Not since the first Twilight book hit the shelves have so many adults paid so close attention to the actions of teenagers. However, that is what happens in the months, weeks, and days leading up to National Signing Day – February 4, 2009 – the high school to college version of the NFL draft.
I have to admit that I follow it as well. I am somewhat embarrassed that in recent years, NSD’s blip on my radar screen is much more prominent. It is simply because teams that have coaching staffs that recruit well, year in and year out, are on top of the conference and the nation. It is not all about recruiting to scheme. You have to recruit playmakers that can make a difference against your primary competition (conference opponents) and that stack up well nationally.
Consistently successful college football teams do many things to be successful and two of those things relate to NSD. One, the coaching staff actually possesses the ability to “coach up” guys with raw talent and turns it into viable playing skill. Second, coaching staffs recruit major, hyped up, five-star, ESPN-special-in-the-making talent to go along with the other solid players on the team.
Take Oklahoma for instance. It has been a long time since Oklahoma was bad. It has been a long time since Oklahoma was even mediocre. Why? Well, because year in and year out the coaches recruit major talent to fit their schemes and at times, they adjust the scheme to fit the major talent. Example: Adrian Peterson. Not exactly a running back built for the “spread” offense (though one could argue his talent transcends the scheme in many ways). So, the years AP was in the backfield we saw a lot more traditional running formations. When he jumped to the NFL, plug in some more wide receivers, running backs more suited to the wide-open offense, and a quarterback with bull’s-eye accuracy and it is back to the spread attack. Oklahoma has routinely finished in the top groupings of the Big 12 conference and the nation.
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