Sims or do we still have anything left to offer him?
Advice for Oregon State Beavers commits: Take a look at other options
By Andrew Nemec |
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on December 04, 2014 at 5:44 PM, updated December 04, 2014 at 6:12 PM
Oregon State three-star tight end commit Matt Snyder said that he and his family hosted Mike Riley in their home Wednesday for a visit.
Snyder said he sold them Oregon State – the program, the family atmosphere, the future.
Turns out, it was a future of which he wasn't a part.
Recruiting is a business. It's about wins, money and job security for the school and coaches.
It was for Mike Riley on Wednesday, it will be for the next coach that comes to Corvallis and it needs to be for the recruits.
On Thursday, as news broke that Riley had left for Nebraska, committed high school seniors began scrambling to find out about their futures. Quarterback James Pensyl, linebacker Tyrin Ferguson, offensive lineman Beau Hott and others said they learned of Riley's departure like many of the Oregon State faithful – through Twitter.
Finally able to get ahold of assistant coaches each recruit was reassured that their scholarship was still very much on the table. That is, after the assistant coaches figured out what was going on, according to several Beavers pledges.
The only problem is that those scholarships are no longer the assistant coaches' to give.
In many cases assistants follow a head man out the door – be it by firing or a move to the coach's new school. Rarely do assistants remain in place while the man in charge travels elsewhere.
Oregon State's class is largely built on players that fit Riley's system – a system that is no longer in place in Corvallis.
One of the first tasks a new coach must complete is going over the current crop of commits and deciding who to remain loyal to and who to cut. Given that the class currently has just one four-star pledge, few prospects are safe.
If Oregon State University was as blindsided as the assistant coaches, a new hire and an evaluation of the current class will take time – time these 18-year-old kids don't have.
National Signing Day is exactly two months away (February 4), and many recruits have spent months shutting the door on other schools while remaining true to Oregon State.
Just in case the new coach has other plans, just in case a recruit doesn't fit his system, just in case he goes in a different direction, Oregon State commits need to at least look at other options.
If not, they may again find themselves scrambling. This time on signing day.
