Signing Day a day of (silly) hope for college football fans

Is there really anything more absurd than grown men waiting on a piece of paper to shoot out of a fax machine? In my humble opinion, it’s tough to find anything crazier.

Maybe watching a groundhog pop out of the ground?

Well, if you’re a fan of college football you ignored our good friend Phil today and instead waited for National Letters of Intent to pop out of your school’s fax machine early this morning. No shadows, no winter or spring predictions, just young men signing to play college football at the school of their choice.

For many it is a formality. Signing on the dotted line finalizes a verbal commitment given to coaching staffs during the regular season, or in early January. For some others, though, signing day is a day to make a choice.

I could care less.

Cincinnati signed 24 new players on Wednesday, and everyone was fired up about it. I get it, I get it, new blood in the program is fun and those recruiting guys (Like ESPN’s Tom Luginbill) somehow get a day’s worth of TV programming out of it.

But does it matter? If you ask me, not really. If you ask Butch Jones, UC’s second-year head coach, today isn’t the day to rank his class.

“Everyone wants to rank recruiting classes,” said Jones. “The real rankings (of the class) should occur 1-2 years from now.”

In Brian Kelly’s first year at Cincinnati, his class of 2007 (which included highly underrated video star, well, maybe you know him as your fearless blogger) was ranked 80th by Scout.com. However, an under-the-radar prospect from Pasadena, Calif., may have made the biggest splash in the past four years at UC.

Remember when, with 39 seconds left, down six to Pitt in 2009, Tony Pike dropped back to pass? Even if you don’t remember the details, you’ll surely remember the guy who caught the ball.


Along with Armon Binns, quarterback Zach Collaros and offensive linemen Sam Griffin and Alex Hoffman were all a part of that first class.

In 2008 and 2009, the UC Bearcats had the 51st best recruiting class in the nation. Players like running back Isaiah Pead (2008) and linebacker Maalik Bomar (2009) have made an impact for UC in the past few years.

Even though Jones and his staff had to scramble last year, UC still ranked 52nd in the nation. This year, however, with one full season under his belt, Jones and the football staff at UC have compiled the highest ranked class in the school’s history.

The class was ranked 41st at last check, bolstered, no doubt, by Harrisburg (Pa.) running back Jameel Poteat. Poteat de-committed from Pittsburgh after Dave Wannstedt stepped down as head coach.

For a full list of signees, as well as video highlights of the signees and the day’s events, go check out GoBearcats.com (http://www.gobearcats.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/11-cinn-signing-day.html)

It was a fun day no doubt for those coaches who recruited these young men the past few months.

We’ll really find out how good these guys are in a few years. Maybe by then Signing Day won’t be as hyped as it is now. I have a feeling that’s just an ephemeral wish from me.