Dotted line is serious business

Jim Williams, The Examiner
Feb 7, 2007 3:00 AM (4 hrs ago)
Current rank: # 7 of 14,636 articles
WASHINGTON - CSTV and ESPNU are poised to cover college football’s National Signing Day like it is the NFL Draft. The cable networks will feature wall-to-wall coverage today with plenty of local high school players and college coaches on the edge of their seats.

ESPNU will start its coverage at noon with both ESPNEWS and ESPN dropping by for two hours (3-5 p.m.).

CSTV will air live coverage from 2-5 p.m. with Matt Simms, John L. Smith, John Bunting and CSTV recruiting expert Tom Lemming.”

I spoke to Lemming about the day and how some local schools may fare.

Lemming on scouting players: “I have been tracking high schools for over 27 years and I logged over a million miles scouting players for my publications. Over the past five years, things just exploded. Everyone wants to know if their school got the big catch impact players to make them a BCS Championship contender.”

Lemming on Maryland: “I really think that Maryland fans will be very happy with their success. The Terps have been able to keep most of the top players in the state while sneaking up to New Jersey and grabbing four players from Rutgers’ backyard. Head coach Ralph Friedgen and his staff really has worked very hard to not lose the very talented kids in Maryland and it has paid off. I really think they could have a Top 25 class.”

On Virginia Tech and the ACC: “Virginia Tech gets high marks and once again Coach Frank Beamer should have a great class coming to Blacksburg. I think Beamer is an underrated recruiter, he does a great job. As for Miami and Florida State dropping off, don’t count on it. They will still be perennial Top 10 recruiting teams every year with South Florida quickly becoming the state’s next powerhouse.”

On which school will win the day on a national level: “USC and Florida both have done a great job of becoming dynasties and will be top five recruiters for years to come. Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, Michigan and Ohio State all cashed in this year.”

Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer.
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