Why Riley is embracing this early recruiting weekend
When the measure was approved last year for spring official visits to become a legitimate option for the 2019 class, it threw almost everything you’ve known about recruiting out the window.
Just like the early signing period, the spring official visit scenario is something everybody is going to learn as they go about what works and what doesn’t work.
In the last week, spring games for West Virginia, Iowa State and Wisconsin have all been canceled because of an unexpected blast of winter weather that has hit across the nation.
That won’t happen this weekend at Oklahoma. Or phrased another way, that CAN’T happen this weekend in Norman.
Head coach Lincoln Riley has seemingly been ahead of the curve when it comes to recruiting, and the OU staff is taking a big-time gamble when it comes to this weekend.
Spring games, in the past, have absolutely focused some on recruiting. But with everything being unofficial visits, you’d see mega-visitors list usually dwindle a bit by the time the actual game happened because of one reason or another.
OU is still loading up with unofficial visits for the 2019 and 2020 class, but the Sooners have nearly 20 confirmed official visitors headed to Norman this weekend.
Multiple five-star talents. Recruits from California, from Florida and everywhere in between. OU is going all-in for this weekend, and Riley explains why.
“If guys want to come in early, this is absolutely the best time to do it,” Riley said. “If you come in early before (the game), you might see a scrimmage and see guys practice, but you won’t see the atmosphere. It’s not the same as it is in fall. If you come after (the game), for the most part, your players are gone. They don’t get a chance to be around your players.
“For guys who wanted to come here early, we basically said we’re doing it this week or during the season. Just because I don’t want a guy to come here and not be able to feel the magic that’s here. The atmosphere. The passion and tradition that is around this football program and this university. The other weekends are just not enough like game weekends. They need to be able to see that.”
The early visit is the key part of this narrative. OU is likely to have big visitors weekends when it hosts teams like UCLA and Bedlam rival Oklahoma State during the 2018 season, but there’s no guarantee recruits will be able to make a trip work.
On the other side of the equation, there’s no guarantee the early visit is the one that will resonate the most. Again, there’s no template for this. OU simply believes this is its best shot.
But there’s certainly a chance a visit in April doesn’t resonate by the time you get to the summer and fall months. And a recruit who was so high on OU in mid-April might have the Sooners out of sight and out of mind by the time November and December roll around.
Riley isn’t lost on that logic, but he’s willing to take the chance.
“You know what, it’s different for every kid,” Riley said. “Some kids it’s going to be good to get it done early. There’s going to be some kids that yea, will take a visit later on and this one has worn off a little bit. Yea, that’s part of it. You can’t make it perfect.
“You just have to rely on these kids. Right now, if they’re adamant about taking an early visit, we’re going to do everything we can to accommodate to that.”
No doubt there has been a growing trend of recruits making initial commitments earlier and earlier. There’s no derailing that train at this point.
The issue has become not so much about landing an elite kid this early in the cycle but doing whatever you can to keep the recruit the entire time.
OU doesn’t have a perfect record in the department. Guys like wide receiver Jalen Reagor (2017, TCU) and quarterback Cameron Rising (2018, Texas) immediately come to mind as early pledges that didn’t last, but Riley is quick to point out that it often does work for the Sooners.
“The majority – it’s never gonna be 100 percent – the majority through the last several years, the guys who have made early decisions with us have ended up signing with us,” Riley said.
Even if that means they have to take the long road to Norman. Sophomore wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is the blueprint for this situation. Committed to OU in December 2015 only to decommit in April 2016 and then re-commit in July 2016 and sign for the 2017 class.
If it sounds familiar regarding this year’s spring game, it’s because three of OU’s official visits this weekend come from one-time former OU commits for the 2019 class.
There was a time where it felt like a decommitment meant that was the end of the road between a school and a recruit. There was a sense of finality to it and ties were severed.
The game has changed. Schools have adapted to it as well. It’s still not the most obvious outcome but kids coming back to their original commitment spot is becoming less and less shocking.
It’s not always easy to lose a top-tier recruit, but it’s simply the nature of the business nowadays. And blaming a recruit or his family? That’s not going to get you anywhere.
“We’re all adults. We’re all professionals. We’ve all been through this a bunch,” said Riley about college coaches. “A lot of these guys (recruits) are going through it for the first time. We have to remember to remain the adults throughout this whole process.”
The time for talking about the spring game and its initiatives is just about over. What we’re about to find out is if Riley and his staff were correct in putting their chips in for this weekend event.
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