FanPost

Commitments – What’s the Point?

Jeffrey Manning, Jr. committed to UCLA Football in June and decommitted a few weeks later. - Student Sports

Bumped from a Fan Post. - BN Eds.

The UCLA football scouting and recruiting squads began August with a bang, receiving verbal commitments from DB’s Chris Wilson and Jaylen Shaw, as well as highly touted Tight End Jimmy Jaggers. This means they’re coming to Westwood next Fall, right? Well, not exactly.

The term "commitment" does not have nearly the same power it used to. The UCLA program has received commitments from 6 other players, each of whom has since reneged on their commitment and reopened their recruitment process. This means speaking to more coaches, more players, and unofficial and official visits to other schools before making a decision. (Official visits are limited to 5, and are used as the final stage of the recruiting journey). As of now, recruits can claim pretty much anything they choose. There are several different types of verbal commitments including soft, medium, and hard. There are doubts, constant phone calls, and misdirection thrown about in order to keep options open, both for the schools and the recruits. More than that, if a player does commit to a school, it doesn’t stop the recruiting from that respective school, or, for that matter, any other school. Take our five star recruit Jaelan Phillips for example – it was recently reported that he "remains a hard commit to UCLA". My reaction to that is, "Wasn’t he already committed to the Bruins? Why do we have to keep recruiting him?"

The answer to that question is "to fend off the vultures". Other schools, in particular rivals such as our cross-town enemy, take notice of our commitment list, and then try to swoop in and steal a player that they may have missed, which both hurts us, and helps them. The worst however, is the age that these recruits are committing. According to ESPN, LSU offered a scholarship to a player named Dylan Moses…when he was 14. With an unlimited budget, a school like LSU can afford to do this, whereas a school like Boise State cannot. Meanwhile, a lot can happen in the next few years as Moses matures. Maybe puts on too much weight. Maybe he is already full grown. Maybe he decides he hates football and quits. What does LSU do if Moses blows out his knee during his high school career? Do they rescind the offer? They can if they want to.

So why verbally commit at all? Unfortunately, there is no correct answer, because ultimately, commiting this time of year changes nothing. Until a prospect signs a National Letter of Intent on the dotted line, he and the school are not, in any way, actually committed to anything. It may give some comfort to the families that their son has made a decision. It may give the recruit the chance to take a deep breath and concentrate on graduating and preparing for football. It may give the coaches of the school a moment of solace to say to themselves, "He likes us best."…and just as everyone is content that the process has come to a close, a shadow of doubt slips into the prospect’s mind – "Did I make the right choice?"…and before you know it the vultures are circling.

Bottom line – none of the current commitments are binding. Wait until National Signing Day on February 1st. Then, we will find out who will truly don the blue and gold. Till then, we’ll fend off the vultures as best we can…and maybe do a little "vulturing" of our own.

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This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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