It’s the biggest day of the college football year that no pads or uniforms are worn. It’s the day high school student-athletes make the biggest choices of their lives to see which decision will lead to the greatest success. It’s the day where the biggest buzz comes from which hat a high school senior puts on. It’s National Signing Day.
Last week’s NSD came and went with as much buzz as usual. Teams with new coaches like Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee blamed their ranking on lack of preparation. Other schools like Alabama, Florida and Ohio State did what they do each year and signed an elite class of talent. And there was the major surprise in Ole Miss picking up a top-five class. We get excited every year, but it all ends up very similarly to the year before.
So what then does a smaller, Division II program in Searcy, Ark., get excited about? Depth.
This year was a big one for Harding when it came to football. The obvious storyline of the year was the biggest sales pitch to the recruits. The Bisons made the playoffs for the first time ever this year and made it known to the high schoolers that it’s only the beginning.
The Bisons are doing big things in the football program. With the construction of an elite workout facility in D-II to new turf on the field to a regular season with only one loss, the Bisons’ improvement is obvious.
It’s understandable that it’s hard to make major headlines at this level, but when you look at the recruits the Bisons signed and the holes they needed to fill, the coaches did exactly what they wanted.
When you try to compare one class to another, look at the statistics. Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide has obviously had incredible success the last four years. From 2009 to 2012, in the NFL draft, there have been nearly as many two-star-or-lower players selected in the first round between 2009 and 2012 (20) as there have been five-star prospects (23). Yeah, five-star athletes come with big expectations, but the stars don’t make the player. Nick Saban molds his players, five stars or one.
So back to Harding University. Yeah, the buzz wasn’t worthy of ESPN’s camera crew setting up shop in the GAC, but players play, not stars. Coach Huckeba was right: they’ve made that next step to becoming a great team.
They’re young and they have depth. Searcy is in for a heck of a ride.
