Wait, some coaches do ask for our advice!?!

[Inky_Wretch]

Got this e-mail today ...

Dear (Inky),

This is Coach (Joe Bob) from (State U). (Inky), were there any players that you covered this year that you think we should be recruiting here at (State U)? Also, did you do All-State, All-Area, or All-Region teams? If so, please email me those teams.

Thank you,

Coach (Joe Bob)

Finally, I really can cost a kid a scholarship!!!

 

[The Granny]

With great power comes great responsibility.

 

[GB-Hack]

Let him know when he can listen to you if you do that soccer color commentator gig.

 

[Rhody31]

I've had a couple of D-III coaches ask me if I thought there were some college level players. I didn't see the harm in giving a few names.

 

[RickStain]

Got this e-mail today ...

Dear (Inky),

This is Coach (Joe Bob) from (State U). (Inky), were there any players that you covered this year that you think we should be recruiting here at (State U)? Also, did you do All-State, All-Area, or All-Region teams? If so, please email me those teams.

Thank you,

Coach (Joe Bob)

Finally, I really can cost a kid a scholarship!!!

I would do it, too, just because their parents were snotty.

 

[SF_Express]

When he was an assistant at Wisconsin, and before all the success at Platteville and elsewhere, Bo Ryan got VERY chummy with me because I was covering South Beloit (Ill.) High School, and there was a kid there they really wanted. He called me all the time, drank with me, everything.

Kid committed to Illinois. Next time I called Bo Ryan on a basketball matter, he basically had no idea who I was.

And I hold no animosity toward him, because he has been good for hoops at my alma mater. Just noting.

 

[sostartled]

Is there a line crossed by discussing players with him? I don't think so, but I'd like to hear opinions of those who think there is.

 

[Mark2010]

No, no line crossed. Someone asked for your opinion, you give it to them. Besides, it's not like this stuff isn't out there for anyone to find online or in a newspaper archive at the library.

 

[sostartled]

No, no line crossed. Someone asked for your opinion, you give it to them. Besides, it's not like this stuff isn't out there for anyone to find online or in a newspaper archive at the library.

Oh, I didn't mean passing on the all-state teams or whatever. I meant a coach using a reporter as a scout.

 

[Some Guy]

What that tells me is that State U. is going to suck, suck, suck.

When a coach is using the damn newspaper to figure out who he should recruit ... hot damn, he's in over his head.

Be honest: It was Lane Kiffin, wasn't it?

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

Inky, was this was a Div. I state school? Because I'm still trying to wrap my head around it even being a low-level DIII team.

 

[mike311gd]

I'd pass.

 

[CM Punk]

If a coach is asking me, I doubt he makes it another season.

 

[Mark2010]

Ok, I guess I read the OP a little differently. I didn't see it as the coach asking the reporter to do his job for him.

But, quite often there are local kids who, for whatever reason, fly under the radar. We see it every year at just about every school. OK, so maybe this coach isn't in a position to sign the next Parade All-American. But maybe, just maybe, there is a local kid out there who can contribute to the program and would love the chance to play.

Coaches are often overwhelmed during the season and aren't able to follow everything that happens at the high school level. I'm just giving the guy the benefit of the doubt.

 

[PopeDirkBenedict]

Coach might be looking for a preferred walk-on or a kid who can he recruit to be a team manager.

 

[crusoes]

No, no line crossed. Someone asked for your opinion, you give it to them. Besides, it's not like this stuff isn't out there for anyone to find online or in a newspaper archive at the library.

Oh, I didn't mean passing on the all-state teams or whatever. I meant a coach using a reporter as a scout.

He can ask questions, the coach, but if I'm the final straw in his decision, that probably means he's a terrible coach.

 

[Some Guy]

Ok, I guess I read the OP a little differently. I didn't see it as the coach asking the reporter to do his job for him.

But, quite often there are local kids who, for whatever reason, fly under the radar. We see it every year at just about every school. OK, so maybe this coach isn't in a position to sign the next Parade All-American. But maybe, just maybe, there is a local kid out there who can contribute to the program and would love the chance to play.

Coaches are often overwhelmed during the season and aren't able to follow everything that happens at the high school level. I'm just giving the guy the benefit of the doubt.

Having covered a pretty big time program for a little while, I know this much: If a coach really doesn't know what's happening at the high school level, they aren't very good at their jobs.

The ones who do it right, in this day and age, have it down to a science. Not only do they know about all the high-school prospects worth knowing about, they know about the top junior high-schoolers coming up.