USC football coach Lane Kiffin has an eye for talent, but he may want to see an optometrist.
Kiffin, who is well known as a strong recruiter, has offered an eighth-grader a scholarship to play football for the Trojans.
Six-foot-two, 190-pound Nathan Tilford hasn’t even stepped on a high school football field yet, but Kiffin made him an offer anyways.
Now, recruiting young isn’t anything new. Earlier this year, Georgia offered 15-year-old high school freshman Broadarious Hamm, a member of the 2016 recruiting class.
Tilford is a member of the 2017 class.
The saying “the early bird gets the worm” holds extremely true in the world of recruiting. Assumedly, the sooner a coach gest to a recruit, the longer he knows him and the more likely he is to sign with that team.
But how early is too early?
Is it fair to put high expectations of greatness on a kid who hasn’t even learned to drive yet?
No; let them be kids. Let them enjoy their young, mostly carefree years in relative peace.
The NCAA’s overhauled recruiting regulations are making it easier to recruit the next generation of college football players.
Maybe they should look into slowing it down a touch.
