Cody’s Blog

Days after securing his class of 2010 football recruiting class, USC Trojan’s new head coach has already begun to turn his attention to the class of 2015. 13-year-old Red Lion Christian Academy middle school quarterback David Sills of Bear, Delaware gave a verbal commitment to Kiffin and the Trojans late Thursday evening. The 13 year old, seventh grade quarterback is 6′ tall and weighs 130 pounds and is already breaking down films by himself as he works under the tutelage of personal quarterback coach and close friend of Kiffin’s Steve Clarkson. Clarkson has coached some of the countries best young quarterback talent, including USC’s Matt Barkley, and knows that Sills has the opportunity to become something special. There are mixed reactions to this story. One side says that allowing kids to verbally commit at such young ages is absolutely absurd, while others say let it happen, as most of the kids change their mind about what school they want to attend anyway. Take Indy coach Jim Caldwell for instance. While he was the head coach as Wake Forest, he received a verbal commitment from middle school quarterback Chris Leak, only for Leak to change his mind and go to Florida, where he won a national title. Athletes committing at such a young age still have no idea what they want to do, even if they think they do and most of the time they end up switching things around. For me, the issue is not the commitment, but the fact that college and professional coaches and tutors are getting involved in the kids lives so young. These coaches are telling the kids that they can be great if they stick with them, and are not allowing them to enjoy being a kid. Some of the blame also falls on the parents, as they push their kids to do these things and by the time they get their, they have already ben playing their whole life and get burnt out. Although you are not allowed to sign a letter of intent until further down the line, I think that the same should be said for verbal commitments to allow kids to go on with their lives without the pressures of such large, life altering decisions.