I have never posted in a recruit forum, but I'd like to give my 2 cents on the subject and the mods can move it if necessary. As far as negative recruiting, it's such a lame attempt at bashing another school, and it works a lot of the time. I personally can't stand it. Granted, I was never recruited by D-1 schools, but I was being recruited by several D-II and a ton of D-III schools. I went on my visits and I'll never forget that when I told a lot of the schools that were recruiting me that I was interested in Mount Union, they immediately turned sour and bashed the program.
When I visited Mount on a recruiting trip, the one thing that stood out in my mind was basically a simple conversation with one of the coaches. The very first thing he said to me when we sat down was, "By the end of this conversation, you will know where you want to go to school, and play college football." He asked me the usual football questions, strength questions, and talked about the program, the academics, and the sort. He asked me what my goals were, short, medium, and long. I found it to be very comfortable, and infact it just pumped me up. He then asked me what other schools were recruiting me. I told him I was interested in several of the OAC schools. Not once did he bash the other schools.
At the end of the conversation, he asked me, "Do you know where you want to go to college?" I said yes. I don't know if some of the recruiters play psychological games with these kids, but it's so weak that they drill some statistical crap bashing a university into their heads. I sincerely hope that a lot of the kids we're recruiting and have given silent verbals, stick to their guns and not let the crap get to them. Football is most certainly a physical game but it's also very much a mental game...even in the recruiting process. You can get a sense of one's character right off the bat when you have one interview them. They're either interested or they're not, it's just that simple. That works for the athletes and coaches alike. You either know you want to play for this school and coach, or you don't.
I really hope we get Devon. I hope he knows he wants to play for JT and wants to be a part of the tradition. He seems like a good kid from what I've read about him and he seems like he comes from a very good family. I hope he decides with a clear head and leaves the negative recruiting psychological bs out of it.
