The high school season is nearly over for one and all. So what happens between now and the February signing date? This is when recruiting gets really intense. Badmouthing starts, from the subtle to the obvious. And the increasing number of coaching changes will produce more de-commitments.

College coaches are on the road, mostly looking for juniors while trying to keep the commitments they already have safe and away from predators. Or, in some cases, they are trying to woo shaky commitments away from other schools or seeking de-commitments. At this time, nobody is safe until signing day.

Everybody is looking for bargains, players who de-committed from programs where coaches were fired or late-blooming players who developed as seniors like Naperville North's Jordan Tassio or Lemont's Bobby Earnest or Fremd's Mark Tolzien or Loyola's Peter Badovinac and Brian Lindsay or Notre Dame's Brendon Murray.

Almost all of the big names are committed so there aren't as many recruiters coming into the Chicago area as in May unless they are looking for juniors.

The 2008 season will be the year of the quarterback, nationally and in the Chicago area. The two top players in the junior class are quarterback Matt Barkley of Santa Ana, Calif., who is rated as the second best quarterback in the country behind senior Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette, Pa., and running back Bryce Brown of Wichita, Kan. Barkley already has 15 scholarship offers, including USC.

If I'm a promising junior prospect with Division I potential, what do I do to make sure the colleges know who I am?

Send me a tape. Box 59113, Schaumburg, Ill., 60193.

Also, make sure you and your parents and your high school coach are on the same wavelength, that the coach does everything he can to get you noticed. Send highlight tapes to college coaches.

If you are a Division I prospect, chances are great that you don't have to do anything. College coaches will find you. More than 100 colleges come into the Chicago area early to evaluate players. If you and your coach agree you don't have the size or speed for Division I, try Division II.

Posted by Second Season at 05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The top three football players in the nation remain uncommitted but quarterback Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette, Pa., running back Darrell Scott of Ventura, Calif., and wide receiver Julio Jones of Foley, Ala., are getting closer to making their decisions.

Pryor wants to play football and basketball in college and Ohio State appears to have an edge over West Virginia. Pryor also is rated among the top 50 basketball prospects in the country.

Scott is leaning to Colorado because his uncle, who is one year older, is a freshman there.

Jones, the best prospect to come out of Alabama since Bo Jackson, is said to be leaning to Alabama. He could be this year's version of Regus Benn, last year's top-rated receiver who opted for Illinois.

And what does the future hold for Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall? Will he stay at Illinois for his senior year or will he opt for the NFL draft?

If he stays, Mendenhall could lead Illinois to the Big Ten championship and perhaps a top 10 rating nationally. If he leaves, coach Ron Zook doesn't appear to have a quality running back to replace him.

But the NFL is tempting. The track record of big-time running backs is to leave college in their third year becauase they take more of a pounding than any other position on the field and their shelf life in the NFL isn't very long. So they choose to leave college early to take advantage of playing time while they still are healthy.

Posted by Second Season at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is Nick Saban's first year at Alabama, the hallowed ground of Bear Bryant, and if you think the Crimson Tide faithful are happy with what is going on in Tuscaloosa...well, Notre Dame's Charlie Weis never had it so good.

In the wake of last Saturday's stunning loss to Louisiana-Monroe, Alabama is 6-5 and looking ahead to this week's annual showdown with state rival Auburn without much reason for optimism.

I watched the game last Saturday and, like Notre Dame, Alabama hasn't got much talent. No go-to players, no stars on defense, no quarterback. Saban's team is still looking for an identity.

Like Weis, Saban is recruiting very well. In two years, I predict Alabama will be a BCS team. But that is then and this is now. Alabama fans are getting restless. They are impatient, like Notre Dame fans.

I was the guest speaker at the Alabama Touchdown Club luncheon on Monday in Birmingham. Everyone was in shock. There was a lot of grumbling from fans who liken Louisiana-Monroe to Appalachian State, a lot of jokes about the struggling program, a lot of disappointment that Alabama isn't making an impact.

"How can you say there isn't enough talent (on the Alabama roster) when there isn't anyone at Louisiana-Monroe that we would have recruited?" one old-time alum asked.

And how about this for a door prize? An Alabama fan who can't miss the Auburn game but doesn't want to be seen was presented with a mask topped by a Bear Bryant-like hound's-tooth hat.

At least somebody in Alabama still has a sense of humor.

Posted by Second Season at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been in the college recruiting business for 30 years and Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is one of the classiest guys I've known. I can't say enough good things about him. In a business that could be cutthroat, he always kept himself above the fray. He never said anything bad about anyone--and I never heard a player or coach say anything bad about him.

In announcing his retirement, Carr maintained his dignity. It is like a changing of the guard. He was an old-school coach with great values. He kept Michigan as high as Bo Schembechler with prestige and integrity. He was a great recruiter and posted a great record. Remember, he won a national championship, something Schembechler didn't accomplish.

Over the last three decades, college recruiting has changed dramatically. The playing field is more level and the rules have changed to help the have-nots. Still, Carr dominated. And his program remained clean.

Only sportswriters seemed to dislike him. He was too close to the vest and unwilling to reveal anything to them, even injuries. But in reality, I found him to be a warm and funny guy. He was homespun and genuine. I still recall a few years ago when I visited the Michigan campus and was having lunch with assistant coach Mike DeBord, who might succeed Carr. Lloyd stopped by and he had so much fun telling stories. He was a terrific person to talk to.

He will be sorely missed in college football. There are no more Lloyd Carrs out there that I can see. The coaching profession is being turned over to a different breed, more aggressive, more willing to badmouth opponents, more willing to win at all costs. Lloyd always looked you in the eye and said what he had to say with no sense of urgency or pushiness.

Posted by Second Season at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Illinois' stunning victory over top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday should pay rich dividends to coach Ron Zook's program in the future. It sets up the Illini as the team to beat next year in the recruiting wars in the Chicago area and the Midwest.

This year's recruiting is almost done and Notre Dame dominated in the Chicago, landing the top three recruits--Mount Carmel's Steve Filer, Marian Central's Sean Cwynar and St. Rita's Darius Fleming. Most uncommitted prospects have positioned themselves, having been recruited for the last 10 months.

But Illinois should be the dominant team next year. The Illini will have bragging rights to use as a recruiting tool through June when most scholarship offers are accepted.

Zook and offensive coordinator Mike Locksley are great recruiters. Curt Mallory is good, too. Zook is one of the top 10 head coaches in the country when it comes to closing on a blue-chip prospect. And Locksley is one of the top 10 assistant coaches. Now they have a winning program to recruit for.

But the upshot of Illinois' successful season is Locksley figures to be considered for a head coaching position elsewhere. If anyone can take credit for turning the Illini program around, it is Locksley. He has to zoom to the top of the list of minority coaches to be considered for a head coaching position along with John Blake of North Carolina.

Look for Illinois to target the Chicago area, Maryland and Florida to find top prospects in the class of 2009. Locksley brings in players like Regus Benn from his association with the Washington, D.C., area and the East. Zook has a good knowledge of Florida from his days as Florida's head coach.

Chicago area players who likely will be targeted include defensive end Craig Drummond of Morgan Park, defensive lineman Lindell Buckner of Leo, quarterbacks Charlie Goro of Maine South and Evan Watkins of Glenbard North, running backs Mike Trumpy of Wheaton North and Dominique Bell of Morgan Park and tackle Chris Watt of Glenbard West, who already has been offered by Northwestern.

Does this mean Illinois is emerging as a serious contender for the Big Ten championship?

Whoa, Nellie. It takes more than one year. People forget that former Illinois coach Ron Turner had an even better year in 2001 and took Illinois to the Sugar Bowl. He recruited well for a short period of time. And Mike White did it for a couple of years at Illinois and went to the Rose Bowl.

But to dethrone perennial powers Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, a team needs to be consistent in wins and recruiting. Remember, Iowa had three top 10 finishes in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and coach Kirk Ferentz was being touted for NFL jobs. But they weren't enough to overcome poor seasons in 2006 and 2007.

With Zook's personality and work ethic--if if Illinois is able to keep Locksley--there probably won't be anything stopping the Illini and we'll see major results in the class of 2009.

Posted by Second Season at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Thirty-five seniors have made oral commitments, including most of the top-rated players in the Chicago area. That tells you all you need to know about why uncommitted seniors such as quarterbacks Mark Tolzien of Fremd and Peter Badovinac of Loyola haven't received a single scholarship offer from a major college program.

The problem is because so many city and suburban prospects commit early, most Division I coaches go elsewhere to recruit players. Fewer than half of the Division I schools in the country come to the Chicago area because of early commitments. They have so little time to cover regions, they go where the blue chippers are. Who's left in the Chicago area? Very few. But in the South, most of the top-rated players are uncommitted. They wait until December and January to make decisions.

So the two best senior quarterbacks in the Chicago area, Tolzien and Badovinac, have no offers. I saw them compete against each other on Saturday. This could be the first year in the 30 years I have been evaluating talent that the top true quarterbacks in the Chicago area won't get offers.

But both are Division I players, in my opinion. They are leaders. They just need a college that believes in them.

Tolzien, at 6-1, is not tall, which scares off some colleges. But he has a strong arm, good feet and has good football instincts.

Badovinac is 6-3, has great size and a great arm. It makes no sense to me why he doesn't have a big-time offer. He reminds me of Kurt Warner or Tony Romo, who had to attend small schools to prove how good they are.

Perhaps Tolzien and Badovinac will have to go to a small school or an Ivy League school or walk on to a major program in order to make an impact. They have the tools to do it.

Other seniors who deserve a look from Division I coaches are 6-3, 240-pound defensive lineman Addison Sadewater and 6-6 wide receiver Kevin Finney of Lake Forest, tailback Robert Earnest of Lemont, quarterback Jason Kafka of St. Rita and linebacker Gordon Kickels of Lemont.

One uncommitted senior who doesn't have to worry is 6-4, 225-pound Brett Nagel of Lemont, who is one of the top 10 players in the state. He has 30 offers and rates Stanford, Iowa, Boston College and Northwestern as his favorites. Although he plays quarterback, he is being recruited as a tight end and linebacker. He is a straight-A student.

Robeson's Brandon Green will be to Minnesota what Regus Benn is to Illinois. Minnesota has no speed on its team and Green will be the go-to receiver that Minnesota coach Tim Brewster has been looking for on offense, someone who can spread the defense.

Next year will be a great year for quarterbacks in the Chicago area. The list of prospects includes Maine South's Charlie Goro, Marian Central's Jon Budmayr, Glenbard North's Evan Watkins, Aurora Central Catholic's Mike Adams and Aurora Christian's Jordan Roberts.

Speaking of juniors, Morgan Park's Dominique Bell will be one of the most recruited running backs in the Midwest next year. The 6-1, 200-pounder has speed, power, vision, balance and burst. In fact, I was surprised how fast he is. He is very good in the open field.

Posted by Second Season at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)