QB Week
Every year there are a few recruitments that make national headlines and cross over into the mainstream sports world. And over the past 15 years, many of those headline-making recruiting battles involved top-ranked quarterbacks. As part of Rivals QB Week, we take a look back at five very memorable and dramatic signal-caller recruitments.
Kiel committed to in-state school Indiana prior to the start of his senior year, a move that surprised many considering his long list of offers. The five-star prospect eventually re-opened his recruitment due to instability in Bloomington. Kiel weighed a number of options, including LSU and Notre Dame, and opted to commit to the Tigers just weeks before he was set to enroll.
In a twist that no one saw coming, he spurned the Tigers without even informing the coaching staff and enrolled at Notre Dame. The move was so stunning that, at the time, sources within the LSU program told Rivals.com they were expecting Kiel up until the day he applied and enrolled at Notre Dame.
Kiel's career in South Bend didn’t last long either as he redshirted, then elected to transfer to Cincinnati. He had success with the Bearcats before injuries led to him losing his starting job. Kiel is slated to be a backup for the team as a senior this fall.
Martell is unique to this list as he is the only player whose recruitment still technically isn’t over.
He committed to Steve Sarkisian and Washington while he was still in middle school, but later opened his recruitment when Sarkisian left for USC. For a while it seemed like only a matter of time before the two would reunite in Los Angeles, but things went south for Sark and Martell ended up committing to Texas A&M.
Things soured between Martell and the Aggies after the program made a change at offensive coordinator, and Martell badmouthed current Texas A&M back-up quarterback Nick Starkell on Twitter. Martell decommitted, leading to more Twitter drama with a Texas A&M assistant seemingly “subtweeting” Martell for backing off of his commitment.
Martell finally settled on Ohio State as his college home, committing earlier this year with plans to enroll early in January. Even so, that hasn’t stopped the drama as Martell recently trolled Aggies fans on Twitter following his team’s nationally televised victory over Cedar Hill, Texas, on Saturday night.
Newton is one of the few players who has the distinction of being a two-time five-star prospect on Rivals.com. As a high school player he spurned in-state school Georgia and committed to Florida in a relatively drama-free recruitment. Newton spent two seasons at Florida as Tim Tebow’s back-up, but his career was derailed by injuries and off-the-field issues that included a felony arrest.
Newton elected to transfer to juco Blinn College, where he helped his team win a national championship and was again ranked as a five-star prospect. His second recruitment is where things got dramatic, as he choose Auburn over finalists Mississippi State and Oklahoma. During his one season at Auburn, the alleged actions of Newton’s father, Cecil, drew the attention of the NCAA, causing for him to briefly be declared ineligible by the Tigers. According to several Mississippi State boosters, Newton’s father solicited money during the recruiting process, however the NCAA ruled that Cam was never knowledgeable of his father’s actions. Newton went on to win the Heisman Trophy and the national championship with Auburn before being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
It’s hard to imagine how Pryor’s recruitment would have played out in the current recruiting and media landscape but most would agree that it would make Martell’s drama look tame.
The nation’s No. 1 overall player took official visits to both Michigan and Ohio State and seemed primed to make a National Signing Day decision. Instead, Pryor gathered reporters on signing day in 2008, only to say he would further delay in order to take a closer look at Penn State at the behest of his father. The Nittany Lions got a look, but that was pretty much it as Pryor finally committed to the Buckeyes six weeks after signing day.
Pryor’s career at Ohio State included a Rose Bowl victory as well as the tattoo scandal that resulted in the end of his and head coach Jim Tressel’s time in Columbus as well as NCAA sanctions for the Buckeyes.
Because of trouble at Ohio State, Pryor was suspended by the NFL to start his career with the Oakland Raiders and that start went on to signify how things would go for Pryor as an NFL quarterback. Pryor is still playing in the NFL, albeit as a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns.
Tebow’s recruitment didn’t exactly have the twists and turns as some of the other players on this list, but what made it special was just how long it lasted and the battle between Florida and Alabama for his services.
Unlike today, when most of the quarterbacks are committed before their senior seasons, Tebow took his recruitment into the fall and also elected to take five official visits, with Alabama, LSU, Michigan, Florida and USC getting the visits in order. During those trips Tebow didn’t tip his hand much. While Florida was always believed to be the favorite, the official visits made every fanbase feel like it had a real shot at landing him. Tebow didn’t announce his decision until mid-December, something that is almost unthinkable for a player of his stature.
Tebow went on to win two national championships and a Heisman Trophy at Florida and was obviously worth all the effort the schools put into recruiting him.
