Miami Hurricanes National Signing Day: Remember, They are just kids.

Recruiting and National Signing Day has turned into a lucrative industry for the Miami Hurricanes and every other big program.

The College Sports fanbases are on the edge of their seats and smart phones awaiting the decisions of 17 and 18 year old young men and boys. The one thing we all need to remember is that they are still young and prone to indecision.

I remember the day all too vividly. After a very particular bad game under the Friday night lights, I recomposed myself over the weekend and faced Monday morning with sheepish tenacity. I was 16.

Once I sat at my desk the feeling of dread instantly draped around my body like it was cape. On my desk in first period was a newspaper article from the Bradenton Herald. I was instantly reminded conveniently by my offensive coordinator, also the first period English teacher, the reason why we lost. Me.

I saw my teary eyed self reflected in a picture now staring back at me. The front page headline was salacious and it instantly enveloped me into its content like some unexplainable cosmic vortex. I still can tell you verbatim many quotes.

Line after line were meticulously highlighted to remind me of all my folly. I remembered thinking to myself, this took a lot of time and effort to do this. That is the thing, today the pressure on high school football players has exponentially intensified. It’s easier to apply the negativity.

Social media such as Twitter, have created an almost voyeuristic and intrusive component into the lives of many high school athletes.  Fanatical fans astutely dissect a player’s account and essentially turn a recruit’s life into a twenty four hour follow fest.

Fans now know every thing you say.  Fans know everything you do. Thank the re-tweet button for that. Some of the attention they unequivocally bring on themselves. Follow counts have become some sort of popularity measuring stick and status symbol theses days.

A recruit will not pick your school.  I promise you.  Sometimes you find that out after two hours of mindless snap chatting that included an airplane fake out, a zombie flick or even a “Taken” style abduction movie that would have even made Liam Neeson proud. The customary hat trick is essentially a relic of the past and a recruit’s decision has been replaced with Quintin Tarantino flair and production.

When a recruit spurns a particular school because of his decision, you can simply see how relatively easy it is for fans to have direct access. Today interjecting an opinion, good or bad, towards a recruit is essentially the click of a button.

Gone are the days where you had to buy a newspaper, highlight the page, walk towards a desk, put it on such desk.  I’m pretty sure walking into schools to interject your opinion is illegal these days unless you are a staff member.

On the eve of National Signing Day 2017 a peculiar and evident phenomenon will occur shortly after the dust settles and this archaic fax machines stop sounding. The seamless transition into 2018 is here. The recruiting cycle will begin a new. New gold fish for the fishbowl.

Next: Miami Hurricanes Fan Trolls Florida Recruiting Process

The recruiting industry boom and multiple media outlet coverage assures that there are plenty of onlookers watching them swim. The waves of seemingly entire fan bases are at a recruit’s disposal. No doubt we are their audience. Remember, they are still kids. They are impressionable. They are not perfect. They have not changed. Their stage has.