This past week, college football's National Signing Day came upon us, after months of anticipation regarding where the top high school prospects in the country would sign.
This year’s top classes were very diverse, with many of the Division 1 Schools bringing in many top caliber prospects.
Among this mix was USC, who in the early part of January was unsure on the future of the program to some extent.
The stunning exit of Pete Carroll to the Seattle Seahawks resulted in a short search when USC named Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin to the same position. Kiffin was a part of the coaching staff under Carroll for quite a few seasons.
Unless you were hibernating for the past year, I'm sure you are aware of the controversy Kiffin has brought upon college football. From the recruiting accusations against Florida head coach Urban Meyer, to see his fellow recruits facing legal troubles, it wouldn't have surprised me if Kiffin became the most hated man in college football in a span of less than a year.
Since Kiffin was named the head coach, I'm sure most USC fans are happy with the recruiting class they have, especially with the circumstances that are present with Kiffin.
However, earlier today while reading reactions to this year’s recruiting classes, I came upon an article at Yahoo Sports , the title being "13-year-old 'commits' to USC, and pancakes for breakfast."
After taking a glance at this article, shock just fell throughout the room. I decided to read the entire article to see Mr. Hinton's opinion on the situation, and then I thought, is this a truly a shocker to anyone?
According to a report, a 13-year-old seventh grade quarterback, named David Sills, accepted a scholarship offer Thursday night from USC.
"My heart was beating so fast," Sills said, who I'm sure had all of his emotions running high after getting this offer.
And I don't blame him. If I was in the position Sills was, a middle school student being offered a scholarship to play football from one of the best programs in the country, I would be excited as well.
But why did it have to get to this point? Why in the year 2010 are kids—who have not even played one snap of a high school football game—being offered to play college football?
A child at that age should be living life with friends and family, not having to worry about the amount of pressure they will face in the next four years of his life.
Last season while the head coach of Tennessee, Kiffin offered a scholarship to Evan Berry, brother of current NFL prospect Eric Berry.
Unfortunately I can't give a reason behind this belief of recruiting kids at such a young age.
Is the crop of talent decreasing at the highest rate that a coach would even be forced to make a move like this?
This news would be crazy enough if it was a coach at a mid-major program, but last time I checked, USC is still a top 15 program in the country— for now.
Besides, the focus of the recruiting should be for players that will help USC in the next coming years, when we know for sure that Kiffin will still be around as head coach.
It is still unknown whether or not Sills will truly become such great of a talent. I have nothing against him, in fact, I hope he finds success during his high school career and will attend college in the future.
But in a blink of an eye, whether by injury or simply poor performance, Sills may become a disappointment for Kiffin, and knowing him, he'll take that offer right off the table.
If the situation came down to that, Sills may not get an opportunity at a division one college since Sills committed so early.
No matter how you put this together, it's simply another low standard set by Kiffin, which I hope will not begin as a trend in college football.
If USC continues to find success like they did in the past decade under Kiffin, then congratulations to you. But as a fan of the sport, it may only become more controversial for Kiffin, which if it does, may lose another opportunity of coaching at the highest level.
Matt Miselis is a writer for BleacherReport.com. Covering all sports, Miselis is an NFL Featured Columnist, along with covering the NFL Draft on NFLTouchdown.com.
