MORE TAKE TWO: How well will Devyn Ford and Noah Cain co-exist at Penn State?
Take Two returns with another offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.
THE STORYLINE
A couple weeks after committing to USC at the All-American Bowl and then enrolling in school, five-star athlete Bru McCoy had a change of heart following the departure of then-offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to the NFL.
The Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei standout then entered the transfer portal and this past weekend left Long Beach Airport with a Hook'Em hand sign before boarding his plane for Austin.
It was one of the more wild and crazy ends to a recruitment in Rivals.com history and it forced the company to implement a new recruiting rule which says if a prospects transfers schools between the early and late signing period, that he will count in the class where he ends up. That is why McCoy, even though technically signing with USC and then transferring to Texas, will count as a member of the Longhorns’ 2019 class.
For many months, maybe even years, it seemed destined that McCoy would wind up at USC for various reasons. But Texas was always right there in his recruitment and his relationship with the coaching staff in Austin played a huge role in his final decision.
Did McCoy have made the right choice?
FIRST TAKE: JASON SUCHOMEL, ORANGEBLOODS.COM
“From what I’ve been told, McCoy has been genuinely torn about his decision to commit and enroll at USC from the second he stepped on campus, and he probably feels he had the rug pulled out from him a bit when Kingsbury bolted for the NFL.
"With that in mind, it’s certainly understandable why McCoy felt it was in his best interest to make such a drastic move and transfer only a couple weeks after enrolling at USC. I’m not sure I’d say McCoy’s heart was always telling him to go to Texas, because USC was an obvious draw as well, but McCoy’s decision to initially commit to Southern Cal was much closer than a lot of people realize and he and his family did develop tremendous relationships with several members of the Texas football staff, including Tom Herman, Drew Mehringer and Bryan Carrington.
"Combine the coaching stability at Texas, the relationships McCoy built with the staff and the UT program trending up coming off a Sugar Bowl win and it was enough for the Longhorns to win out.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“He can do very well at Texas. He’s a match-up problem and Texas has done well with big receivers over the last few years and especially this past season. I don’t know why anybody would feel pressure to go to USC these days. It’s not like they’re a very good program right now and it’s not like their coach is on firm footing.
"For McCoy, he made the right decision and he’s going into an offense and into a program that will probably be competing for Big 12 and national championships over the next few years where I don’t see USC doing that.”
