Earlier this week, there were rumblings from Michigan State DC Pat Narduzzi that Urban Meyer was not recruiting wholely on the up-and-up. Narduzzi called out Meyer for breaking a “gentlemen’s agreement” between the new OSU coach and his former assistant, MSU head coach Mark Dantonio. Narduzzi’s comments were short and seemed to lack any emotion. They were very matter-of-fact. It happened, time to move on. That’s the message Narduzzi seemed to be sending.
Wisconsin Head Coach Bret Bielema made similar comments, only he did so with the refinement and subtlety of a bull in a china shop. During his National Signing Day Conference, Bielema said Meyer was using “illegal” recruiting practices. I use the quotation marks because Meyer did not violate any NCAA rules. Bielema was talking about the specific practice of Meyer recruting players who already had given verbal commitments to other Big Ten schools. This is considered a no-no under a “gentlemen’s agreement” between Big Ten Schools.
Unfortunately for the rest of the Big Ten, Urban comes from the cutthroat SEC. Poaching verbal commitments down there is common practice. When pressed on the accusation, Meyer called the complaint “nonsense.” He didn’t see the harm in calling and asking a recruit about his verbal pledge.
To some degree, Meyer has placed the Big Ten in the middle of its own paradox. Do they continue to do things the old way (no national championships since 2002) or do Big Ten schools need to evolve in order to compete? Bielema seems to think the Big Ten should continue under the old guard, saying “I can tell you this. We at the Big Ten don’t want to be like the SEC in any way, shape or form.”
So, what does all this mean? Well, you can conclude that Urban Meyer doesn’t give a rat’s ass about “gentlemen’s agreements.” And he just might singlehandedly force the Big Ten’s hand, evidenced by his amazing recruiting class. If teams want to compete with Urban’s buckeyes for recruits, they might have to borrow some of his tactics.
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