It was 1987, and outside the coach's office at a local high school, Texas A&M coach Jackie Sherrill, Oklahoma's Barry Switzer and LSU's Mike Archer were sitting side by side, waiting for an audience with a 17-year-old football stud.

There they were, three of the biggest names in coaching at the time, forcing awkward conversation and checking their watches like kids sent to the principal's office.

When the hotshot player finally arrived, Sherrill stood up, walked into the office, grabbed the player by the arm and escorted him to a corner of the locker room. Sherrill then turned on the charm.

Switzer and Archer, the story goes, fumed and cursed under their breath at Sherrill. Still, they waited their turns. They had to.

Some recruits always will be worth the wait. Some always will be worth the trouble and expense.

But most aren't. And that is the problem with today's recruiting game as a trend toward pressuring prospects into early commitments is fast becoming college football's latest dirty little secret.

The image of the three coaches sitting there in 1987 — squirming — came to mind after Alief Taylor tight end Martellus Bennett announced his recruiting decision on live television Monday night.

With three logo baseball caps on a table in front of him and coaches in College Station, Baton Rouge and Austin no doubt squirming, Bennett chose the Texas A&M cap in one of the most high-profile recruiting announcements in recent area history.

But you must understand that Bennett is the exception in today's recruiting game. A good student with a bright personality and NFL-caliber talent, not to mention elite-level basketball skills, Bennett knew every school in the country would save a scholarship for him.

He knew he was worth the wait. He knew he could enjoy the process and make the decision he felt was best.

Choices coming earlier
But for every Martellus Bennett, there are dozens more players whom college recruiters view as little more than cattle heading to the trough.

First come, first served.

If a player does not commit early, though unsure or unready he may be, often he is the one left squirming.

Some players commit as early as the start of their junior season or even the summer before, when young prospects make the rounds at another new recruiting phenomenon — 7-on-7 camps.

The rest of the story

By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Houston Chronicle