Posted by bozar on 4/4/2008, 8:37 am, in reply to "Re: This kid has cojones but maybe not good judgment"
68.164.85.163
I have not viewed nor read any of the letters but I found Bixby23's post most entertaining. It leads me down this thoughtful path: If recruiting is such an important part of D1 athletics, why are the letters so badly written? I don't want to touch possible answers here but, I think it would be advisable to have the letters edited by someone in English or, maybe, Business. My son was never a recruit but, if he had been, I would have thought that maybe these letters were jokes or forgeries if written that poorly.
--Previous Message--
: I agree that scanning and posting these
: letters is hardly going to endear him to
: whichever of these coaches might still be
: willing to take him (and it will probably
: prompt an additional line or two in future
: letters prohibiting their public display).
: But since he's already done it and it's now
: in the public domain, Here are my reactions,
: just for fun:
:
: Arizona: Most adjectives, and oddly
: ungrammatical usage of the word “offer” (see
: first paragraph). Amazed they even have the
: “Bear Down” slogan on their stationery –
: these guys have a serious case of Cal-envy.
:
: ASU: Clearest communication (albeit with
: peculiar capitalization of MAROON and GOLD.
: Letterhead seems to indicate Forcier would
: actually be attending a university as
: opposed to just a practice facility and gym.
: Mentions “success in the classroom” three
: times – seems odd for a letter signed by
: Dennis Erickson…
:
: Auburn: Tommy Tuberville can write!?
: Well, sort of. Bizarre capitalization
: throughout, strange indentation style, and “
: to offer you a scholarship to Auburn
: University ” bolded at the end of the third
: paragraph, just in case the kid was still
: wondering “why on earth would the Auburn
: University Athletics Department be
: contacting me?”
:
: Baylor: Lots of colloquialisms,
: redundancy, and long-windedness. Letter
: notes that Baylor will be sending additional
: offers to others and accepts commitments in
: the order they receive them. Yikes, but
: that cries out for some revision of the
: recruiting strategy. Also, very personable
: in that it contains a handwritten note
: (signifying that the actual letter is just a
: fill-in-the-blanks form) that would probably
: be endearing if only it were legible…
:
: Clemson: Points for brevity and clarity.
: Oooh, they have a 1-800 number.
:
: Duke: Letter by committee award. Refers
: to Tate Forcier as Robert Forcier – his
: given name? Coach Cutcliffe believes
: Forcier’s ability as a football player would
: allow him to succeed . . . at Duke
: University…yeah, him and my grandmother.
: And why do people start sentences with “Once
: again, …” and go on to say something they
: haven’t said anywhere else in the letter?
:
: Iowa: Loses points for overuse of
: exclamation points. Coach Ferentz believes
: Forcier will enable Iowa to successfully
: compete at the highest level of “The Big
: Ten” both academically and in football. My
: translation: Coach Ferentz believes Forcier
: can do impossible, somewhat meaningless
: things.
:
: Kansas: More exclamation point abuse.
: Expected coffee stains or grease smudges,
: but appears fairly clean. Mangino thinks
: Forcier deserves to know that Kansas is
: willing to offer him a scholarship – t’would
: be pretty mean spirited of them to offer him
: a scholarship and then not tell him about
: it.
:
: Kentucky: Aims for “upbeat and positive,”
: achieves “preachy and tiresome,” which is
: unfortunate for a long letter that begins
: “With a high degree of excitement [we are]
: delivering this important letter to you now”
: (as opposed to later, I guess). Same first
: come, first served policy as at Baylor – if
: this isn’t a hard-sell tactic, the offer
: process must be really, really drawn out to
: avoid position overloading/ shortages.
: Comes across as used car salesman-ish.
:
: LSU: If Les Miles really wrote this (big
: “if”), then he earns the most literate coach
: award. Very clear, well written, and
: informative. Carefully points out that NCAA
: rules prohibit him from contacting Forcier,
: but if Forcier would care to just dial this
: li’l ol 1-800 number, Les would love to talk
: to him at his earliest convenience. And by
: the way, he’s usually available on weekdays
: between times x and y. A bit concerned that
: some people who receive these letters will
: read “Geaux Tigers” as “Goox Tigers.”
:
: Michigan: Almost as good a form letter as
: Penn State’s (see below). Handwritten note
: thanking Forcier for recent conversation
: while carefully dodging NCAA regulators by
: noting the direction from which the call
: came (Forcier). Clever dude, Rodriguez.
:
: Nebraska: Stationery is an aerial
: photograph of a packed Memorial Stadium
: –basically a sea of red into which the text
: vanishes. I think it's a scholarship offer,
: though.
:
: Oklahoma State: Clemson-esque in its
: brevity, but delivered in an all-caps font
: that says all the right things, but
: communicates that COACH GUNDY WANTS YOU TO
: CALL HIM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, DAMMIT.
:
: Oregon: Another PAC-10 school coming
: across as an academic institution that would
: like to offer Forcier a scholarship and, by
: the way, would he mind joining the football
: team if he can fit it in between classes.
: Nice flanking maneuver at the end leaves
: Oregon the option of “altering the
: agreement” if they don’t receive his
: response by an “agreeable” date. I heartily
: agree.
:
: Penn State: Best form letter. Paterno
: makes not even the feeblest attempt to slip
: Forcier’s name into the letter and give it a
: semblance of at least feigned customization.
: This is the anti-LSU letter, but maybe a
: close 2nd to Michigan in terms of form
: letter quality. The third paragraph begins
: with, “For 120 seasons of college football…”
: and I caught myself thinking, man, that is
: one old dude.
:
: South Florida: No nonsense, but looking
: forward to Forcier becoming “part of
: something special here in Tampa” – I’d ask
: for clarification on that.
:
: Stanford: Exclamation points! Again!?
: Oh, wait, it’s Harbaugh. Very dignified
: letter promoting the value of a Stanford
: education, the grand tradition of Stanford
: football, the upward trajectory of the
: program. Oh, and call me on my cell ASAP.
:
: Texas A&M: Most impersonal and
: businesslike. One full paragraph on the
: need to commit early and consequences for
: not doing so. But if he is one of the first
: to commit, he will be firmly counted among
: the program’s prized recruits – sort of
: like, “and if you call now, you’ll get this
: snazzy toaster oven absolutely free!”
:
: Washington: Most personable. Picture the
: Uncle Sam poster saying “We Want You – to
: restore Husky football to greatness. Not
: sure about the appeal of signing on with a
: fixer-upper, but good sales pitch.
:
: WSU: “World class academics”? “one of the
: Best Football Programs in the nation”? I’m
: confused.
:
: Wisconsin: Only letter addressed to coach
: instead of to Forsier, himself. The entire
: section about Wisconsin’s scholarship offer
: and relevant conditions is bolded so as not
: to confuse the reader. A list of high
: points – wow, Ron Dayne went here. Cool.
: I’m in.
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: How would you handle getting all the
: attention, calls, emails and correspondence
: from many of the head football coaches at
: major colleges around the country.
:
: I would suggest not doing what this kid has
: done.
:
: Jay Drew
: SLC Tribune
:
: "...A quarterback prospect from Scripps
: Ranch H.S. in the San Diego area by the name
: of Tate Forcier has apparently created a Web
: site and posted his scholarship offer
: letters on it.
:
: It is quite an impressive list. Schools such
: as Penn State, Oregon, LSU and Nebraska have
: offered the junior quarterback.
:
: More fascinating are the actual letters.
: Interesting reading for football recruiting
: junkies, but I am sure coaches like Joe
: Paterno will not enjoy seeing their letters
: posted on the internet for everyone to
: see..."
:
:
:
: http://www.qbforce.com/tate/offers/Offers.htm
:
:
:
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