Croom Leading League With Verbal Commitments
A great article in today’s Mobile Press-Register talks about how Coach Croom is leading most other SEC schools in early verbal commitments with 19. Since NCAA regulates that schools can only sign 25 players in a calendar year, Coach Croom can focus on preparing for our August 31st opener against South Carolina.
“These kids we’re recruiting now, we’ve been evaluating for two years. I already know of 10 juniors right now in Mississippi that we’re going to offer scholarships to. You need to evaluate a kid for a year or a year and a half before you can make a decision.”
There also seem to be some worries about the current trend of early verbal commitments among some coaches.
Among coaches, there is a clear consensus that early offers and early commitments are not just a trend but the new norm. With the influx of combines sponsored by organizations such as Scout.com and Rivals.com and the added importance of invitation-only football camps on campuses across the country, prospects have more information earlier than they’ve ever had before.
Somthing that I had not realized was playing a big part is non-verbal communication. Text messaging, instant messaging and e-mail, which have not been legislated by the NCAA yet, allow coaching staffs to contact players anytime, anywhere, and not break any of the current regulations.
