National Signing Day: pettiness reigns

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke addresses the pettiness of college football's National Signing Day.

C. Stiles

Related Content

• Report: Miami Has Informally Contacted the Big 12
  May 22, 2012
• Miami Not Likely to Follow If FSU Moves to Big 12
  May 14, 2012
• Hurricanes Athletic Director: "We Are Committed to the ACC"
  May 25, 2012
• Ten Best Things to Do in Miami This Weekend
  February 3, 2012
• Miami Hurricanes May Miss Out On A.J. Leggett, One of the Nations Best CBs, Because of Academics
  December 2, 2011

More About

• Miami Hurricanes
• Atlantic Coast Conference
• University of Miami
• High School Football
• High School Athletics

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

On National Signing Day last week, University of Miami Hurricanes head football coach Al Golden attracted top players from St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Phillip Dorsett), Coral Gables High School (Denzel Perryman), and Homestead High School (Ricardo Williams).

But I believe University of Miami could have landed more kids from the area if not for certain high school coaches in Miami-Dade County who don't want to support the school.

Of the Miami Herald's top 25 high school football players, only two are becoming Hurricanes. Why? High school football coaches here are encouraging kids to go to other schools.

I used to hear a lot of complaints from some coaches about University of Miami ignoring its players. But 'Canes coaches would respond that their high school counterparts didn't want to send kids to the school in Coral Gables.

South Florida high school coaches need to come clean with their grudges and hidden agendas. Kids playing football in Miami grow up dreaming of putting on an orange-and-green uniform. The only reason these kids get turned off to the school is because coaches whisper in their ears that they shouldn't go there. It needs to stop. The coaches are encouraging these kids to attend institutions far, far away from their families. In some cases, the relatives can't even afford a plane ticket to visit. Is the high school coach going to pay the airfare? Hell no.

One way to address this problem is to change the recruiting process. Universities often send correspondence to the high school, not the player's home. So the coach ends up controlling communication. Something needs to be done so that parents are notified first when a university is recruiting their child. I've known parents who have no idea who is chasing their kids. They've asked me who is pursuing their sons.

Local high school coaches need to sit down at a table with the Hurricanes' Golden and his staff to air out grievances. They need to tell him what hasn't been done and what needs to happen in the future.

Just like I do.