Rollison's Departure A Cautionary Tale
by Jay Coulter on Feb 26, 2010 2:00 AM CST
in Football
11 comments
"He's a great kid and very humble. Loves to win. Tremendous competitor. At the same time, it's about his teammates. He could care less about how many passes he completes as long as they're being successful. He does a great job on the field of leading his teammates with his will to win. He's not a very vocal young man but he does it by his pure will on the field."
Those were the words spoken by Tyrik Rollison's high school coach, Greg Owens, after the four-star quarterback signed with Auburn last February. Rollison was the prize recruit of Auburn coach Gene Chizik's first recruiting class. According to Rivals, he was the number-two rated high school quarterback in the country. Simply put, he was the face of Auburn's future.
What a difference a year makes.
Rollison's departure is a cautionary tale for anyone who gets caught up in the national recruiting hype. And let's face it, in this day and age who doesn't get a little overly optimistic on the first Wednesday of each February?
There has been plenty of speculation this week over why Rollison chose to chunk his career for Sam Houston State. Was it his grades? Did it have anything to do with the year-end suspension that kept him from making the trip to the Outback Bowl? Was he homesick? Was it all of the above?
We probably will never know.
His high school coach said he was a tremendous competitor. Yet many speculate that he left because he knew it wasn't in the cards this upcoming season with Cam Newton and Neil Caudle expected to be the two primary contenders at quarterback. It would have been wise for someone to point out to Rollison that Chris Todd was in the witness protection program last spring.
It's easy for Auburn fans to dismiss his departure as a minor inconvenience. However, anytime you lose your prize recruit less than a year after he arrives on campus, it's a pretty big deal. He may not have competed for the starting job this year, but where will Auburn turn two years from now? How valuable would it be to have him around as a fourth-year junior?
There has been no outward indication that Auburn coaches worked hard to keep him on campus. That may tell us everything we need to know. I've argued more than once that recruiting is far from a perfect science. Maybe what Chizik saw on film was completely different from what he witnessed on the practice field. Tommy Tuberville missed with Kodi Burns. Statistically, good coaches miss about half the time. That's why quantity is such an important measure during recruiting season.
The most outward indication of trouble for Rollison came a few weeks back when Auburn coaches made no secret of going after several high school quarterbacks who will be playing as seniors this fall. On the surface it looks like Gus Malzahn moved quickly to cut his losses.
As Malzahn enters year two on the Plains, he's yet to find the perfect quarterback for his spread offense. Most believe Newton is the real deal - a sure bet. But then again, we heard the same thing last year about the hot shot kid from Texas. Malzahn has earned the right to be given the benefit of the doubt. Rollison may have lacked the intangibles needed to play quarterback in the SEC. Let's just hope Auburn coaches find their man by late April.
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aubtigerman
"The reason you come to Auburn is because of Auburn people.This is a special place, from the coaches all the way to the fans" - Andrew McCain OT
Good Article
Although we may never know all of the facts regarding Rollison’s decision to transfer, it was widely published that he had some academic problems prior to signing. His father has also confirmed that the bowl game suspension was due to academic issues. Although I’m disappointed in the way that things have worked out, I’m not totally surprised. Let’s wish him much success and move on.
You are right of course...
The fact that our coaches went hot and heavy after Cam, says more about Auburn’s QB situation than just filling a spot with a stud.
Had there been a can’t miss QB in position, Chizik and Co. would have used that valuable spot on another lineman or linebacker.
thanks for the great read Jay.
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Rollison and "Dual Threat" QB's in general...
According to Rivals, he was the number-two rated high school quarterback in the country.
Rivals ranked him as the #2 “Dual Threat” QB in 2009. Overall he was in the 4-6 best QB range. Not a huge difference, just pointing it out.
It is worth noting though that the “Dual Threat” QB’s that Rival’s rank every year rarely pan out in the order they predict. In fact they rarely pan out at all. Go take a look back at the QB’s ranked as “Dual Threats” from 2007-2009. 2007 is the only year that you’ll recognize more than a couple of names. And half of the names on the 2007 list are only known because they’re known for not living up to the hype.
Heck, take the guy ranked above Tyrik as the #1 Dual Threat QB from 2009 as an example. Russell Sheppard is making a position change at LSU from QB to WR to get more playing time. For every MIchael Vick or Vince Young that tears up record books as a Dual Threat QBs there are 50 guys who Rival’s ranks as 3 stars or higher that you never even hear of.
This is pretty much how I've always felt.
Whenever I hear people getting hyped up about the “Dual Threat” QB, I always remain skeptical. If their biggest feature over say, a pocket passer is their legs, then I need to see them against SEC speed and talent. It’s one thing to run all over high schoolers that have no chance in college. It’s another thing entirely to run all over future pros.
These might be the wisest lines ever uttered on this blog
Rollison’s departure is a cautionary tale for anyone who gets caught up in the national recruiting hype. And let’s face it, in this day and age who doesn’t get a little overly optimistic on the first Wednesday of each February?
The massive hype recruiting gets every year just becomes more and more obnoxious to me. Of course I acknowledge that recruiting is an important process as evidence suggests that those teams that pull in the most high profile recruits tend to be the ones holding the crystal football at the end of the day.
But when I see grown men letting their general well-being hinge on whether at 17-18 year old, hot shot blue chip 5 star recruit verbally committed to their school or a rival 8 months before signing day, I get a little sick to the stomach.
Maybe I’m just different than most that went to an SEC school, but I honestly couldn’t care less about the hype that’s bestowed upon recruiting these days. I’d rather win September-December than on one day in February. Then again, maybe that’s just me.
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Rollinson?
More like Roll on son…
Seriously though, he did what he thought was best for him. Good luck Tyrik and I hope you have success on and off the field. Don’t squander a free education, there are a ton of folks who’d love to have one.
"Jay Jacobs can't go to the bathroom without Bobby Lowder's permission" - Paul Finebaum
if we didn't get cam newton... i would agree.
this would be a big deal. you think this is big?
sorry, this isn’t a big deal for me. the AU QB pool was already full, and tyrik new 2010 was up for grabs and he wasn’t going out getting his shit done and winning it,… that was clearly the case. its easy to set aside as an inconvenience… no, it isn’t even an inconvenience. bottom line, this guy didn’t pan out…and the odds seemed to not be in his favor to lead AU in 2010 without newton anyway.
so, why do we have to turn it into something combusting inside Auburn? the way i see it, the coaches had every right (and were pretty smart about it) to go grab newton…
some leaders don’t show up until they are actually handed the reins… maybe this is the case with this pool of returning QBs?… either way, tyrik had a year to put himself in the position to be the guy in 2010. it didn’t happen. almost immediate rumors seemed to align trotter and caudle in the race with newton… not rollison.
and that was it. the guy wants to play,… who can blame him.
wappa
In my humble opinion,
a couple of observations.
First, group dynamics are funny things. He could be the best quarterback in the world, but if he doesn’t fit the system, for whatever reason, he is better off somewhere else, and so is Auburn. Sounds harsh, but it’s offered in sincerity.
Second, leadership is not developed from scratch; it has to be there from the start. Part of leadership is making grades, because that is part of what he is expected to do (what he should want to do too; education isn’t cheap, as someone pointed out above).
I get as wrapped up in this stuff as anybody else, but these kids get a lot of benefits for doing what they do (I know they work very hard as well). Respect is earned. From what I know about the situation (and it’s not much), sounds to me like everybody involved is better served when he gets to Sam Houston State.
we're all guessing. disagreeing, guessing, speculating, guessing... who cares.
guess i should have stopped with… i just don’t think that rollison leaving is an inconvenience…or that it reflects something mis managed on the part of the coaches…
thats all.
i really could care less what was missing with him… bottom line is, he had a whole year to prove he had something that was going to grab and lead this 2010 team and it didn’t happen.
wappa
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