"Not only is he widely respected as one of the nation's best defensive coordinators, he also is an awesome recruiter and developer of athletes into great defensive football players," the reader e-mailed.

"The fact that he is an African American coach in the SEC plays to Illinois' favor. He has been a legitimate candidate for multiple head coaching positions in the SEC and time and time again he has either not been interviewed or passed over for less proven or resume impressive candidates who were white."

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The Big 10 should be recruiting quarterbacks Miles Osei of Prospect and Jimmy Garoppolo of Rolling Meadows. I think Hinsdale Central's John Whitelaw is a big-time prospect, too, but he apparently got frustrated by the process and opted to commit to Yale. So who can argue that he didn't make a good decision?

Both Osei and Garoppolo have had good senior seasons. They have been very productive. They have major college arm strength, speed and athleticism. In my view, there is no good reason why they shouldn't be offered.

Leach brings an exciting, innovative offense to college football. He is quirky but intelligent and seems to be one step ahead of everyone else offensively. He has proven to be a good recruiter but hasn't been able to beat Texas head-to-head, although he has begun to land blue-chippers because of the high-profile games he has won.

Here is a man who has a reputation as a players' coach, a good recruiter and a good evaluator of talent but, most of all, a good teacher of the offense he has invented.

Surely, it takes more than statistics...passing yardage, rushing yardage, receptions, receiving yardage, touchdowns, tackles, interceptions, sacks.

In my view, the key item in separating one player from another should be production, the guys who have the best years statistically. But competition counts for something. It means you are playing against better teams. Wins and losses shouldn't be of paramount importance but helping a team to have a successful season counts for something, too.

In the end, the easiest way to determine an all-star is if he is a dominant player.

"He is still being recruited by several schools," Dean Barchard's e-mail stated. "Some of the schools that have shown recent interest are Arizona, Colorado, South Dakota State, Illinois State, Northern Illinois and Buffalo University. But no offers yet. Many schools are asking: 'Who do you have offers form so far?' as though they would offer if someone else had offered. Just haven't gotten that first one yet."

This is a familiar story.

I saw Carter as a sophomore and was so impressed that I put him down as the best sophomore prospect in the state. Before his junior year, I selected him to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio. He had so much size and potential.

Then I saw him three times as a junior. I was disappointed. I saw no aggressiveness. He didn't excel in pursuit and didn't demonstrate great change in direction and movementthat you see in great defensive linemen.

At Carmel, he was an outstanding and dominating defensive lineman, a blue-collar and aggressive player who was as tough as nails. But Notre Dame and Michigan didn't think he was good enough for their programs. I always felt more schools should have recruited him but few big-time schools thought he was a big-timer.

He was recruited by then Illinois assistant coach Bill Kollar along with Hersey's Frank Kmet, King's Payton Minter and Fremd's Jim Schwantz. But when the NCAA began to investigate Illini head coach Mike White, the recruiting became unglued. White was fired. I called Purdue coach Freddy Akers to recommend Kollar. Akers hired Kollar, who took Zgonina and the others with him.

The Nittany Lions have landed Khairi Fortt of Stamford, Conn., the best outside linebacker in the nation; DaKota Royer of Manheim, Pa., and Mike Hull of Canonsburg, Pa.

This is USC Week at Notre Dame and the Irish have accumulated a distinguished list of visitors, including offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson of St. Paul, Minn., the nation's No. 1 player; safety Corey Cooper of Proviso East, who earlier committed to Illinois; defensive back Dietrich Riley of LaCanada, Calif.; wide receiver T.J. Jones of Atlanta, who earlier committed to Stanford but whose father played at Notre Dame; free safety Devon Carrington of Phoenix, who earlier committed to Stanford; and running back Jordan James of Corona, Calif., who has been offered by USC and UCLA, is averaging 10 yards per carry and is my choice as the most underrated player in the nation.

USC is countering Notre Dame's recruiting effort on Henderson by pushing hip-hop. Rap artist Snoopy Dogg is trying to woo the 6-7, 325-pound lineman from Minnesota to the West Coast.

What should he do?

Call Tom Lemming.

I'll take care of it. If he is good enough, I'll let the colleges know. In this day and age, with access to the Internet, no one should be overlooked, no matter where he lives or what kind of program he plays for.

Brewster played high school football in New Jersey, junior college football in California and caught a touchdown pass for Mike White's 1983 Illinois team in the Rose Bowl. He learned his trade from Mack Brown, one of college football's all-time best recruiters. It was great preparation, like going to the Harvard of recruiting.

His personality seems to attract everyone, black and white, parents and coaches. In only his third year, he has brought national recruiting to Minnesota.

Think of some of the troublemakers from the Chicago area...Boo Boo Thompson, Kyle Williams, Phillip Macklin, Yarmo Green, Ryan Hare, to name a few. Just read the sports section daily and you see one example after another of kids who are getting into trouble in college. And some colleges have a long history of troublemakers.

How do you explain it?

When you are a fan-atic, you don't think straight. Everything revolves around your favorite program. It can do no wrong. There is no room for objectivity. You are a cheerleader. If the school is being investigated, you blame it on the investigators or snitches. You watch everything through rose-colored glasses or the school colors.

Fan-atics don't forgive or understand that everyone is human. A good example was the basketball war between Illinois and Indiana over the recruiting of Eric Gordon. Hatred boiled over. Hey, folks, it's a game, not the Middle East conflict.

How badly has all of this affected Weis' program?

Up to now, not much. His recruiting class for 2010 is rated among the top 10 to 15 in the nation by every recruiting service. It includes Christian Lombard of Fremd, one of the nation's leading offensive linemen, and quarterback Tommy Rees of Lake Forest.

But there are concerns. While the offense has played well, the defense is hurting.

My top 11 proves that the SEC continues to dominate football recruiting. The SEC has five of the top nine spots. The leaders (in order) are Texas, USC, Penn State, Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Notre Dame and Michigan.

The sleepers are California, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Brigham Young. Oklahoma State could be the only surprise team that could break into the top 10. In the Big 10, it's Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State. So what's new?

This is the Year of the Quarterback in Illinois. Wheaton North's Taylor Graham is committed to Ohio State. Downers Grove South's Chandler Whitmer is going to Illinois. Lake Forest's Tommy Rees is bound for Notre Dame. And don't forget John Whitelaw, Brandon Pechloff, Tyler Warden, Tyler Benz, Jim Garoppolo, DaRon Brown and Mike Perish.

But I've seen Osei in action and I think he has an edge at the moment. The 6-2, 194-pounder is more effective and more productive than any other others. He is a high school version of Michigan freshman sensation Tate Forcier.