The whole concept of college football recruiting is out of hand these days. Those EagleTalk parrots are simply trying to figure out how to spin any event into a positive for USM or tell why the prospect is dumb for not choosing USM. What most of the EagleTalkers don't understand is that there's not a top-flight university in the state, meaning that none of the schools are top-flight academically or athletically.

If a prospect signs with an out of state school, the EagleTalkers immediately brand him as a traitor, when in fact the prospect is probably going to get a better education AND get a better athletic situation at LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, FSU, etc. EagleTalkers crow about their graduation rate, but exactly how hard is it to graduate from an open admissions university as opposed to more selective universities?

One thing I do know: If Bower has another sub-par recruiting year when all is said and done, then he's on a very short leash next season. Nice guy, good grad rate (whatever), clean program, but not enough wins to satisfy the masses.