I agree that it is first and foremost a recruiting tool, but I also agree with MJM that if I was supporting a school in a non-fertile state or region, I'd be pushing for the camps as well. You can put lipstick on the pig, but it's still going to be a pig - whether it is a travelling road show to high schools across the country, or if it is his 'elite QB' camp he's building per the article.
If I take a step back and ask 'where is the harm', I'm less inclined to be bitter about these tactics. I recognize football is a cut-throat industry, and every bit of leverage you can get is an advantage to be pushed to the max. But I don't feel like we'd lose that many kids that were coming to us, or that he'd pull in that many that he wouldn't have gotten anyway. Yes, it gets a little more ear time with the high talent kids, a chance to sway them, but of those he could flip wouldn't they have been flippable by FSU or others as well? The camps I find more threatening to recruiting than the 'elite QB' type event. For those 'elite' events, it isn't like he's going to recruit 8 QBs every year, and I see it as an honest to gosh way for the next generation to improve, an opportunity they haven't gotten to do that much of in the past. The kids want this type of opportunity to learn, to connect with peers and pros, to improve their own game and chances of recruitiment.
Perhaps a middle ground is to host these camps at NFL locations and have an open invite to X number of college coaches to attend. Nuetral grounds, and the kids get an inside look at an NFL setting. No coach is 'running it' and all coaches who choose to attend do so equally with the other coaches. You could have Saban and Meyer and Golden all present with the same chance to review kids and make connections AND be obligated to teach them. Maybe limit it to two coaches per school so they don't flood the event to block out other coaches. Maybe you only allow assitant coaches, and divvy it up like 6 OC's and 6 DC's, each OC/DC has a third of the offense/defense for a bit to run drills and coach them up then the group rotates to the next coach. Gets exposure both ways to as many kids and coaches as possible without giving an edge to one school over another. Granted, this wouldn't work everywhere, as there aren't Pro stadiums all over the place, nor could a school get coaches sent all over the place, but it's a nuetral approach and can shake itself out in terms of what coaches and kids are going to which events. For example, you know in Jax, MIA, or Tampa you would have a strong representation from FSU/MIA/UF and any other school trying to recruit the state, but for an event in Wyoming, maybe you get non-Power 5 coaches there or D2 coaches, as those are the schools those kids would be going to anyways. A lot of people won't like it, as it weakens the 'stranglehold' in-state schools believe they have on recruiting; but the fact is the elite kids are already going wherever they want, in state or out of state. And overall, I would like to believe this is better for the sport overall. Maybe not best for my school, but best overall. Just a thought. It would nuetralize the 'host school' recruiting advantage and level the recruiting field while helping a lot of young kids develop their game with a variety of coaching perspectives.
Actually, if the SEC teams weren't so uptight and frought with infighting, they could launch SEC camps like this (mixed coaching staffs) and keep MORE talent in our league while helping raise the performance of our lower tier schools. Nobody wants to share the field with other coaches, but this could be a boon for the league in setting such a precedent. Can you imagine 'SEC OL Camp', and 'SEC QB Camp', and 'SEC WR Camp'? Shares the expense, greatly broadens the brand reach, and builds more of a hold on the region's talent.
/sarcasm on
Well, we shouldn't be worried as he doesn't seem to be targetting our 3* kids anyway, and they could probably do with some NFL experienced coaching. Besides, the high quality southern kids aren't going to want to play in the snow anyway - they'd rather stay close to home, in the toughest league with the brightest spotlight. Essentially, it's a chance for him to see the awesome talent he's missing out on that we are getting, right?
/sarcasm off
