Linebacker Kenneth Bynum from Raines High School in Jacksonville, Fla., signed with Tennessee on Wednesday.

Bynum, who is the 22nd member of Tennessee’s 2012 class, had originally committed to Cincinnati but decided to reevaluate his options when he received an offer from Tennessee the day before National Signing Day.

It was an unexpected offer.

“People said I wasn’t fast enough to land an SEC offer,” Bynum said. “I was basically doubting myself that I would land an SEC offer. But it ended up happening and I think it happened for a reason.”

Tennessee had a reason to offer Bynum. The Vols saw two linebacker commits – Otha Peters (Arkansas) and Dalton Santos (Texas) – decide to sign elsewhere less than a week before signing day.

Bynum is the third linebacker to sign with Tennessee’s 2012 class, joining Justin King from Dunwoody, Ga., and LaTroy Lewis from Akron, Ohio.

After signing day last week, Vanderbilt coach James Franklin told a group of Commodore backers that those players who decommitted from Vandy were “not men of honor” and “not men of integrity.”  He did not mention anyone by name, but most assumed that he was referring to defensive end Josh Dawson who decided on the eve of signing day to stay in his home state and attend Georgia rather than VU.

As a result of his words, Franklin took some heat.  Now, he’s backtracking a bit… and blaming the media (of course):

“First of all, it really wasn’t written the way it was delivered. I think the biggest thing is when a kid commits to Vanderbilt, I go into great detail and make sure they understand what they’re doing – that they understand ‘commitment’ and ‘what commitment means.’ That I’d say if five other schools come in and offer you, would you change your mind? We make sure everybody is on the same page: the kid, the parents, and the high school coach. We explain it in real detail. I would just rather a kid not commit to us than commit and not be completely sure what he’s going to do. When you lose a kid, it hurts your heart. You feel bad, like all college coaches do, because you feel like your institution is the best possible place for that kid. So when you lose them, it hurts.

I think I probably would’ve worded some things differently [that I said that day]. And I think it would’ve probably been reported a little differently than it was intended. But it is what it is. I have great respect for all the young men that committed to us. I have great respect for some of the men that changed their minds and went in another direction. They thought it was in the best interest for them and their family. But it hurts when you lose a guy when you’ve been recruiting him for a year.”

So Franklin wishes he’d said things differently.  And clearly he still thinks those players who decommitted from Vandy don’t understand “what commitment means.”

Then how exactly is any of this the fault of Jeff Lockridge of The Tennessean who initially tweeted the coach’s exact words?  Franklin tries to blame the press for not putting his words in context but he admits he chose the words poorly and that the context — turns out — looks pretty dead-on correct.

Michael Carvell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked several coaches about Franklin’s “not men of honor” comments and Vandy’s coach didn’t get a lot of support.  Especially from new North Carolina coach Larry Fedora who lost quarterback Patton Robinette to Franklin at the last possible moment (Robinette actually left orientation at UNC to sign with Vandy):

“What does [Franklin] say about the kids that were committed elsewhere and de-committed from their places to go to his place? That’s my comment. What is his comment on those people? He’s got someone in his recruiting class that did that very thing. He’s saying those guys are not men of honor? Basically, he’s saying he has got kids in his own recruiting class that are not men of honor. He said that, and I didn’t.”

We pointed out as much last week when writing of Franklin’s clear double-standard.  The AJC asked the coach if he saw his stance as being a double-standard:

“I think you get frustrated, and you get upset because kids commit to you.  But you’re exactly right. It was like the year before, when we got in here at the last minute and only had a month left for recruiting, we got kids to de-commit to us. I think that’s a very, very valid point.”

At least he admits that his comments post-signing day were out of line.  And in this instance he doesn’t try to blame the evil press for twisting his words.

1. Get ready for the recruiting circus that is sure to follow 2013 defensive end Robert Nkemdiche from Loganville, Ga.

2. The top-rated unsigned prospect for the 2012 class is getting closer to making a decision.

3. Here are some signing day grades for the 2012 class from CBSSports.com.

4. Alabama signee Dalvin Tomlinson had nothing to do with Darius Philon losing his scholarship at Bama, according to Tomlinson’s coach.

5. Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel takes an early look at the 2013 class in Florida.

6. Here’s a look into Kentucky’s efforts to sign its class for 2012.

7. Nkemdiche won’t be the only highly-touted prospect in the state of Georgia for 2013. The group will be large again.

8. South Carolina received a visit from offensive lineman Tyrone Crowder from Rockingham, N.C.

Justin Taylor and Darius Philon.  Both were commits to Alabama.  Taylor had been committed to the Tide for year.  Philon had stopped taking visits after making his pledge to Bama.

And both were told in the final days leading up to signing day that Nick Saban would only take them on if they waited a full year to enroll at Alabama in 2013.

Now you can say the Crimson Tide lived up to the letter of the SEC’s new soft 25-man signing cap law.  It did.  But that won’t mask the stink of these two players’ situations.

Taylor signed with Kentucky and admitted that he felt he’d been wronged.  His high school coach — former NFL running back Stanley Pritchett who’s seen recruiting from every angle — wasn’t happy with Alabama’s actions.

Philon — after a painful to watch signing day press conference — inked with Arkansas.  He’s never even been on Arkansas’ campus.

Is Alabama alone in this kind of activity?  No.  It’s recruiting.  It’s a dirty business known for broken promises.  Commitments from players and schools are steel strong… right up until a better player or a better school comes along.

But Saban and Alabama certainly get more ink than most when it comes to their methods of roster management.  Talk of a signing cap was tied to UA.  Chatter about unwarranted medical hardships once swirled around Bama.  And now the buzz is focused on Saban for backpedaling from committed prospects like an All-America corner in an SEC title game.

Is it enough to create some bad vibes for the Alabama program?  Jeff Sentell of The Birmingham News suggests as much:

“If there’s such a thing as football karma, maybe Taylor uses this diss to spark Kentucky to an Alabama upset?  Maybe Philon does the same for Arkansas?  What if those losses kept Alabama from both the SEC and BCS title games?  That’s one way that troubled look on Philon’s face on signing day could come back to haunt Alabama’s bottom line.”

That’s not likely to happen.  Instead, Saban’s juggernaut Tide will continue to roll right along.  And top recruits will continue to commit to Alabama believing that what happened to Taylor and Philon could never happen to their superstar selves.

But Tide fans are going to have to learn to live with all this negative talk until Bama changes its ways.  That’s got to be maddeningly tiresome.  Whether UA fans will admit it or not.

The old saying goes: To make an omelette you have to break a few eggs.  Well, there’s a price to pay for the eggs.  There’s a cost.

And the cost is headshakes and tsk-tsks from the rest of the sporting world everytime another teenager says he was left at the altar or kicked to the curb by Saban.  Nothing’s free.  Not even well-made omelettes.

(Story corrected… Justin Taylor — who we’ve referenced several times here — is the Alabama commit who wound up signing with Kentucky.  Jason Taylor was a future Hall of Fame defensive end for the Miami Dolphins.  And I am the guy who has to have extra proof-reading time for my morning posts.)

Earlier today, we gave you our take on Les Miles’ decision to publicly badmouth former LSU commitment Gunner Kiel.  In summary: Millionaire adults shouldn’t insult teenagers publicly.

Well, it seems that Vanderbilt’s James Franklin and MSU’s Dan Mullen have some growing up to do, too.  (There may be more across the SEC, but those are the three cases we’ve come across so far.)

In the cutthroat world of recruiting, coaches rise and fall on the commitments and de-commitments of teenage boys.  Naturally, when a coach loses a player, he’s going to be a) ticked and b) hurt.  But as adults representing major universities, they need to show a bit more maturity than the kids doing the flip-flopping.

Especially when coaches have no problem talking recruits into flipping and flopping to their programs.

On Wednesday, Miles questioned the heart and leadership capabilities of quarterback prospect and Notre Dame signee Gunner Kiel.  In contrast, he talked up the “style” of Jeremy Liggins, a Mississippi quarterback who inked a last-minute deal with the Tigers.

Liggins had been a top target of Mullen’s Mississippi State program.  So when he lost out on Liggins, he offered a scholarship to quarterback Nick Schuessler instead.  And here’s what he had to say about that move:

“It was actually funny.  During that whole weekend (leading up to signing day) we were sitting there with Nick, I kind of came to the conclusion Nick was the better quarterback.  Then it kind of became real heavy that he was the much better quarterback.”

Funny how that works.  You study two players for months and target one.  That one decides to go elsewhere and suddenly it’s obvious that he really wasn’t that good after all.  The other guy was “much better.”

How childish and small of Mullen to make a crack like that about a teenager who’s was trying to make the biggest decision of his young life.

But the immaturity and pettiness didn’t stop there.  In Nashville, James Franklin told a group of Vanderbilt backers that players who de-committed from his program were “not men of honor” and “not men of integrity,” according to Jeff Lockridge of The Tennessean via Twitter.

Hmmm.  Could that have been a shot at last minute flip-flopper Josh Dawson, who decided his skills as a defensive end would be better honed at his homestate school of Georgia?  (It should be noted, Dawson called Vandy’s coaches with the news on the night prior to signing day.  Even VU assistant Sean Spencer said “he was a man” about it.)

What’s ironic is that Franklin’s signing class includes a quarterback named Patton Robinette who walked out of orientation at North Carolina to drive to Nashville and join Franklin’s squad at the last possible instant.

I don’t recall Franklin closing his door to Robinette, do you?  I suppose a player isn’t a man of honor or integrity when he’s leaving you for someone else.  If he’s leaving someone else for you, well, that’s a sign of high character.

I get that coaches like players who sign with them and dislike many kids who sign elsewhere.  I understand that coaches need to spin “lesser” signees to the fanbase when they lose a higher-ranked prospect.  I also understand that coaches like to be applauded and there’s no easier way for a coach to gain applause than by acting angry and wronged in front of his fanbase.  Talk about rallying the troops.

But the fact remains, these coaches are dealing with teenagers.  Regardless of how they might feel post-signing day or what they might say behind the closed doors of the football complex, they need to show enough maturity to not insult and belittle young men who are being pulled in a thousand directions by grown men promising them everything from playing time, to jobs, to an education.

Miles questioned a teen’s heart and talent.  Mullen dissed a teen’s abilities.  Franklin questioned at least one teenager’s honor and integrity.

I wonder if there’s anyone at any of those coaches’ institutions who will question the scorned, schoolgirl behavior of their highest-paid employees?

You’re older than the players, guys.  You’re supposed to be more mature.  Act like it.

1.  Alabama’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament are still pretty good.

2.  This writer says Arkansas signee Darius Philon was more committed to Bama than Bama’s coaches were to him.

3.  Along those lines, this scribe says Gene Chizik showed more class on signing day than Nick Saban did.

4.  The price tag for Arkansas’ new football complex will top $40 million.

5.  The hoops Razorbacks will take part in the 2013 Maui Invitational.

6.  LSU’s Malcolm White sent letters of apology to Kentucky’s John Calipari and Anthony Davis for this flagrant foul he committed last Saturday:




7.  The Ole Miss basketball team is starting to develop an offensive personality.

8.  MSU is rested and refreshed with Auburn coming to town tomorrow.

This fall will bring another year with an abundance of talent entering the SEC.

Just look at the national rankings and you’ll see the SEC easily outpaced the rest of the nation. That means we should expect to see immediate results from this year’s group of signees.

Here’s a look at the top get for each team’s class in 2012.

Alabama
DB Landon Collins – Dutchtown, La.
It helps the Crimson Tide stole him away from rival LSU. Alabama is once again reloading on defense with so many players headed to the NFL. Alabama’s list is the toughest to pick just one player, but Collins is a good start. He has star potential.

Auburn
OL Avery Young – Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Auburn picked up Young on Signing Day after beating out the likes of Florida, Georgia and Miami. Young projects to be an elite offensive tackle in the SEC and new offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler is happy to have him.

Arkansas
LB Otha Peters – Covington, La.
The Razorbacks stole Peters away from Tennessee the day before Signing Day. Arkansas needed a strong finish and got that by landing Peters, who should be able to play for the Razorbacks this fall.

Florida
OL D.J. Humphries – Charlotte, N.C.
The Gators have a terrific class and it starts with Humphries, who some consider to be the top offensive tackle in the nation. Florida’s staff did a great job recruiting the state of North Carolina. Humphries is at the top of the list.

Georgia
LB Josh Harvey-Clemons – Valdosta, Ga.
His recruitment brought plenty of drama toward the end, but Harvey-Clemons is a big-time get and should fit in well with Todd Grantham’s defense. Harvey-Clemons could also help Georgia’s future recruiting efforts in Valdosta.

Kentucky
QB Patrick Towles – Ft. Thomas, Ky.
Towles helps fill Kentucky’s most important position of need. He has plenty of size (6-5, 230) and the Wildcats would love to see him help early. He’ll have competition from fellow quarterback signee Jalen Whitlow.

LSU
WR Avery Johnson – Pompano Beach, Fla.
LSU hopes he can be the next in line of what has been a great group of receivers in Baton Rouge. Johnson won’t have to carry the group immediately thanks to Odell Beckham Jr. and Russell Shepard, but look for big things in Johnson’s career.

Ole Miss
DE Channing Ward – Aberdeen, Miss.
Ward helped lead a strong finish for first-year Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze. Ward is one of the top in-state prospects and gives credence to the job many people expect Freeze to do in Oxford. Landing Oxford, Ala., safety Trae Elston helped add to Freeze’s defensive efforts.

Mississippi State
DE Denico Autry – Scooba, Miss.
Mississippi State is expecting an immediate impact from this junior college player. Autry is an early enrollee and will have a chance to start right away. He’s a big defensive end with an ability to rush the passer.

Missouri
WR Dorial Green-Beckham – Springfield, Mo.
This one is without debate. Green-Beckham could be the top prospect in the nation regardless of position and Missouri hopes he can be a game-changer as soon as he arrives on campus. Quarterback James Franklin will be thrilled to have Green-Beckham on his side as the Tigers enter the SEC.

South Carolina
WR Shaq Roland – Lexington, S.C.
Roland has the potential to be the next standout wide receiver in Steve Spurrier’s offense. The Gamecocks need immediate help now that Alshon Jeffery is off to the NFL. Roland and running back signee Mike Davis should keep South Carolina’s offense on track.

Tennessee
WR Cordarrelle Patterson – Hutchinson, Kan.
Landing the nation’s top junior college prospect on Signing Day was a great way to finish for Tennessee. The Vols should have an explosive offense with Patterson and returning wide receivers Justin Hunter and Da’Rick Rogers. The happiest man in Knoxville? Quarterback Tyler Bray.

Texas A&M
RB Trey Williams – Spring, Texas
Williams could be the next big-time running back to make an immediate impact in the SEC. There’s a reason every SEC team wanted Williams even before A&M had decided to enter the league. Let’s see how first-year coach Kevin Sumlin uses Williams in the Aggies’ new offense.

Vanderbilt
RB Brian Kimbrow – Memphis, Tenn.
Kimbrow helped bring early attention to Vanderbilt’s class when he committed to the Commodores in July. Kimbrow is a U.S. Army All-American and could have chosen Tennessee, Ohio State or just about any other school in the SEC. Head coach James Franklin will try immediately to get the ball to Kimbrow.

Between signing day recaps, a sales call and a doctor’s appointment, this is going to be a short day in terms of headlines.  Here they are, all in one bundle:


1.  There were a few SEC surprises on signing day.

2.  Recruiting season isn’t over for Auburn.

3.  The Tigers say they offered multi-year scholarships, but Alabama won’t say what it handed out.

4.  AU took care of Georgia in basketball action last night.

5.  Regardless of the types of scholarships Bama gave out, the Tide won the mythical recruiting championship.

6.  Arkansas missed out on top Missouri prospect Dorial Green-Beckham who elected to stay home and play for the Tigers.

7.  According to FoxSports.com, both the Arkansas staff and Oklahoma’s staff got down in the mud in pursuing DGB.  (Did a Hog booster offer to make a donation to the player’s high school?)

8.  There’s talk that Gus Malzahn flipped a UA commitment to Arkansas State.

9.  LSU filled needs with its 2012 class…

10.  But it was an up-and-down day for the Tigers overall.

11.  Dan Mullen says MSU signee Nick Schuessler reminds him of 49er quarterback Alex Smith.  (Mullen coached Smith at Utah).

12.  State’s D-line signees look impressive on paper.

13.  Trae Elston gave Ole Miss a nice boost on signing day.

14.  Hugh Freeze was pleased with UM’s “very good class.”

15.  Will Muschamp says Florida’s class has got fewer “featherweights.”

16.  The Gators landed a Top 5 class.

17.  UF is prepping to host South Carolina in hoops tonight.

18.  Josh Harvey-Clemons never wavered on Georgia, but he did have to convince his grandfather it was the right place for him.

19.  Joker Phillips hopes he found some diamonds in the rough.

20.  Kentucky out-toughed Tennessee this week, but one former college coach thinks the physical approach is still best against the Cats.

21.  Here’s the full report on the current state and future status of Rupp Arena.

22.  Steve Spurrier likes the talent and attitude of his latest Carolina signing class.

23.  Tennessee’s Derek Dooley says he feels good about his signing class…

24.  Apparently he hasn’t read this columnist’s take.

25.  Vanderbilt might have just inked its best class ever.

So what impact did the SEC’s new soft 25-man signing cap have on the league’s programs in its first year?  A pretty big one. 

On average, SEC schools signed about three less players apiece on signing day 2012 than they did on signing day 2011.  And for our purposes we include both Missouri and Texas A&M though they were in the Big 12 for previous signing days:

Here’s how the total numbers for the league’s 14 members have changed overall from 2010 to 2011 to 2012:


2010 total signees: 359 or 25.6 per school

2011 total signees: 342 or 24.4 per school

2012 total signees: 305 or 21.8 per school


Fewer numbers mean longer odds of finding playmakers, but judging by the SEC’s overall national rankings it’s clear the league passed on more two- and three-star players, not four- and five-star guys.  Naturally.

So while some will no doubt point to the decrease in overall numbers and suggest that SEC teams might start to decline, we continue to say — as we have been saying since the new soft cap passed — that due to the SEC’s location in the most fertile recruiting zone in the country, the new rule isn’t likely to put too big a dent in the league’s overall football product.

One you knew about.  The other… maybe not.  But two players Alabama asked late in the process to wait a year chose to sign scholarship papers with SEC rivals yesterday, rather than put their careers on hold.

We’ll start with the more publicized case of running back Justin Taylor.  Alabama told the Georgia native a couple of weeks ago that he would need to wait until 2013 to sign with the Tide, rather than come onboard now.

After waffling on whether or not to wait for Bama or sign with another school, Taylor inked with Kentucky.  According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, his coach and guardian — former NFL running back Stanley Pritchett – is glad he did.


“We trusted the coaches at Kentucky.  We felt comfortable with them, and they promised to take care of Justin.  I think everything turned out well, ultimately.  I wanted him to go to college right now bcause when you’re the first person in your family to graduate from high school, you don’t need to be sitting out.  You never know what might happen in December or next year at Alabama…

If you look back on it, you see that it was a numbers game, that Alabama really wanted to sit out because of the numbers.  It kind of makes you mad, but you also feel good that he didn’t go there.  Because if he had gone to Alabama, he would’ve probably just have been another number.”


Taylor made it clear that he wasn’t fond of the way he was treated by UA, either.  “The way they talked to me, they respected me… but as far as pulling the scholarship, I think they did me wrong,” the teenager said.  “I was the #7 to commit, that’s all I’ve got to say.  I was committed to them for a year.  They could’ve handled it better.”

Meanwhile, another Crimson Tide commitment was dealing with similar issues back in Alabama.  Darius Philon had been committed to Bama since September.  After saying he was torn between Alabama and Arkansas, he chose to put on a UA cap during his high school’s signing day festivities yesterday. 

But by day’s end, the defensive lineman had signed with Arkansas.  So what gives?

According to The Birmingham News, two teammates claim Philon was asked last week to hold off on moving to Tuscaloosa for a year, like Taylor.  That’s when Arkansas entered the picture.

Kerry Stevenson — Philon’s high school coach — said his former star felt yesterday like “he had the world snatched from up under him… I’m pretty sure he’s wondering, ‘Why me?’”

Stevenson, however, defended Bama and blamed the situation on the SEC’s new soft 25-man signing cap.

“On a number of occasions, (Alabama) stated how much they don’t want to lose him.  They got put in a bind.  I can see where it could happen, especially with this being the first year of the SEC putting in a stipulation like this.”

Both players are recovering from injuries and that might be one reason the Tide coaching staff picked Taylor and Philon as candidates for waiting.  Of course, Kentucky and Arkansas weren’t bothered by those injuries.

Pritchett clearly doesn’t feel that Alabama did his player right.  He can say that being in Atlanta.  Whether Stevenson is happy with Philon’s situation or not — he never even visited Arkansas after committing to the Tide — it’s probably not wise for a high school coach in the state of Alabama to diss the homestate program.

Technically, Nick Saban and crew adhered to the letter of the law when it came to the SEC’s new signing cap.  They let the players know that they’d have to wait to sign on, even if they did let them know late in the game.

But did Bama act in the spirit of the SEC’s new plan?  For that answer, we’ll have to wait and see what reviews are offered up at the SEC’s spring meetings for the first-year cap and for Alabama’s adherence to it.