With kids being recruited earlier than ever before, and committing early in larger numbers than any time in recent memory, you might be tempted to think the home stretch is going to be relatively boring.
Tyner, Stevens, Dawson decommit: Expect other recruits to follow
Don’t expect the trend of decommitments to slow down any time soon.
Steve Dykes - Getty Images
Wrong.
College football recruiting is about to get very interesting. In October, top-100 players Tony Stevens, David Dawsonand Thomas Tyner decommitted from Florida State, Michigan and Oregon, respectively.
As I discussed in April, the early commitments only mean more decommitments are coming.
Recruits commit early because they think they know where they want to go, and that doing so will slow the crazy amount of calls they receive from recruiters and recruiting media. And to some extent, they’re correct.
But so much changes during a college football season. Teams tank and coaches get on the hot seat. Suddenly, the recruit isn’t confident that the staff will be there during his four years on campus. Meanwhile, a team the kid once considered is outperforming expectations and looking more attractive.
And suddenly, committed recruits hear about all the fun had by their uncommitted friends on official visits to other schools. They want in on the fun.
But with many schools taking a hard line against players taking visits to other programs while being committed, committed recruits are electing to decommit and take those visits.
They’re betting that the school to which they were originally committed will hold their spot. And for the most part, they’re right.
As of Wednesday, about 25 percent of the top-100 recruits nationally were uncommitted. Plus, it can be argued that a third of the 75 percent that are committed are “soft” commitments, and still very open to the overtures of other schools.
Given that, don’t be surprised to see even more players backing off summer commitments and considering all their options once again.
