2017 National Signing Day -- Like Ohio State's AD, I say: No thanks, 'I've got a life'

Inside College Football this week takes a look at National Signing Day in its overhyped glory

By Dennis Dodd

Jan 30, 2017 at 11:28 am ET • 5 min read

Gene Smith won't be around much for one of the most celebrated days on the football calendar.

"I'll go to the [Urban Meyer] press conference, but that's about it," said Smith, Ohio State's athletic director. "I've got a life."

At least somebody gets it on National Signing Day. If you haven't heard -- and God help you if you haven't -- signing day is Wednesday. The sooner it's over, the better.

Yes, I know it's the lifeblood of the sport. Yes, I know there are those of you who will watch streaming recruiting updates until your eyes bleed.

I've got Band-Aids for you. Like Smith, I've also got a life. Please indulge, then, my annual recruiting rant:

Wednesday is expected to mark some sort of end to a creepy, embarrassing, over-the-top era. This week's signing day could be the last of its kind. An initial early signing day in December is expected to begin this year. That's a very, very good thing.

Signing day has become a sort of national holiday for recruitniks, the players they evaluate and, yes, some of the media that make it that way.

Anything to turn down the volume is welcome.

"I don't like it," Smith said of what recruiting became long ago. That is, some sort of quasi-religion that you absolutely have to believe in.

No thanks. I still believe that walk-ons can become NFL Draft choices. I believe that a three-star prospect (San Diego State's Donnel Pumphrey) can become the NCAA career rushing leader. I believe the world can live without contrived high school all-star games where the sideline commitments are the entertainment.

I believe the best commitment is marriage, not what some pimply-faced kid pledges to Nick Saban in July.

"We've just done a total disservice to high schools and the other sports," Smith added. "We've created this sense of celebrity and entitlement at an early age.

"I feel sorry for what we've done. I really do ... A lot of times we have to deprogram to some degree. It's not just football, it's all sports. You've got to bring them back to reality."

That's from a guy whose class is No. 2 nationally this week under Meyer.

Smith actually says the recruiting climate has improved. In 1973, he played defensive end for Ara Parseghian at Notre Dame. Smith later joined Dan Devine's Irish staff upon graduation.

"Those times, that was out of control," he told me. "That was the apartments, that was the cars. I wasn't a great player, but I was in a group of great players. We were offered packages -- like apartments, cars. That's why all these rules are in place.

"It was totally different. It's better today."

What the rules don't cover, recruiting has exploited. The lines between fantasy and reality blur all the time. Lately, recruiting sites and prospects have resorted to "slickly" produced hype videos.

Two years ago, five-star offensive lineman Parker Boudreaux was purported to have the most offers in the country. He announced his commitment to Notre by pulling a 16,000-pound bus. (Please ignore what seems to be slack in those chains.)

Boudreaux redshirted as a freshman in 2016. He remains a possibility on the offensive line that has become fairly loaded lately. Where's your hype level now, Parker?

Jim Harbaugh is taking Michigan to Rome for spring practice. While that act seems to be a middle finger to the NCAA -- in the process of banning spring break practices in the U.S. - Harbaugh's move overseas definitely has a recruiting component. Come to Michigan and get a real cappuccino!

No matter what happens to Texas recruiting in Tom Herman's first season in Austin, he's got the art piece nailed. That is, he "stole" Alabama's assistant director of graphics at Crimson Tide Production. Is there such a thing as a five-star recruiting poster?

"We, in the industry, we've created it," said Dave Hart Jr., Tennessee's outgoing AD. "We really have. It's hard to point the finger at that 17-year-old. We created this opportunity to showcase you as a 17-year-old, and we can't take that back."

Meyer has long preached about his need to, as Smith puts it, deprogram prospects once they get on campus. He is not alone.

"I never thought I'd have sports psychologists on staff," Smith said. "[Athletes] are overwhelmed, just the issues that they have. The [public] is telling you you're God's gift to the world. Now you gotta go start at Ohio State. Now here you come with those mental pressures.

"It's not like when you grew up and I grew up. You just had to deal with stuff. You suck it up, you do it. Not today."

The recruiting process may be a thrill for Johnny, but frankly, Johnny has his whole life ahead of him. Johnny needs to learn how to balance a check book. Johnny needs to learn how to ask a girl out on a date. Johnny needs to choose a career.

That's still what school is about for 98 percent of athletes.

Whether multiple signing days will disband the signing day circus remains to be seen. "Flipping [recruits]," Smith suggested, "will happen earlier."

Perhaps. Perhaps not. My rant is over. My life awaits. Check back with me on Thursday.

Recruiting rewind

Another reminder this week that recruiting rankings reveal the obvious. The same teams that end up "winning" at recruiting, usually end up winning championships, period. How's that for drama?

We went back to the last 14 recruiting classes in 247Sports Composite rankings since the turn of the century (2000-13 to account for players who were college seniors in 2016).

Only 30 total teams in that span were ever ranked in the top 10. Those 30 programs account for all the championships won in that 14-year span.

Among those top 10 schools, the only programs that didn't at least get to the College Football Playoff or BCS Championship Game were Arkansas, Cal, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas A&M and UCLA.

Meaty recruiting bit: The Clemson seniors in 2016 the schools lowest-ranked recruiting class as freshmen (No. 15 nationally in 2013) since 2009. In 2009, when Alabama won the title, its seniors were part of a 2006 class that also ranked 15th nationally.

Ranking the new coaches

Here's how the 21 new FBS coaches stack up in recruiting going into Wednesday.

LSU -- Ed Orgeron (No. 6): The last time LSU broke in a new coach, Les Miles' first class finished 13th in 2005.

Oregon -- Willie Taggart (No. 24): If the ranking holds, it would be the Ducks second-worst class since 2009.

Texas -- Tom Herman (No. 27): Combined with the talent Charlie Strong left behind, the Longhorns should quickly be back to a championship level.

Baylor -- Matt Rhule (No. 39): In a month, Rhule went from one commit in late December to the top 40 nationally.

Minnesota -- P.J. Fleck (No. 52): By all accounts, PJF is recruiting like a madman. Minny's current No. 52 rank would be its second-best since 2009.

The rest: Indiana (59), Purdue (64), Houston (69), Cal (72), FIU (75), Cincinnati (77), Florida Atlantic (83), Western Michigan (86), Western Kentucky (87), Georgia State (95), Temple (98), UConn (101), Fresno State (104), South Florida (110), San Jose State (111), Nevada (122)