What seemed to be “recruiting made easy”, has proven not so easy.
During the Coronavirus shutdown a lot of schools relied upon Skype, Zoom or other hi tech video conferencing mechanisms as a substitute for “on campus recruiting: in other words, dial up a prospective recruit, exchange hopes, wishes and social amenities, agree upon a plan, and voila (and there you have it)…a verbal commitment is extended and a new recruit is added to the roster!
But not so fast!
On May 20, I wrote about the volatility of “virtual recruiting” during the era of Coronavirus shutdown, and on May 25, just 5 days later, we learned the Spartans were amongst the first casualties of “Virtual Recruiting” fallout when Gabe Nealy “decommitted”.
Looking back, on April 11, Gabe Nealy, a highly regarded “3-Star” Cornerback from Gulliver Prep in Miami (a 4-Star in the eyes of some), “verbally committed” to the Spartans accompanied by grand fanfare from Recruiting Analysts and Spartan friendly publications. In fact, getting a commitment from Nealy was considered to be a recruiting coup by some, yet Nealy unceremoniously “decommitted” on May 25, just 44 days after pledging his loyalty to Michigan State and the Spartans first year coaching staff.
With the “decommitment” of Nealy, the Spartans 2021 Recruiting Class has suffered a precipitous fall from #29 in the land to #42 in the span of just 52 words, and here is what Nealy Tweeted:
I would like to Thank Coach Tucker and the MSU coaching staff for giving me the opportunity to live out my dream of playing Division I football, but at this time I will be de-committing from Michigan State University. NO LOVE LOST. NO Interviews. Thank you.
9:16 PM · May 25, 2020
I don’t want to be cynical because I can’t get into the mind of a High School athlete, but the 52 word Tweet seems a bit detached, and the words “No Love Lost” are at the minimum curious if not ambiguous…while the comment “NO Interviews” underscores his point.
Yet, he decommitted via Twitter and it’s exceedingly difficult to put forth a coherent explanation of anything via Twitter, but we must remember Gabe Nealy is a high school athlete who is growing and learning, and perhaps he was overwhelmed by the attention he received during the “virtual recruiting” process, arguably he made a tempestuous decision, but at the minimum Miami is 1500 miles from Michigan State: Miami is warm and sunny and playing conditions are ideal, while East Lansing can be the exact opposite, and how much of that did Gabe Nealy put into his decision making calculus on April 11, probably not much, and how much love and affection could he have for Michigan State and its coaching staff if he never stepped on campus?
The glaring problem of “virtual recruiting”:
As stated, Nealy, like most players recruited by way of “virtual recruiting”, never stepped foot on Michigan State campus, in fact he never spent a day within the State of Michigan, and that’s a problem, and that in itself should have set off “alarms” amongst the Spartans new coaching staff.
After all, receiving a “verbal commitment” without an official “on campus visit” is the longest of “long shots” and it is “exactly why” some of the most successful schools in the land have essentially suspended recruiting until “on campus” recruiting is reinstated, and that includes Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma no less.
Decommits were nonissue for Dantonio:
One of the hallmarks of Mark Dantonio was the fact his recruits were “solid” on Michigan State.
Very few recruits defected or “decommitted” inasmuch as Dantonio and his staff recruited “inside/out”…or said another way, they recruited the “backyard”: they focused upon the Big Ten, Midwest footprint!
Virtually 50% of Dantonio’s recruits came from Michigan and Ohio, or essentially a 250 mile radius (5 hour drive) of Michigan State campus and as a bonus, Ohio is amongst the most talent rich states in the country. By the time a given recruit enrolled at Michigan State during the Dantonio era, they had made “official visits”, casual visits and “camped” at Michigan State on multiple occasions.
So Mark Dantonio started with a solid base of recruits who embraced a solid understanding of Michigan State and all it stood for: its campus; its education; the coaching staff, as well as an understanding of “what was expected” and it also meant once the recruit enrolled, friends and family could visit on gameday, while in turn, players could travel home for holidays, and for that reason, there was virtually “zero” turnover or churn. Most coaches would concur that solid commitment is just as important as skill set.
Thereafter, approximately 35% of Dantonio’s recruits came from the Big Ten, or Midwest footprint, in other words within a 500 mile radius of campus (or a 10 hour drive max) including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin, while the balance came from across the land. Yet, having 80-85% of recruits from the Midwest meant familiarity and stability, and stability meant mitigating drama due to defections and “decommitments”.
The optics:
A major part of recruiting is optics.
A recruit who “decommits” is problematic because it’s a loss of time, energy and talent, but losing Gabe Nealy after just 44 days is especially problematic for the Spartans and their first year coaching staff because what looked like a glamour recruit from Florida, a recruiting coup so to speak, turned into a national snub courtesy of an unemotional 52 word Tweet.
Of course, other recruits across the land read the Tweet, recognize a player “decommitted” after just 44 days and in turn ask ‘what in the world happened?’. No way to spin it: it’s a bad look!
Of course it’s still early and the Spartans can hopefully regroup and improve their lot but the recruiting road for 2021 just got longer and harder inasmuch as the Spartans recruiting class is now ranked #42 Nationally (#10 Big Ten), and consequently the Spartans find themselves looking up at Maryland and Rutgers no less, two schools usually at the bottom of the Big Ten East.
Noticeably, Maryland, under 2nd year head coach Mike Locksley is currently ranked #12 Nationally (#5 Big Ten) with 8 recruits from the home state of Maryland, and another 4 recruits from talent rich Washington, DC just 9 miles to the southwest, so 12 of 15 recruits reside less than 1 hour from campus, plus another player from Jermyn, Pennsylvania, just 245 miles to the northeast, or less than a 5 hour drive from College Park campus.
Meanwhile, traditional doormat Rutgers under 1st Year head Coach Greg Schiano, a coach with NFL Head Coaching pedigree, is currently ranked #18 Nationally (#7 Big Ten), with a solid base of 9 recruits from the home state of talent rich New Jersey plus another recruit from Reading, Pa just 118 miles due west, so 10 of 18 recruits hail within 2 hours of campus. After all, New Jersey is a tiny state, only 170 miles long and 80 miles wide and loaded with D-1 prospects, and we should also acknowledge, Rutgers is a mere 36 miles from New York City.
So, Maryland and Rutgers are making recruiting noise in two of the most talent rich recruiting regions in the country, and it would be fair to say “decommitments” at Maryland and Rutgers are highly unlikely because the majority of their recruits were born and raised within close proximity to the respective campuses, so the expectations of the player, coaches and Universities are closely aligned.
At the bottom line (a recommendation):
Upon arrival in East Lansing, Michigan State’s new coaching staff talked about drawing a recruiting radius around Michigan State campus, yet they haven’t exactly deployed that plan.
While 4 recruits hail from Michigan, nevertheless only 1 recruit hails from Ohio, thereafter “zero” recruits hail from the 500 mile recruiting radius of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin. So, we must ask the question as to why the 500 mile recruiting radius has been underutilized, and more importantly “why” there hasn’t been more recruiting activity in talent rich Ohio?
At the bottom line, it means the players recruited from Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and Texas with very little familiarity with Michigan State other than “virtual campus tour” or “virtual recruiting” are high risk options.
Until such time as “on campus recruiting” is reinstated, I would make an unsolicited recommendation to the Spartans first year coaching staff: stick to the fundamentals in the first year and focus upon recruits within a 500 mile radius, especially Ohio, and forego heroics of going into other regions of the country to recruit a 3-Star athlete, when a player with similar skills could be recruited closer to home.
After all, the first recruiting class for the Spartans new coaching staff is critical, and while Rutgers has a first year coaching staff as well, at the moment, Rutgers is outdueling the Spartans.
There will be plenty of time for the Spartans coaching staff to stretch the recruiting radius, but first order of business is recruiting the “backyard”, building a foundation, building stability by way of focusing upon Michigan, Ohio and the Midwest.
Nothing is gained by receiving a verbal commitment from a high profile recruit from another region who has never visited campus, and then receiving an embarrassing “decommitment” due to the fact the young recruit realized he made an impetuous decision.
Of course, the Spartans coaching staff will be given time to catch up to Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State, but there won’t be much patience if the Spartans get outpaced by Maryland and Rutgers.
After all, Maryland and Rutgers have traditionally finished at the bottom of the Big Ten East, yet they are domiciled within two of the most talent rich regions of the country, and while the talent has been untapped in the past, their new coaching staffs are proving to be adept at recruiting that talent.
Let’s hope the Spartans coaching staff fine tunes their recruiting strategy, because the idea of Michigan State being ranked #10 Big Ten, and looking up at Maryland #5, and Rutgers #7 won’t sit well with stakeholders such as students, ticketholders and alumni, and there certainly won’t be much tolerance if the Spartans fall behind Maryland and Rutgers in the Big Ten standings.
Thank you for reading, and stay safe!
