FELDMAN ON SEC RECRUITING
Recruiting is creepy…but it’s all we’ve got, so we’ve decided to at least do our due diligence this year and kind of sort of know what’s happening. This is the most time we’ve spent looking at 18 year old boys in tight shirts since we hung out with Tressel at Blake’s HEY-O! (Tressel’s not gay, and that’s obviously a joke. Jimmy T’s all man-in fact, he’s fathered one out of every seven children in Ohio over the past 18 years, meaning he signs the letter of intent for his own recruits as the guardian. We just blew your mind, and you’re welcome.)
Bruce Feldman of ESPN The Magazine joined us for a discussion of SEC recruiting, and a few points of interest for those wanting the quick and dirty version of the interview:
-Omar Hunter, Notre Dame DT commit from Buford, GA, is anything but a done deal. Considering that’s not coming from homer SEC us and from circumspect, suspicious Bruce, that means he might really be up for grabs in a replay of the Justin Trattou situation from last year.
-LSU is getting whatever they want, as usual.
-Mississippi is having a bumper crop as a state, with Ole Miss and Miss State both assembling quality classes.
-Arkansas faces immense difficulties with a late start for Petrino and Houston Nutt poaching his own former Arkansas recruits down to Ole Miss.
-The loss of Trooper Taylor is already hurting Tennessee, who may try to make up for it by raiding the Tidewater area incoming OC Dave Clawson recruited as a head coach in Michigan.
1
Of course I’m quick…I represent the S-E-C! The quickest of the quick conferences…quickly.
Comment by Aerobab — January 15, 2026 @ 11:03 am
2
“Jimmy T’s all man–in fact, he’s fathered one out of every seven children in Ohio over the past 18 years, meaning he signs the letter of intent for his own recruits as the guardian.”
That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever read from this site…
Comment by ChiDave — January 15, 2026 @ 11:11 am
3
How did Notre Dame get a connection to Hall County, GA?
First, Walker and now Omar Hunter? To South Bend?
Comment by Techie — January 15, 2026 @ 11:12 am
4
Umm…Orson…Omar decommitted awhile back
http://bluegraysky.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html#7449290448925835245
Most of the grumbling is at Urban, who knows, I was less than pleased but if he doesn’t wanna come fuck him
Comment by NDEddiemac — January 15, 2026 @ 11:19 am
5
Man, if you are going to even delve into recruiting, you better keep up, because all the really sleezy ( and thus interesting) stuff is just beginning to go down. As someone else mentioned, Hunter’s story is about three steps beyond ND at this point.
Comment by meg — January 15, 2026 @ 11:38 am
6
Did Cody Paul commit yet?
Comment by Brian — January 15, 2026 @ 11:41 am
7
Feldman got tight with the Orgeron when he did his “Meat Market” book. Did you ask him if he knew where he was going to end up?
Comment by Picture Me Rollin — January 15, 2026 @ 11:46 am
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We’re trying! Badly, yes. It’s our Special Olympics effort award, and we earned it!
Comment by Orson Swindle — January 15, 2026 @ 11:52 am
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fuk felledmann
Comment by Jerrell Powe — January 15, 2026 @ 11:54 am
10
Feldman mentioned in his blog that he thinks the Orgeron will end up as NFL assistant.
Comment by Lane Fenner — January 15, 2026 @ 11:56 am
11
Orgeron in the NFL. That’s just sad. I already miss him.
Comment by Picture Me Rollin — January 15, 2026 @ 12:11 pm
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I have family connections in his high school and program, and DeAndre Brown=academic casualty, most likely. If he’s playing anywhere but junior college next year, it’s a red flag, from what I hear about his grades. Which of course is pristine truth beyond any need for verification.
Comment by Hannibal Montegna — January 15, 2026 @ 12:16 pm
13
Just making sure you saw it O, especially since Urban seems to be the great evil everyone is pointing to on this one. My favorite part was when Hunter says he wants to stay close to home and then USC is on the list (blindly assuming he means trojans). Enjoy the participation ribbon and ice cream cone, the site is still glorious
Comment by NDEddiemac — January 15, 2026 @ 12:20 pm
14
I heard O has a standing offer from Kiffin in Oakland if he doesn’t land something in the southeast, which he would prefer. He and Kelley would like to stay close to their families (his in LA, hers in AR) to be able to take care of them if need be.
We have been trying to get the in-laws out of Gulfport for some time, particularly after Katrina (unfortunately from that perspective their house sustained little damage from the storm, so they stayed), so I can identify with O’s family situation.
Comment by reb pup — January 15, 2026 @ 12:23 pm
15
Omar Hunter has homesick issues, and he will end up at Georgia or Florida, but both are tight with scholarships at the moment, but both should be able to find room for someone of that caliber at that position.
He will not sign with Notre Dame.
Comment by Coop — January 15, 2026 @ 12:27 pm
16
In December…
My contact close to the situation… Naturally, I cannot say who, tells me that Recruit X is a LOCK. Look for him to announce to the (your favorite universities nickname) on signing day. He is a downright STUD, so never mind what the recruiting talking head of the week says, this kid is gonna come in and start right away.
In January…
What can I say, Coach (HC of your favorite university) is not on the job, Recruit X was a lock for us. That scoundrel (HC from rival university, where Recruit X just committed), must have lined his pocket, look for the NCAA to come down hard, something is just not right. Besides NewbergScoutRivals has him rated as a three star and our class remains in their top ten.
On Signing day…
Damn, look at our class, it is full of studs, I cannot believe we are not in the top ten, what the hell NewbergRivalsScout has no clue what they are talking about. Yeah Recruit X, enjoy your time on the bench at RivalU, we did not need him anyway, no way he would ever crack the third team here…
The inserted names are pretty interchangable on most message boards.
Comment by skinnyphatman — January 15, 2026 @ 12:29 pm
17
#3 - Buford’s in Gwinnett County. If you’re not a GA native, you get points for coming close, though…
I am hoping some of these recruiting stories result in the return of the shady characters we met at the bar during the coaching searches. Loud, brash, rich, moneybag haulin’ Arkansan, anyone?
Comment by Eric — January 15, 2026 @ 12:33 pm
18
While I think Northwestern may have hit a home run in picking up recently-jilted-by-Wisconsin Mike Hankwitz as their new DC, part of me was imagining how awesome it would have been had Pat Fitzgerald hired Coach O. Orgeron at NU-that would be something to behold . . . .
Coach O: Imasited-dissagonnabeadebesesdefensevah!
NU Player: Sorry, coach-what?
Coach O: Weagonnaplayacoachostyladefense!!
NU Player: Um, I scored 790 on my SAT verbal, but I can’t quite understand what you’re saying.
Coach O: FOOTBAW!!!!
NU Player: Oh, right. Football. Got it.
Comment by Big Ten Joe — January 15, 2026 @ 12:33 pm
19
Maybe Special Ed Orgeron could coach this squad.
Comment by Allahver Fist — January 15, 2026 @ 12:36 pm
20
YAYYYYY ICE CREAM!
Comment by Orson Swindle — January 15, 2026 @ 12:45 pm
21
Orgeron….Go Home!… Dept:
I read rumors that Pete Carroll wants the Orgeron back at USC, where he initially helped PC get USC back on top of the college footbaw world, but that the Orgeron is focusing on NFL jobs, if any.
The Orgeron could come in handy at USC, since USC has only 14 committments thus far. I do not know who is being too picky, USC or the prospects.
(By the way, has Colonel Reb stopped Cryin’?)
Comment by Stacy Keibler Luvs Me — January 15, 2026 @ 12:53 pm
22
#19 - Regarding the Northwestern wrestling Midgets:
Those are one tough group of little people, The Orgeron would fit right in there with them. Here is their website:
http://www.halfpintbrawlers.com/
Comment by Stacy Keibler Luvs Me — January 15, 2026 @ 1:08 pm
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@19
“puppet the psycho dwarf”
I’m crying man, crying!
Comment by hunglikehussain — January 15, 2026 @ 1:09 pm
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UT is gonna have a hard time getting a lot of kids out of the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Get in line, after VT, it’s a long line of schools who try and get talent out of there. UF, PSU, MD, FSU and UNC are positioned as well there as any non Virginia school, but the area only has 6-10 top end D1 a year and it seems the Hokies get half that number.
Comment by ebj — January 15, 2026 @ 1:19 pm
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@19&@22
RE: halfpintbrewlers
Pink Floyd? Led Zeppelin? *cough* Dave Matthews *cough*?
Wow. if I ever get stoned again, this is the ticket for me!
Comment by hunglikehussain — January 15, 2026 @ 1:34 pm
26
So the inability of Urban to constantly text HS players hasn’t hurt UF that much it seems.
Meanwhile, UF Atheltics Office staff still complain about what the text messaging did to Urban’s syntax and grammer.
“Thx 4 the raise!!1 Money is teh roxors! - UM”
Comment by Will (the other one) — January 15, 2026 @ 1:55 pm
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#9 —
Cocktails to you, sir.
Comment by gurn — January 15, 2026 @ 2:12 pm
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Well this WAS my refuge from the pathological weirdness that is CFB recruiting. You sure you want to go here, Orson?
Comment by Bobby Decatur — January 15, 2026 @ 3:23 pm
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SKLM: USC usually gets a late surge of recruits since they would rather go after the very top guys who often declare late. I’m fine with the incoming class since it has some top talent where USC needs it most, on the OL and DL. I’d be surprised to pick up any big name QB’s or RB’s this year considering the talent already on the roster.
And will it be Fox or Spike TV that signs the midget wrestling team for a show?
Comment by oc phil — January 15, 2026 @ 4:11 pm
30
Damn, Coach O should get the job in the ATL. It isn’t like that team is going anywhere at the moment. He would definitely put butts in the seats for pressers at least.
Comment by Meg — January 15, 2026 @ 6:34 pm
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Orson,
Go tell Feldman’s dog to shut up.
Comment by John — January 15, 2026 @ 7:25 pm
32
The Omar Hunter story is old news. Word is he wanted to be closer to home (Buford, GA) than South Bend, IN, so he eliminated the Irish. And then promptly indicated that, in addition to Florida, he is again interested in Southern Cal. As in California. Ah, geography. The devil is in the details. In four years he’ll have the unenviable task of choosing between the NFL and a Rhodes Scholarship. Good luck, Omar. Make Buford Proud!
Comment by J.J. — January 15, 2026 @ 8:35 pm