Ridiculous recruiting: Ga. Tech, Alabama guilty of silly ploy

Coaches whine about complex recruiting rules then go out and do things like this.

Georgia Tech sent 52 recruiting letters on one day to a prospect, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Michael Carvell.

Sending obnoxious amounts of propaganda at one time appears to be the latest in silly -- and very environmentally friendly – recruiting ploys. Alabama sent Norcross (Ga.) running back Alvin Kamara 105 letters one day in February.

Georgia Tech’s bevy to Wesleyan (Ga.) safety Charles Mack reportedly included a personal letter from each coach on the staff.

What a nice touch on an absolute ridiculous waste of resources.

I once wrote recruiting letters for a company that supplied them to major universities. You were assigned a school and given a list of the program’s selling points. In some cases, I’d write as many as 100 letters for one school, highlighting the state-of-the-art weight room and the convenient amenities of the study hall. I can’t remember the exact pay, but the mentality was to bust them out in 30 minutes or less to make it worth it.

All along, I was thinking – do high school athletes really read this stuff?

Mack told the AJC that he would be reading each of his letters from the Yellow Jackets. I hope he finds the one about the storied history of the Ramblin’ Wreck fight song particularly fascinating.

Hokey recruiting tactics aren't going away, but here's hoping coaches get a little more creative with the way they sell their program. No one wants a kid choosing a college because it wasted the most paper on him.