Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Article Regarding Recruiting Difficulties

This article was in the Mobile Press-Register today.

In part, he writes,

"Saban's recruitment of McNeil resembled his two-year stint with the Miami Dolphins -- lots of hype and some promising moments followed by failure. Saban, Michael McNeil said, "was by my side the entire visit," eating dinner with the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder Friday and Saturday night and detailing how the free safety would fit in to his plans of rebuilding Alabama into an elite-level SEC football program.

As it turns out, Saban's dinner date with McNeil marked the end of the hurried courtship. On Tuesday, McNeil accepted a proposal from another suitor. Instead of wearing crimson and white, McNeil will try to help keep Alabama down the next four or five years.

"Me not really having that relationship with coach Saban, because he only had a short time to try and recruit me, is really what threw them off," Michael McNeil said, adding that he felt compelled to "follow my heart."

Despite Saban's best recruiting effort and his national championship pedigree, McNeil committed to Auburn Tuesday. Therein lies the biggest difference between Saban's last college job and his current one.

In Louisiana, there is no Auburn. In Alabama, Auburn is a worthy adversary, a top-10 program with stability, continuity and few question marks. For Alabama, Auburn is a threat and vice-versa. There's no such animal at LSU. Winning at LSU -- with apologies to Gerry DiNardo and Curley Hallman -- isn't difficult. It's one of the five top jobs in the country because LSU gets the pick of the best in a talent-filled state. Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe and Tulane aren't exactly Auburn."

My response:

I can't totally disagree with him, but, recruiting for Alabama is easier than recruiting for LSU in other areas outside the state. For example, Saban might have more success drawing a player from Florida to Alabama than LSU. Besides that, he's been on the job ONE MONTH. The guy needs to give him and his staff time to develop some relationships.

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