With National Signing Day coming up (Wednesday, February 5) recruiting battles are coming down the final stretch with heated recruiting battles being fought this weekend. For many of the top rated recruits around the country, some awkward moments are bound to happen.
One of the top pliers in the state of Michigan recently experienced one of those moments once a recruiting dead period had been lifted b the NCAA. Malik McDowell, from Michigan, had assistant coaches form Michigan, Michigan State and Alabama waiting for a chance to talk with him recently, but apparently one coach could not wait to get his turn for a one-on-one conversation. According to a story shared by McDowell to the Detroit Free Press, Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison walked in and interrupted a conversation between McDowell and Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi.
“Michigan State was here, then Michigan came, they just walked right in and sat down,” McDowell said to the Detroit Free Press. “That was pretty funny. I was just sitting there watching … (Coach) Narduzzi was sitting right here. It just all stopped. Then (Mattison) was like, ‘Oh, is this a bad time?’ It made me laugh.”
Last week assistant coaches from Florida (Joker Phillips and DJ Durkin) and Florida State (Charles Kelly) attended a high school basketball game with the family of Georgia defensive end Lorenzo Carter. The coaches sat on opposite ends of the family at the basketball game, which made for a humorous shot captured by The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
“It was a little awkward at first, but then you just relax,” Carter’s mother, Lisa, told the AJC. “They’re people, we’re people, and you just have normal conversation. It will all work out how it supposed to in the end. But they are good people at Florida and Florida State. Both sides have great coaches. I enjoy talking to both of them. They have funny stories.”
This weekend figures to be just waiting for more recruiting awkwardness around the country, with this being the final full weekend coaches will be able to make their sales pitches before National Signing Day.